The California State Senate voted Thursday to approve legislation allowing San Francisco police officers to enforce street-vending regulations on city streets.
Legislators approved SB 276, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener, with 36 voting in favor and none opposed.
Wiener’s bill is specific to San Francisco, and walks back 2018 legislation that decriminalized street vending across the state and required counties to select a city agency other than the police to enforce street-vending regulations.
The original legislation, promoted by the Hispanic Caucus in Southern California, was created to protect street vendors from police harassment.
Street vending of stolen goods, however, spiraled out of control during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. BART plazas at 24th and Mission streets and 16th and Mission streets became so chaotic and unruly that, after several homicides at 24th Street, the city suspended all street vending on Mission Street in November 2023 — even licensed vendors.
Under the new legislation, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will draft a list of commonly stolen retail items.
If a vendor is found in possession of any of these goods and does not have a receipt, the vendor will be subject to a three-strikes system: An infraction for the first two offenses and a vendor’s third violation could bring misdemeanor charges and up to six months in jail.
The legislation will not affect permitted street vendors and those selling food.
“I think this could be good, because it will push more people to do things the right way,” said Rodrigo Lopez, president of the Mission Street Vendors Association, a group of permitted Mission Street vendors who have supported Wiener’s legislation addressing illegal fencing.
“I think it will help make this a safer and more organized community.”
In an interview when she took office in January, District 9 supervisor Jackie Fielder said she could not support Wiener’s legislation over fears of exposing immigrant communities to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In May Fielder again repeated those fears, saying that the administration was not one to trust to respect and follow rules.
Fielder did not reply to a request for comment when reached today about the passage of SB 276.
After attempting many solutions over three years, handing over enforcement to the police seemed like the only remaining solution to a problem that the city failed to control. Attempts included an earlier permit system, installing cyclone fences and then instituting an outright ban.
Public Works employees were charged with enforcing early street-vending rules. The task, however, proved challenging as workers reported constant verbal and, at times, physical harassment from unpermitted vendors. In the end, SFPD officers had to accompany the DPW workers.
Last year, former supervisor Hillary Ronen and others began to see a change in the state law as a possible solution.
“It’s just reached a point where it’s dangerous and so problematic, that we want to disrupt and recalibrate,” Ronen said in July 2022. “The best way to do that is to prevent people from hanging out in the plaza in the coming months.”
A first attempt to pass similar legislation in 2024 got waylaid in committee.
In an exit interview in January, Ronen said addressing illegal fencing in the Mission District had been one of the hardest things to deal with during her time in office.
“My biggest goal, and I didn’t care who won the District 9 seat, was to do everything I could to fix it for them, so they didn’t have to start out their time as supervisor dealing with literally one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever dealt with in my life.”
Lopez said he hopes the new law will encourage unpermitted vendors to follow city rules.
“I would love for those who are not doing things properly to see that there are options, a road to do your business,” said Lopez. “Nothing is impossible. If one invests time and gets prepared and knocks on doors, there’s many organizations that can help you get where we’re at today.”
Although it does not go far enough geographically and in targeting harmful conduct, the passing of this bill is a step in the right direction. We need a statewide bill to undo the disastrous effects unleashed by the lowering of consequences for illegal sidewalk vending of food and merchandise, which poses grave threats to public health, safety, and local economies. Probably most major cities and even many suburbs have been struck by the plague of illegal sidewalk vending, which only increases criminality and causes the quality of life to deteriorate.
I use to love, and sit in the sun, and people watch, at 24th and Mission, now not only that is impossible, because the city has removed, the concert benches, to deter- street vending, but walking is almost impossible, due to people selling their ill gotten gains. I often wonder how not just the mission district, but the city has sunken so low?
It will take years to undo the damage caused by progressives using covid and George Floyd as excuses to push through patently terrible and counterproductive legislation, but we are making progress bit by bit.
36-0 says it all. As does Fielder’s usual hamhanded attempt to play both sides on an obvious loser issue.
“damage caused by progressives using covid and George Floyd”
Thanks for your right wing nut comment.
“…the disastrous effects unleashed by the lowering of consequences for illegal sidewalk vending of food and merchandise, which poses grave threats to public health, safety, and local economies.”
