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Pittsburgh Councilor Bill Peduto’s proposal to change the laws governing the city’s food trucks, introduced to the city council in October, is still in committee, awaiting a date to be set for a public hearing.
Staff for the councilor says the revisions to the mobile vending ordinance are unlikely to be a priority until the council is through considering the mayor’s budget. In the meantime, community organizers are continuing to drum up support for the cause. An entertaining read, this “press release” by Franktuary co-owner Tim Tobitsch arrived in my inbox this week:
Franktuary Food Truck Flagrantly Violates City Vending Code
In a brazen attempt to steal business from a brick-and-mortar restaurant selling a similar product, the Franktuary food truck will be setting up shop directly outside its own storefront during downtown Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night celebration.
Normally not open in the evening, Franktuary’s storefront has made special arrangements to be open from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm this Friday, raising questions as to whether it is doing so just to call out its food truck’s unlawful presence.
Pittsburgh’s mobile vending code clearly states that, “No permitted location shall be used by a vendor selling an item like or similar to the primary items sold by another non-vendor business within five hundred (500) feet of the permitted location.”
When reached for comment, the management of Franktuary stated that they were shocked by the development since “perhaps no two food outlets in the city offer a more similar menu.” Co-owner Tim Tobitsch went on to say that he has “no idea whether the storefront or truck decided to operate on Oliver Avenue first.” His business partner, Megan Lindsey, added, “We hope the evening can end peacefully, with customers enjoying the spirit of the season.”
To help resolve this matter, Light Up Night attendees are asked to stop by Oliver Avenue and decide for themselves from where they would like to obtain their food.
Staff at Peduto’s office say they are continuing to circulate petitions, particularly to brick and mortar restaurants who are supportive of the proposed changes. I have yet to hear of anyone or any group opposing the ideas. (But if you have, please let me know.)
This article appears in Nov 14-20, 2012.
I was fairly sure Councilman Dowd took an allusive swipe at the bill by wondering aloud on the Internet, who is the Institute for Justice and what do they stand for because they have “written” legislation for Pittsburgh? A very quick search linked them to the food truck movement here as well as to the Koche brothers and other liberal bogeymen. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve over-interpreted a councilor’s passing utterance, but it would make some sense as Lawrenceville has a lot of brick n’ mortar restaurants and has worked hard to invest in its streetscapes for property owners.
But doesn’t the question still remain, who is the Institute for Justice and how are they funded? They did write an Op-Ed in the PG about “freeing food trucks” this past week. They’re obviously connected here and we should know who they are, what they stand for, and, most importantly, how they are funded. That said, the press release seems a bit theatrical and like it may hurt more than help. Tweets aside, I don’t think the best way to lobby Council is through antagonistic press releases.
I don’t think there’s any big secret about who the Institute for Justice is. They’re not even strangers to Pittsburgh: They were very active here about 10 years ago during the debate over Mayor Tom Murphy’s controversial, and later aborted, Fifth/Forbes redevelopment plan; lawyers from the Institute were on hand to represent business owners who would have been displaced by the project.
I’m too busy leaving phone calls that will not be returned to do a whole investigation, but suffice it to say that I’ve confirmed the Institute gets money from Scaife family foundations, and I’m sure other conservative benefactors as well. These guys are an ideology-driven organization that advocates for free-market principles and the primacy of property rights.
If I get a free moment, and people are interested, maybe I’ll break this down in another blog post.
Chris, right – hence my hesitation to dismiss a (legitimate) swipe at the IJ in the tweet mentioned in Bram’s post. As much as I would like food trucks abound in Pittsburgh, I still think it prudent that all of the players and their respective motives be publicly displayed. The best thing for the truck folks would be to stay quiet, meet with Council Members, and not have Scaife-funded libertarians write Op-Eds while releasing over-the-top/antagonistic press releases. See: you catch more flies with honey, etc.
Even a Koche-Scaife funded watch can be right twice a day. Maybe more. All other things being equal, I’m into liberty — and if the “motive” of the I4J here is to demonstrate that commercial liberty can be pleasant once in a while, well, I don’t see how we should perceive that as odious Or is there a slippery slope I haven’t conceived of yet? Mobile payday lenders operating out of bank trucks? At best, let’s give the legislation an extra read to make sure it doesn’t do more than we think it will — but that’s on us.
Anon comments: “I still think it prudent that all of the players and their respective motives be publicly displayed.”
If we’re going to make a general rule of it, I agree wholeheartedly!!! My impression however is that 99% of the time we haven’t been so fortunate, and so there might (might!) be a politically-driven double standard developing here.