Both she and Anderson-Barker wore neon-green baseball caps with the organization’s logo. “It’s egregious and a disconnect,” said Rebecca Brown, astaff attorney with the National Lawyers Guild. “What a disgusting waste of resources, and what a disgusting way to treat people.” “They’re selling chips for three bucks, and this is what they do,” she said. She showed me a video of Santa Monica police handcuffing a man for selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs from a small cart on the pier, where open flames aren't allowed. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)įruteros and taqueros and eloteros gathered around Cynthia Anderson-Barker, a lawyer who has long worked with street vendors in the city. About 15 members of various city agencies - Fire Department, code enforcement, police, public works, and Los Angeles County’s departments of public and environmental health - chatted around it.Īttorney Cynthia Anderson-Barker, middle, stands with street vendors in the parking lot near the Santa Monica Pier, where she talked to them about their rights. The Santa Monica Police Department parked an RV-size mobile command center in the beach parking lot. A metal sign screwed to a light pole inveighed similar doom, underneath a banner that read, “Show your local love!” “Buying food and drinks from unpermitted vendors puts your health at risk,” scolded another sandwich board. Another stated the same at the entrance to the pier. 22, when the city flexed its full might to take on Public Enemy #1:Ī sandwich board warned that they were not allowed at nearby Palisades Park. It was a gloriously sunny Saturday morning at the Santa Monica Pier on Jan. The city is pushing out unlicensed vendors who sell on the pier on weekends. Street vendors approach employees at a police mobile command center in a parking lot near the Santa Monica Pier on Jan.

Liberal crime squad getting maps