In this tough economy, an 8-year-old girl better not try to sell lemonade on a Tulare street corner without getting a business license. Daniela Earnest tried that the other day on a Tulare intersection and a city code enforcement officer shut her down.
It's nice to see that local government -- the one closest to the people -- is not letting people compete against the big guys unless they have a business license. Daniela was trying to raise money for a Disneyland trip. Too bad, says city government, you must have a license to do business in the city of Tulare.
Here's the complete story from today's Bee.
About 3 years ago my little sister who was then 6 years old had experience like the Tulare girl. We live in a nice Clovis area and one of our not so nice neighbors called the cops. She reported there was a little girl on a busy street selling baked goods. The caller forgot to mention that my sister was also outside with her mother and the rest of her siblings. We also live in the country so I don't know what busy road she was refering to. Anyway the police came and shut the lemonade stand down. A six year old was left in tears and we had lots of brownies to eat!!!!
Didn't Fresno shut down Calhoun's free coffee?
They should shut down those sign-twirling idiots on Blackstone Ave., before anyone else. They are a distraction when turning on those busy streets. It's not safe.
I can't help but notice that eight year olds and idiots are having a encore performance here.
Anyway I have a friend who's grandmother, a seventy year old widow with all of her faculties who weighed in at 100lbs, was cited for operating an illegal yardsale inside the limits of the otherwise fine city of San Bernardino. When she got to court with all the violent crimes statistics in hand, she abley made the case that some individuals should concentrate on more important classes of crime in order that the taxpayer would be better served. There had been no citizen complaint, she did not make her case on her front lawn by abusing the officer, and she was not invited to the Mayors residence for beer.
Great to see Code Enforcement officials using such wisdom to stamp out a lemonade stand! If I were looking for a budget cut area I would begin with code enforcement officials. This type of nonsense and lack of wisdom in the name of being fair and enforcing the existing laws evenly is just plain dumb. This is supposed to be government by the people and for the people not government at the people and by the bureaucrat. Next time the bureaucrat should consider buying a boat load of lemonade and bringing it down to city hall where lemons are created daily.
The government by the people and for the people can thank the people for this type of enforcement. Most often these laws are the result of someone getting sick at a lemonade stand or eating a brownie that made them sick and then sued someone that got the ball rolling. When they can't sue someone with deep enough pockets they sue the city or county for allowing this illegal activity. So we have only to thank our fellow citizens for this. My favorite one was the lady who sued Sierra National Forest because her husband was hit by lightening and blamed them for having an unsafe park!!
"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress."
--Mark Twain
Where the heck is code enforcement when people park on the front lawn? It really makes Fresno look ghetto.
An "older then dirt" comment gave and example of a yard sale. Some of them are run like a business, the code enforcement in that case may have been justified.
I think..."It takes a Lawyer to ruin a Village".
I understand peoples' emotions when an eight year old seems attacked by the law, but consider this. If someone wanted to make the cost of a ticket to Paris and put their kids out on the street to sell and undercut the price of beerocks or homemade pies, aside from the danger, is there a difference?
You mean "older than dirt," your idiom (no reference to you personally) is not transformative, but one of contrast...learn how to use them will ya!
At the very least it was "affective" or is it "effective",lol.
Try "defective"...it fits.
To put this back on subject and respond to Bruce, code enforcement is just the messenger. Most code enforcement departments are understaffed and only respond to complaints or are directed by their supervisors to do the bidding of council members. For example Fresno's code enforcement has been told they will enforce against dead landscape; giving owners 30 days to green things up. When management was questioned as to why this is being done when there is a drought on as well as financial hardship in some cases with water bills... they were told in no uncertain terms, "Do what you are told."
In this case, if you don't like the laws, change the laws... don't blame code enforcement that are doing the bidding of legal requirements set by communities and the people in them.
I am with those who have health concerns. I would not drink lemonade from such a stand not knowing the kitchen where it was prepared, and not knowing that 8 year old girl's personal hygiene practices. But not buying the lemonade is simpler than having the force of government bear down on a child.