Wearing matching, bright yellow uniforms, permitted street vendors are back on Mission Street. As part of a pilot program, ten vendors selected through a city-run lottery returned Friday to sell their goods along the sidewalks between 23rd and 24th streets.
“There’s nothing like Mission Street,” said Luz Ledesma, a long-time jewelry vendor and one of the lottery awardees. From making $25 a week at El Tiangue, a former city-sanctioned vending site, Ledesma and her husband, Luis, reported making about the same amount ($25) in just an hour in sales. “We are happy because there is a big difference.”
The pilot program is part of a larger effort in City Hall to crack down on illegal vending of stolen goods in San Francisco without adversely impacting permitted vendors.
Introduced by State Sen. Scott Wiener and sponsored by Mayor London Breed, Senate Bill 925 (SB 925) is a new bill that would take “a narrow approach that specifically targets bad actors.” If passed, the bill would require vendors to obtain permits and a proof of purchase to sell items on officials’ list of commonly stolen goods. Vendors in violation would receive an infraction for their first two offenses, and could face a misdemeanor and up to six months in jail for a third offense.
The bill is a political win for the Mission District’s permitted street vendors. “We finally feel that our voices were heard after so much struggle and fight,” said Rodrigo Lopez, president of the Mission Street Vendors Association (MSVA). He said he worked closely with District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, the mayor’s office and community organizations to make sure the city’s efforts include a path to reinstating permitted vendors back on Mission Street.
The city banned all street vending along Mission Street late November in response to illegal vending and unsafe conditions in the area. According to city data, the first 60 days of the vending moratorium resulted in a 30% decrease in assaults and robberies and a 23% decrease in calls to the city’s 311 public service line for street cleaning.
However, the blanket approach eliminated a critical commercial hub for more than a hundred licensed street vendors who have historically sold along Mission Street, most of whom are Latinx families and immigrants.
In an attempt to minimize impacts on permitted vendors, the city launched two sanctioned vending sites, El Tiangue and La Placita. El Tiangue, a storefront on Mission Street near 18th, closed in April after failing to generate clientele. Despite efforts to make the remaining site La Placita more profitable, vendors still report scant sales.
“[It] was a very hard blow for our economy,” said Ledesma, who’s dramatic loss of sales pushed her family into homelessness. After living in a shelter with her husband and toddler, the family is now renting out a small room, eager to make the most of the pilot program. “So now we are happy … working to get everything back to normal.”
Lopez said the pilot program is a chance to prove to the city that licensed street vendors can sell on Mission Street in a way that does not contribute to unsafe street conditions. As a model, Lopez cited the successful pop-up event the MSVA organized during Mother’s Day: “We demonstrated we don’t need the [Department of Public Works], we don’t need police, to have order.”
To that end, vendors started the first day of the pilot wearing city-provided bright yellow t-shirts and safety vests, all branded with a new “Mission Street Vendors” logo. “Having uniforms and canopies helps the police and [the Department of Public Works] identify who has a permit and is doing things properly,” said Lopez. If conflict arises, there are community ambassadors nearby to help, as well as a responsive WhatsApp group chat with other vendors.
“We fought for seven months to be able to return,” said Lopez, noting that he knew very little about San Francisco politics before the ban. “Necessity made us learn … Now we know our rights and we can ask for what belongs to us.”
The first phase of the pilot program will run until August, said Lopez. Depending on how it goes, Public Works said the second phase will open Mission Street to a larger number of permitted street vendors.
