Vendors: Street Merchants Portrayed as Detrimental to Licensed Neighborhood Businesses

The article “Wheeling and Dealing” (Feb. 2) paints a romantic picture of street vendors selling on street corners, implying they are all good, honest and hard-working people trying to do a decent day’s work. This picture is far from the truth.

In reality they compete with merchants who have invested in businesses within the community, getting all the necessary licenses and meeting all the codes. Usually these street vendors contribute to the underground economy, paying no taxes on the money they make. They degrade the businesses they stand near, or they degrade the residential areas they use as a location. If they are selling fruits and vegetables, they do not have to meet health standards. There is no way of knowing if their product has been exposed to too much heat; there is no way to know under what condition their merchandise has been stored.

In areas like Western Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard they have not upgraded the neighborhood with their presence, but rather downgraded the area and the quality of the stores.

There is nothing good about street vendors except for those few that are licensed and have to meet certain standards. The majority serve no good to the areas they work when you look at the overall picture.

MICHAEL L. STEMPEL, West Hollywood