Last week on a Facebook post related to Gilroy’s enforcement of its Sidewalk Vending Ordinance, Gilroy City Councilmember Terence Fugazzi stated word for word “it should be known that many/most street vendors in the Bay Area are part of human trafficking rings” as evidence in support of enforcement of the street vendor ordinance.
The proof he offered was a news story about fruit vendors in Bakersfield from 2017: tinyurl.com/26djptw6. For reference, the iPhone 8 was released in 2017.
The article reports on a fruit vendor trafficking network, but the California locations it cites are limited to Southern and Central California. According to Fugazzi, that equates to “many/most” street vendors in the Bay Area.
The article doesn’t state how many vendors were trafficked, what percentage of vendors they represented, or provide any Bay Area data at all. There isn’t a number in it that supports his claim of “many,” let alone “most.”
Fugazzi used his flawed reasoning to argue for cracking down on street vendors here in Gilroy.
This isn’t about the ordinance itself.
This is about our elected city councilmember making a sweeping, irresponsible claim based on a premise that is easily disproven by reading the very article he cites.
Fugazzi peddled a nine-year-old (or nine iPhones ago) story focused on Bakersfield and used an erroneous interpretation of it to support his claim that “many/most” Bay Area street vendors are connected to human trafficking.
If this is the quality of evidence being used to justify policy and enforcement, then Gilroy has a bigger problem than sidewalk vending.
Raul Tovar
Gilroy
Pau, are you advocating for lawlessness? I don’t understand what’s your motivation to oppose efforts to keep Gilroy safe and protect local businesses that follow the rules and work hard to make a living. Unpermitted vendors should not be allowed to operate wherever they want without proper health, safety, and business regulations.
If you want to sell food in Gilroy, the rules should apply to everyone. Restaurants pay for health permits, inspections, taxes, insurance, rent, utilities, employees, hand-washing facilities, and all the other overhead required to legally operate a food business.
So why should vendors who skip those requirements get to compete directly against businesses that follow them? This isn’t about being anti-vendor, it’s about fair competition, public health, and a level playing field.
If you’re selling food to the public, meet the same standards as the restaurants down the street. You want the privilege of running a food business? Pay the costs and follow the rules.