SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The ban on street vendors in the Mission District began on Monday. Street vendors in San Francisco’s Mission District will not be allowed to sell on the sidewalks for the next 90 days.
San Francisco officials say safety and health risks are the leading factors of the ban. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who is behind the ban, says many unpermitted vendors have come into the Mission District, selling stolen goods and terrorizing people.
“I recently learned that DPW workers who enforce the law have been assaulted and had their lives threatened by individuals selling stolen goods on the street,” Ronen said in her newsletter this month. “I also found out that DPW workers are wearing bulletproof vests to work and that many workers filed grievances through their union so they no longer had to work in the Mission because they feared for their safety.”
The city wants to move the permitted vendors to two designated locations. However, there are only 48 spots for 116 vendors, according to vendors.
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Street vendors have support from each other, the community, and the Latinx San Francisco Democratic Club
“Many families that I’ve talked to are stressed, they’re worried. For many folks, it’s their only livelihood, their only way of actually being able to make a living due to immigration status,” said Kevin Ortiz Co-president of Latinx San Francisco Democratic Club.
According to the street vendors, the ban could not come at a worse time as this is the holiday shopping season, and they make a lot of their money during this time of the year. Street vendors are asking the city to delay the ban until after the holidays.
“We have exhausted every avenue to collaborate with the Supervisor, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” expressed Luis Lopez, a long-standing vendor and member of the Mission Street Vendors Association. “We are not seeking preferential treatment; we simply ask for the opportunity to continue providing for our families during this critical time of year.”
Though the association hasn’t explicitly defined what “direct action” may mean, they said they would “take a stand for their rights and livelihoods” and “potentially continue exercising their right to vend.”
The vendors will gather at Mission and 24th Streets at 11 a.m., they said.
Bay City News has contributed to this article.