Dozens rally for S.F. street vendor who lost cart in confrontation with city worker
ALAMEDA -- People rallied around a hot dog vendor whose cart was knocked to the ground by a San Francisco city worker last week.
A long line of people waited for bacon-wrapped hot dogs in Alameda. They were there to support food vendor Juan Carlos Ramirez.
"I appreciate all the love and support. This is amazing. This is going to get me up on my toes," Ramirez said through a translator.
Last Sunday, a San Francisco Public Works street inspector chased Ramirez near the waterfront and knocked over his cart. The city had launched a crackdown on illegal food vendors.
"I felt helpless with no help at all -- embarrassed and just frightened," Ramirez said.
They city confiscated his cart. Ramirez, who lives in San Jose with his wife and children, started selling hot dogs three months ago.
"I do this to pay the bills and to feed my family. I'm trying to get a permit but it's hard right now. So I do whatever it takes to feed my family," Ramirez said.
"The public humiliation that Juan Carlos faced is the reason why we all get together for him to let him know we don't condone that behavior," said Alex Enamorado, vice president of the Union of Vendors Association.
Enamorado, who advocates for food vendors, co-organized the event. Ramirez borrowed food carts from friends to supply the rally customers. The rally was relocated from San Francisco to Alameda because of Fleet Week.
"It would have been different had he just given him a citation in a professional manner, instead of just destroying his property," Enamorado said.
Some supporters drove hours from as far as Norwalk and Rancho Cucamonga.
"What happened to him wasn't right so we're here to support him and be with the community," said Laura Diaz, who came from Norwalk with her husband.
Some supporters want the city to fire the inspector.
"You can't just push anyone, that's wrong. You can't do it like that," said Christian Fregoso, event co-organizer.
"I believe that Public Works and San Francisco has bigger fish to fry with everything that's going on," Enamorado said.
A Public Works spokeswoman said the city is investigating the incident and released this statement on Friday:
"While we are still looking into what led up to that moment and the events that preceded, we strive to treat members of the public with respect during permit enforcement operations. We train our employees in de-escalation techniques with the goal of diffusing tense situations. In this circumstance, we did not meet that threshold and we apologize."
As for Ramirez, he said he's grateful for the support.
"After this event, I feel like a completely different person. These past (few days were) really bad. So this day just makes it better," Ramirez said.
In three hours on Saturday, Ramirez and organizers said they sold about 250 hot dogs and raised roughly $3,000. They said that's more than enough money to buy a brand new cart.
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