I guess I’m not sufficiently feeling the hysteria of this “plague.” Maybe it’s just me, but I’m never gripped with panic in the presence of street vendors while waiting for the bus at 16th and Mission.
I’m hoping this reduces the cat-and-mouse game of cops-and-vendors at the BART stations. It’s been an ongoing and ridiculous waste of money to have cops parked around the stations primarily to prevent vendors from selling stolen goods. In theory, they should now be able to pop in, cite or arrest illegal vendors, and go back to patrolling the neighborhood.
Again, how long it took to get that law passed? go to Europe, many places in the world, and try to make a video of street vendors selling stolen merchandise (for most of them.) .good luck…only here..
“after several homicides at 24th Street, the city in November 2023 suspended all street vending on Mission Street*
There were two homicides and they happened before street vending was banned.
Anyway, cops are respectful towards vendors so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t manage this issue.
California comes to its senses, at last.
I’m glad to see the criminals-are-our-most-important-residents attitude in decline.
Are the good mostly stolen – yes.
Is it adding to the tourist and other businesses – no.
Is it crowding out real stores because the street vendors don’t have the same expenses – yes.
What is the explanation for why local politicians have fought against common sense for so long… there isn’t really one. It’s good to see some movement in the right direction. Let’s get back to having SF be a family and tourist friendly place. Common sense first.
As Lizzo once said :”Bought damn time” I was one of the original street vendors, that was back in the day, when you had to be screened. In fact I still have my license which was#3. Now days people sell all kinds of junk on the street. Don’t know why the city had to pass a new ordinance, when there’s been a law on the books, for decades that not only a vendor has to have a license,but the police can check it at any time.
“over fears of exposing immigrant communities to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. In May Fielder, again, repeated those fears saying that the administration was not one to trust to respect and follow rules.”
“Fielder did not reply to a request for comment when reached today about the passage of SB 276.”
The nonprofits that have commandeered left politics are of the intersectional mind that the presence of one group deemed more oppressed is sufficient basis to decide all political questions in favor of that group.
Adult non-refugee immigrants, the vast majority, chose to take the risk to get to the US by any means necessary and then chose to take the risk of unpermitted vending.
Unlike with the hypersanitized US play date generations, Mesoamericans are in more realistic in their assessments, in general less in denial that with risk comes potential consequence, because outside of US play date culture, there are rarely social or economic seat belts or guard rails in Mesoamerica.
Omitted from this calculus are the interests of law abiding immigrants, lower income people and people of color who must contend with the downside of these designated most vulnerable people’s choices.
Using one population designated “the most vulnerable” as an excuse to ignore the interests of all other stakeholders is one reason why progressive politics has collapsed in San Francisco and the Democrats nationally.
Narrowing the appeal while performing giving the hand to the majority of residents and the electorate elicits negative electoral responses because it is an affront to self determination and democracy.
Nationally, Democrats ran this play with trans people and with immigrants with disastrous results.
This paradigm attempts to heal these incursions by reiterating claims of privilege, martyring and hatred (you just hate immigrants) in prostrated service of the most vulnerable that nonprofits claim, only digging itself in deeper.
The left populist response here is to fire the nonprofits and redistribute those resources to “the most vulnerable.” With the nonprofits out of the way politically, all residents would have the opportunity to participate in hashing out our differences, and building on our shared interests to chart our collective path forward.
The single point of unity between YIMBY and the nonprofiteers is an utter contempt for San Francisco residents in service of their moneyed masters.
Marc,
I couldn’t have said it better in english.
h.
Campers,
The BART station roof decks and Tourist and Civic hot spots all deserve permanent SFPD Kobans and DPW Porters.
For Vendors just have SFMTA toss in some of their great bold paint jobs and mark off and number legal vendor space cause 20 legal spaces and a permanent Koban manned 24/7/365 by 3 officers, rotating time in the ‘cop box’ and Foot Patrols will immediately solve this problem .
Believe me, 20 legal vendors and their spouses and cousins and siblings and customers will take care of the illegal sales competition.
Gotta be a cop there at all times and it can be just one with two nearby on foot.
Give them small Podiums and band risers too for speakers and music which has always been there.
Folks, the problem is the cops cause they negotiated away the last Kobans.
An Elected Police Chief is the answer..
go Niners !!
h.