Differences between vending and expressive activity
In response to Chris Cott and some of the beach community leaders who apparently are unwilling to learn the difference between a vendor and an expressive activity (“Time for zero-tolerance enforcement on vendors,” Our Readers Write, May 2, La Jolla Light):
I thought I would break down the differences:
• Vendor: a person who buys goods from other people at wholesale and then resells those goods at a profit. Vendors are protected by state Senate Bill 946 and cannot be banned [outright] in any municipality.
• Expressive activity (artistic speech and self-expression):
A) a skill that is honed over years of learning and practice and is brought into the public eye to make connections with tourists and garner from those connections through tips or sales protected by the First Amendment
B) a political or religious group ing out information or books as well as sales of materials related to its system of beliefs
C) a charity group looking to collect funds for its charity through donations or sales of merchandise related to the charity
D) protests, rallies and petitions
Expressive activities are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, by the California Constitution and even by the city code.
I do not just fight for A but also B, C and D.
Some people somehow think public spaces only belong to people who want to barbecue and relax, not even considering that we First Amendment people are all of the public. For us, expressing our free speech is a form of relaxation, and we deserve as much rights as everyone else in the public space.
If I have to be in a 4-by-8-foot box [expressive activity zone], then under the 14th Amendment so does everyone else in the public space.
William Dorsett
Plenty for city of San Diego to fix
As taxpayers, we are alarmed at the $137 million shortfall in the proposed [San Diego] city budget.
Many people believe:
• Too much is spent on homeless projects with no ability of where the money has gone, while homeless numbers keep going up.
• Homeless housing should be only transitory, not permanent, and not cost hundreds of thousands per unit.
• The San Diego Housing Commission has grown too large. It gets $595 million in funding and has 395 employees.
• Developers, labor unions and salaried nonprofits have benefited while our services have been deferred or ignored.
• Bicycle lanes for the few are very expensive, are confusing to negotiate and take away too many parking spaces.
• Projects like the Cannabis Social Equity Program sound ridiculous. Why fund marijuana dispensaries?
• Climate change policies are expensive, control too many projects and require more staff positions.
• Why continue providing free legal services to tenants fighting evictions? Lawyers are expensive and the state already provides services.
• In tough times, businesses cut their workforces and so should the city. Salaries and benefits are a huge percentage of the budget.
• Street “resurfacing” often means shovels full of asphalt in potholes or slurry seals that don’t last. We need actual paving.
• Crime is rising, with not enough police. Public safety should be a higher priority.
City Council, listen to your constituents! Our needs should be prioritized over pet projects and the homeless. And no [additional] 1 percent sales tax. We’ve had enough!
Don Booth
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