HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - letter to Council from Donald Walters Oct. 1 , 1982
To: Members of the Ames City Council:
The discussion of street vending will probably come to an
end this Tuesday evening. I would like just one more opportu-
nity to try to explain how hundreds (I have signatures on a
petition to back that figure up) of us feel about the issue .
It has been a real challenge to find a way of communicati4,ng my
thoughts to you. I hope this letter will do the trick. I've
tried to organize this letter to make for quick reading in the
hopes that it will be read. It' s important to me that you give
it a fair reading.
PRO: Vendors may add to the atmosphere of the city.
CON: Selling food from a push cart on the sidewalks of Welch Ave .
and Main Street seem a little awkward and in the way. If the
city were to build a pedestrian mall with places to loiter and
relax, it would seem more appropriate to have push carts.
As it is, there is no real facility for street vending.
Using carts only for atmosphere is a half-hearted attempt to
change the atmosphere of our city' s shopping areas with no
master plan for future development and no direction. Aside
from push carts, we also have transcients selling wares from
cardtables set up on sidewalks , giving tatoos in an old camper
in the Safeway parking lot , selling tools in the old Hy-Vee
parking lot, and beer mirrors in various gas station lots.
If anything, I'd call these things contributors to a very
negative image for our city.
(2 )
PRO : Vendors may offer *vices not otherwise avail9le .
CON: Except for the tatoo artist , this has not been the case . True ,
healthy competition keeps the ideas flowing, but, as I write
below, I don't believe that this kind of competition can be
healthy for Ames.
PRO: FREE ENTERPRISE !
CON: Hear! Hear! For free enterprise! All Americans should believe
in that! We formed governments to guarantee us our freedom
to do as we please! However, these same government bodies
have seen fit to regulate business in order to protect our health
safety and general welfare. Why then should city governments
choose to forego most of the health and safety regulations for
push carts? These vendors have already shown unsanitary handling
of food. They are storing their food at temperatures that allow
bacterial growth. They attract flies and bees. Neither the
customer nor the food handler has a place to wash their hands.
They have no means to prevent the spread of colds, flues or
even botulism. Worse yet, they probably would not be around
to answer questions after an epidemic. Fortunately, us shop
keepers can' t dispose of our kitchens quite so easily. With all
these factors , why should the city set up a double standard?
Surely not for the sake of free enterprise!
PRO: Vendors may actually generate more business or bring new
customers to an area.
CON: There are only so many customers . Additional businesses at this
time only spread the customers thin. This is definitely my own
opinion, however I deal with it as a means of survival on a
day to day and night to night basis . The city could run a
study on this if thought to be necessary. However, you must
remember the economic climate that presently exists , and adjust
your philosophy accordingly.
(3 )
I think it' s a well known fact that retailers buy their
product at wholesale , then mark it up to covet overhead costs
and then to make a profit. Vendors have very little overhead
in comparison with the rest of the business community. Therefore ,
they can come in, take the customers that the shopkeepers have
advertised for, sell a similar or identical product for less
cost than the shopkeeper, make more profit, be unaccountable
for the quality of the product , then let the shopkeeper pay
property taxes on the vendor' s location, maintain the vendor' s
location, and go out of business because of what I call unfair
competition.
I call on the council' s obligation to protect it' s citizens,
and disregard the proposal to set up double standards for the
businesses of Ames.
Respectfully Submitted;
Donald G. Walters