Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Code Enforcement Labor topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Day laborers and street vendors decry code‑enforcement harassment near Home Depot; community groups request meeting with councilmember Ibarra
Summary
Multiple community organizations and day laborers testified that San Bernardino code‑enforcement officers have harassed day laborers and street vendors near the Home Depot on 201st Street. Organizers asked the council to halt enforcement actions in the area and to meet within 15 days to pursue a community‑led solution or a day‑labor center model.
A coalition of day‑labor advocates, vendors and community organizations urged the San Bernardino City Council on May 7 to intervene in what they described as repeated, aggressive enforcement near the Home Depot on First Street.
Speakers included Alexis Teodoro, worker‑rights director at the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, an organizer from the same center and other community members who described a pattern of code‑enforcement tactics they said included taking photographs of workers’ vehicles, blocking exits, issuing citations to street vendors and repeatedly driving enforcement vehicles into the lot to disperse workers. Teodoro said the conduct violates workers’ constitutional rights to seek work in public spaces and requested an immediate halt to enforcement in the area until the city meets with advocates to develop a local solution.
Other public commenters including an organizer named Angel and resident speakers said they had documented incidents of “mocking,” “escorting” workers away and issuing citations to vendors — including vulnerable immigrant women selling food. The advocates asked for a meeting within 15 days with the mayor and Councilmember Ibarra (in whose district the Home Depot sits) and asked the city to consider day‑labor center models used in neighboring jurisdictions such as Pomona and Riverside.
Councilmembers and city staff agreed in public comment to meet with community representatives. The transcript shows multiple speakers referencing state law decriminalizing street vending (SB 946 and SB 972) and asserting that enforcement of vending in public space must comply with state law. Advocates requested that code enforcement pause enforcement actions at the Home Depot lot until the meeting occurs and a solution is negotiated.
City staff did not take an immediate enforcement‑suspension vote on the floor; the meeting produced a public commitment by staff to meet with advocates and council staff to discuss next steps.
Speakers documented incidents and asked for direct city engagement; they offered models and a willingness to assist in designing a local day‑labor center. Councilmember Ibarra was asked explicitly to meet with advocates because the location falls in her ward.
