Vendors

After he was laid off last fall from his job driving a delivery truck, Ricardo Lara couldn't find another full-time position that would pay the bills. So he went into business for himself driving an ice cream truck. At first, he was making as much money peddling Heath bars, Bomb Pops and ice cream sandwiches as he did at his old job. But that didn't last. As the economy melted down, so did sales, despite his seven-day workweek plying the streets of South Los Angeles.

In 2005, leaders of a gang that sold crack and other drugs near MacArthur Park decided to add a new business venture: extorting the vendors who crowd the streets each evening, selling clothes, pirated DVDs and electronics to supplement a hardscrabble existence. The new effort led to a bloody consequence in September 2007, when an 18-year-old tasked with gunning down a defiant vendor accidentally shot to death a 3-week-old infant. The baby's death triggered a large-scale crackdown on the clique that culminated with a two-month trial that began in March.

In the interest of truth and accuracy I wish to correct a couple of misconceptions in your report on the vendors around Our Lady Queen of Angels Church at Olvera Street (Metro, July 14). I cannot and do not authorize anyone to break the law. I have made this quite clear to all vendors who come to me seeking permission to sell on public property. I have also informed all my associate pastors and staff that they are not to give such authorization. What I have done is to inform the Los Angeles Police Department at the highest level that I have no objection to vendors around the church as long as the vendors do not interfere with the flow of traffic of the more than 10,000 faithful who worship at the church each Sunday, and that they will keep the place clean.

A crackdown on Venice Beach homeless encampments and renegade vendors is pitting longtime residents and merchants against homeless advocates and younger transients. The Los Angeles Police Department enforcement efforts, begun almost two months ago, were spurred by mounting complaints from waterfront residents and business owners who said aggressive, intoxicated transients and violent disputes over vendors' spaces had made the boardwalk an increasingly lawless, frightening place.

MY congratulations on an extremely well-written article ("The Lure of the Outlaw Taco Cart" by Charles Perry, Aug. 31). I have read much regarding street vending (my thesis addressed the predicament of vendors, particularly taco-elote [corn] vending in L.A.) and your article was concise, informative and up to date. RAY DELGADO Downey

In 2005, leaders of a gang that sold crack and other drugs near MacArthur Park decided to add a new business venture: extorting the vendors who crowd the streets each evening, selling clothes, pirated DVDs and electronics to supplement a hardscrabble existence. The new effort led to a bloody consequence in September 2007, when an 18-year-old tasked with gunning down a defiant vendor accidentally shot to death a 3-week-old infant. The baby's death triggered a large-scale crackdown on the clique that culminated with a two-month trial that began in March.

Vendors who have been waiting for years to be paid after Crystal Cathedral Ministries fell into bankruptcy could see further delays because of a financial dispute involving church founder the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and some family members. Schuller; his wife Arvella; daughter Carol Schuller Milner; and her husband, Timothy Milner, have filed a number of claims in Bankruptcy Court alleging that the church owes them money for copyright infringement, intellectual property violations and unpaid contracts.

Truly, I am outraged--what blatant racism ("New Law Is a Tough Sell," May 2)! The leaders say they're concerned with safety. I think not! It's out-and-out racism and greed. They wouldn't want to lose any business from the Hispanic community, now, would they? One million dollars in insurance? What a joke! How can these vendors possibly afford that? A year in jail? Aren't the jails crowded enough? I venture to say that if the vendors in question were not Hispanic, they wouldn't even waste their time with a law. At least these vendors are working and not on the welfare system.

"Carts Caught in Culture Clash" is yet another case of rich, white politicians deciding the fate of impoverished, minority people. What does Councilman Hansen know about being a poor Latino? "Get a license," he says. I wonder what businesses are pressuring Hansen and other city officials to get vendors off the streets? Only pressure or the almighty greenback could provoke such a dubious statement as, "Vendors pose a health threat and contribute to trash and graffiti problems."

Regarding the San Fernando City Council's plan to crack down on street vendors, I would like to remind the council that: Buyers can observe sanitary conditions before they purchase food. Licenses don't ensure anything except that the city has revenue. Price fixing, even by ensuring that everyone has the same overhead costs, is considered immoral and illegal. And, most important, if and when too many vendors roam the streets, each will sell fewer products and some will quit to do more profitable things.

