Fontana's New Street Vending Law Has Mixed Results

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, July 16, 2024…

• Last year, the city of Fontana hired a private contractor to help enforce its strict new street vending law. Officials say it’s working. But some vendors say the crackdown is affecting their livelihoods.
• California delegates to the Republican National Convention are cheering former president Donald Trump’s pick of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential nominee. Vance has become a full-throated supporter of Trump in recent years, despite previously calling Trump “noxious” and “cultural heroin.”  
• Governor Gavin Newsom has signed landmark legislation prohibiting forced outing policies in schools, making it the first state to do so. Groups advocating for parental rights argued the bill would conceal key information from parents.

Fontana Credits 4Leaf For Its Effective Street Vending Law. Vendors Say Their Livelihoods Are Hurt

In October of 2023, the city of Fontana adopted an ordinance to crackdown on unlicensed street vendors. The city council approved spending $600,000 to bring in a third-party vendor, 4Leaf, to help with enforcement. The company’s workers can ask vendors for their required permits. If they don’t have them, they get a warning. The next time vendors don’t have the right paperwork, 4Leaf or city staff can impound their equipment and throw away their food. Any person interfering in this process could be charged with a misdemeanor and issued a $1,000 fine.

City officials said the program is working. At a conference in May, officials said 4Leaf has issued 500 warnings to vendors, thrown away food at least 90 times and impounded equipment 43 times since December. Deputy City Manager  Phillip Burum said compliance is increasing. “I haven’t gotten a call about street vending in five months. My life is dramatically better. It’s just not an issue in Fontana anymore,” he said.

But street vendors said it’s impacting their livelihood. Angelina Castillo was a street vendor in the city and that’s her only source of income. She said she’s had at least two encounters with 4Leaf and they warned her to stop selling food. So she’s now selling outside the city.  

California Republicans Applaud Trump’s VP Pick Of JD Vance At National Convention

California delegates and officials at the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin cheered the news that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance is former President Donald Trump’s pick for vice president.

Trump announced the news on his social media site Truth Social Monday afternoon, saying Vance is the “best suited” for the job and praising Vance’s biography as a Marine Corps veteran, Yale Law School graduate and bestselling author of the 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. That book was based on his upbringing in rural Ohio and the struggles of his white working-class family.

California delegate Amanda Morales, the 23-year-old executive director of the San Bernardino Republican Party, praised Vance’s youth — at 39, he could become one of the youngest vice presidents in history. She and others spoke to KQED on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee as Trump was formally nominated for president Monday. “He’s a fighter, and I think that’s what the American people need,” Morales said of Vance. “It’s nice to get younger people getting involved in politics and I’m super excited.”

California Is 1st State To Ban School Rules Requiring Parents Get Notified Of Child’s Pronoun Change

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law Monday barring school districts from passing policies that require schools to notify parents if their child asks to change their gender identification.

The law bans rules requiring school staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to any other person without the child’s permission. Proponents of the legislation say it will help protect LGBTQ+ students who live in unwelcoming households. But opponents say it will hinder schools’ ability to be more transparent with parents.

The new law comes after several school districts in California passed policies requiring that parents be notified if a child requests to change their gender identification. That led to pushback by Democratic state officials, who say students have a right to privacy.