Thursday, May 07, 2009

They're driving me insane!

Cheap Trick tonight at the Dixon May Fair!   We have an extra ticket for 30 bucks, does anyone wanna go?  Check out that poll I have going on the right.

OK, so I guess we should get going on this taco truck thing.  Here's my thoughts:
1)Name- P.O.T. T. -preserve our taco trucks?  I'm serious, is that all right?  I mean save our taco trucks seems natural, but SOTT as an acronym is not as good.
2)How do we find out what actually went down at the meeting?  Like, what restaurateurs raised the issue, how long did the council deliberate, etc.?
3)I think we need to have a two-pronged attack
a) other world class cities have these trucks, using the portland success with it as a main point
b)we're messing with the livelihood of these people.  I guess we should do interviews with the people who are going to lose their income.  Other stories have touched on this, so perhaps we could just present that to the council, or we could gather more.
Or do you guys think the city isn't going to enforce and it's not really going to matter?

15 comments:

Snufkin said...

Society for the Preservation of Taco Trucks?

Which actually reminds me - it'd be good to talk to the board of directors for Galeria Posada. There's quite a few people on there who have pull/connections in local politics, plus the organization has a pretty long history in Sacramento of activism and preserving local culture.

Anonymous said...

My two cents:

I think the first step is to figure out your ask. Is the goal to amend the Food Vending Vehicle Ordinance Revised Ordinance that was passed in February 2008, so that vendors don't have to move their vehicles every thirty minutes? You can watch the video of that city council here: http://sacramento.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=17&clip_id=1486&meta_id=142465

I watched a little bit of the meeting and it appears that the city worked on this for a long time - at least a year. But that was when Fargo was mayor, so maybe KJ would be more responsive to rethinking this ordinance.

I think once you get the background on how this passed, who supported it, who was opposed,and what the actual impact is on the vendors, then you can better assess what the next steps should be.

Also both Bonnie Pannell and Kevin McCarty are running for Dave Jones Assembly seat, so that's also something to consider.

Brew

Anonymous said...

I don't know if this has come up, but this same thing with taco trucks happened in Salinas in 2007. Here's an article in the NYTimes about it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/us/15taco.html?fta=y

-Anon

beckler said...

oh yeah, the Daniel Johnston opening at Verge is tonight! I'm gonna see the show but I can't make it tonight.

archbishop said...

I was totally planning on seeing Cheap Trick but I pussed out since it's $30 and I don't have a ticket. If you haven't given it away and if you don't mind my company, I'd be up for going in a heartbeat.

beckler said...

It's my ticket, but they people who have it wanna sell it.

wburg said...

How about "Taco Automobile Compatibility Organization"? Recursive acronyms are a plus.

http://saveourtacotrucks.org is a Los Angeles based website resisting LA County's efforts to restrict taco trucks. Might provide some useful insight.

The relevant Sacramento code is 5.68.170, Food Vending Vehicles.

This was passed at the Feb. 26, 2008 City Council meeting. Agenda, minutes and streaming video can be viewed via the City Council archive page on the city website:

http://sacramento.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=17

KW said...

TTACO: Taco Truck Action Committee.

DJ Rick said...

I'm all for that one if we can emphasize that the pronunciation shall be "tuh-TAH-ko".

Anonymous said...

T.A.C.O. - Tacos Against City Ordinance. Seems like the obvious choice to me.
-Dillon

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened to the reggae "taco" truck outside Cafe Paris? Those guys ruled.

Anonymous said...

The vegan rasta truck outside Cafe Paris was probably the instigator of the whole ordinance, although Sac was also following the lead of other cities, most of whom later gave up on the effort. The rasta truck was shut down by the city.

Anonymous said...

Reggae => RUINING IT FOR EVERYONE

Anonymous said...

If I were to see the Trick do "Speak Now, or Forever Hold Your Peace" I'd lose my shit.

SAVE THE CORNERSTONE!

-- Patrone

P.S. -- I have very fond memories of watching Rain or Beatlemania or one of those trib bands with David Paul at the fair years ago, pissing people off because we're yelling, "RINGO, I'M FREAKING OUT!"

The Armeniac said...

I believe it was "The Fab 4" Patrone, though it might have been Rain!?! Why didn't those fair goers get it? Ringo fuckin' Starr man! Right there man! That was definently in my top 5 FAir concert experiences.