Los Angeles farmers’ markets are fighting city legislation
that would tax them for using the city’s streets and limit
street closure fee waivers.
A Los Angeles City Council proposal would allow each Westwood
business only two special permit and street closure fee waivers a
year. The legislation is currently being discussed by the
transportation department and will be voted on during a May 25 city
council meeting.
Aaron Shapiro, manager of the Westwood Village Farmers’
Market, said the passing of the proposition would bring financial
ruin to most of the farmers’ markets in Los Angeles.
“It will mean the end of the Farmers’ Market. (The
city) will never see the money (it’s) looking for,”
said Shapiro.
Julie Pietroski, senior legislative deputy for the L.A. City
Council president, said the intention of the plan is not to hurt
the Westwood economy but to help pay off the city’s budget
deficit.
“With the millions of dollars that we’re waiving in
fees, the policy that’s been moving forward is limiting the
amount of waivers for events,” Pietroski said.
She said the city council’s transportation department is
considering giving the farmers’ markets an exemption from the
fees and perhaps even voting down the proposal.
“It’s not moving forward at this time. It’s on
hold, and they’re looking at it,” she said.
The members of the transportation department and city council
are making the best decision they can for everyone, Pietroski
said.
The farmers’ market in Westwood is not the only one that
would be affected if the legislation passes.
“It will just put such a hardship on the farmers that it
will make it impossible to continue. We’re all very upset
about this, and it’s totally going against everything that
we’ve worked so hard to build,” said Jennifer McCullum,
who manages six farmers’ markets in Los Angeles.
The proposal was created three years ago by Councilman Jack
Weiss, who represents the Westwood area, to help the city pay off
its debts with money paid to use the streets by for-profit
businesses. But the current legislation would hurt non-profit
farmers’ market associations the most, Shapiro and McCullum
said.
“When Weiss originally introduced this legislation in
2002, it talked about how the city was in a crisis and would recoup
fees from such events as the Academy Awards that were
exclusive,” McCullum said.
She said the legislation as it is currently written would allow
businesses that only used the streets once or twice a year to
escape paying anything, while farmers’ markets that use it
weekly would pay the majority of the fees.
“They see the farmers’ market as the solution to the
budget problem,” McCullum said.
The idea of charging farmers’ markets to open shop would
prevent them from opening at all, she said.
“We’re trying to do a good thing for the community.
I almost think the city should be paying us.”
Students are taking on an active role in opposing the proposal
that will largely impact farmers’ markets.
A protest demonstrating student support for the market is being
planned by the California Students Sustainability Coalition, a
student-run organization promoting environmentally sound practices
in the UC system.
“We want more local access to food for students. The
farmers’ market, if it were to be taxed, would go out of
business, cutting students out of organic produce,” said
Melissa Haft, co-chair of the UC Foods Campaign under the
coalition.
She said that students united in keeping the farmers’
markets would be a powerful voice in the community, and that by
working together, they could make their opinion heard.
“Students have a lot of force in what’s decided in
our government. They have so much potential to make changes in the
world since they’re the future leaders of our nation,”
Haft said.