After Pompea Smith, who has led the Hollywood farmers market since she founded it 21 years ago, was fired Tuesday night, many questions remained as to just what had happened, and why. Official details were scant, but it is clear that the story involved financial issues, office politics and conflicting visions for the organization. The board of Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles the nonprofit organization that runs the market, issued a statement saying that it was "time for a change of leadership," and that it was "deeply grateful to Pompea Smith for her ... inspired leadership of this organization.

Some uprooted their families to relocate to Los Angeles. Others recently bought houses or signed long-term leases and were banking on at least 10 months of steady work to pay down their debts. Many had turned down higher-paying jobs to work with two of the top creative forces in the business: Michael Mann and David Milch, executive producers of the HBO television series"Luck. " Two weeks after HBO announced its sudden decision to shut down production of the racetrack drama "Luck" in the wake of the deaths of three horses, those who worked behind the scenes on the weekly TV series were grappling with the harsh realities of suddenly being out of work in a tough job market.

Vendors who have been waiting for years to be paid after Crystal Cathedral Ministries fell into bankruptcy could see further delays because of a financial dispute involving church founder the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and some family members. Schuller; his wife Arvella; daughter Carol Schuller Milner; and her husband, Timothy Milner, have filed a number of claims in Bankruptcy Court alleging that the church owes them money for copyright infringement, intellectual property violations and unpaid contracts.

As certified farmers markets have proliferated in recent years, it may appear as if everyone and his uncle is getting into the game. Some vendors indeed are flourishing, but others have been stretched thin by the expansion and resulting dilution of farmers markets. Selling at farmers markets has always involved manifold risks, inefficiencies and frustrations, but in the last year, likely because of the weak economy, quite a few longtime or prominent vendors have withdrawn from the markets or are considering doing so. Each has his own reasons, but together they tell a story: Surviving at farmers markets is increasingly tough for many growers.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance to limit commercial selling on Venice Beach's famed Ocean Front Walk. The ordinance is the latest in a series of efforts to tame the popular but unruly attraction, which draws about 16 million visitors annually but has lately seen more than the usual number of transients and violent crimes. The city's earlier attempt to impose a lottery and permitting system for the western side of the boardwalk was blocked in October 2010 by a federal court on the grounds that it violated the 1st Amendment.

The hustle begins each day at sundown: " Computadoras !" " Bicicletas !" " Carne asada !" For eight straight blocks along 6th Street in the Westlake neighborhood near downtown, sidewalks are so crowded with vendors and their wares that shoppers barely fit. Cumbia music booms and everything is sold "cheap, cheap, cheap. " It is a peddler's paradise — one that the city plans to begin replacing with its own licensed marketplace. The ArtGricultural Market, a cross between a swap meet and farmer's market, will open Saturday morning just a few blocks south of 6th Street, hoping to persuade merchants to legalize their hawking.

Early on an October evening, their cars began filling a city parking lot on Breed Street, less than a block from well-lighted shops along Cesar Chavez Avenue in the busiest commercial corridor of Boyle Heights. The street vendors, arriving to sell carne asada, tamales, flautas and steamed tacos, once created a culinary destination known to draw hundreds of customers. But on this night, even as people lined up on the sidewalk, many of the vendors waited by their cars, some concealing their wares in foil-lined trays in their trunks.

Anti-corruption officials in Hong Kong said they have arrested 29 people in a syndicate that allegedly rented out people to serve as defendants in criminal trials against illegal street vendors. The vendors, known as hawkers, and corrupt officials allegedly arranged for licensed hawkers to stand trial in place of unlicensed vendors, authorities said.

— Southern California lies along an ocean that once abounded in seafood and still produces a catch of considerable quantity and diversity. Why is it, then, that so little of the fish at farmers markets is sold directly by those who catch it? Ideally, farmers market customers and managers would like a vendor to offer wild fish that is freshly caught, rather than frozen; is caught in local waters; is sold directly by the fisherman, his family or his employees; is available regularly and reliably in a diverse range of products; and is a reasonable price.

The Occupy movement came to Los Angeles aiming for Wall Street titans, but farmers market vendors are the first to take a real hit. Two weeks ago, about 40 vendors who sell on the City Hall lawn every Thursday were forced off the property after protesters refused to remove their city of tents. The mini-businesses — produce farmers, popcorn poppers, flower sellers — were abruptly moved by city officials to a new and less visible location across Main Street. Since that relocation, profits have plummeted, vendors have pulled out and shoppers have become scarce.