Street vendors deal with uncertainty over proposed bans
By Jose Martinez
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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — It’s been one thing after another for street vendors like Gustavo Txin after a temporary street-vending ban was put in place last year in San Francisco’s Mission District last yea and later extended. He operates without a street-vending permit due to its steep price of $454.
“We’ve been working here for years without having issues until now,” Txin said.
Txin says he’s been working along Mission Street for five years when he started having health issues and wasn’t able to secure a regular job.
“I started this business with my wife and thank God we’ve done well enough to survive,” he added.
Now, he’s feeling anxiety over San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell’s sweeping public safety plan.
Farrell’s plan includes expanding illegal street-vending bans citywide with targeted enforcement in areas like the Tenderloin, Civic Center and UN Plaza, where police officers were out on patrol this week.
KPIX asked former supervisor Farrell how his crackdown would impact vendors like Txin who fall into a “gray area.”
He says his priority is public safety but he is also committed to finding solutions that balance the needs of honest vendors. Solutions such as helping vendors apply for permits.
“Let’s work with the ones that have permits. Let’s make sure that the ones that are doing it the right way — the ones that are contributing to the vibrancy of our neighborhoods — let’s work with them to make their experiences and the shoppers’ experience better but let’s be very clear that illegal vending would not longer be part of the landscape of San Francisco,” Farrell explained.
Right now, even Mission Street vendors with permits, like Ramiro López, are concerned about the potential impact of increased enforcement.
“That’s one of the things that we worry about and it’s because they started right here in the Mission and then they want to extend it to different neighborhoods and the whole city so we don’t wanna lose part of the roots as Hspanic, Latino, being a street vendor,” López said.
For now, Txin says he’s hoping for clarity and a path forward that allows him to continue his businesses without fear of repercussions.
“We are all concerned but we will keep fighting for my rights to keep selling here,” he said.
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