City Government
Food Truckers Take to the Streets Against City Discrimination, Police Harassment
Over 20 Latino-owned food trucks led a mobile march down International Boulevard in Oakland Monday – from 46th Avenue and International to City Hall –disrupting traffic to pressure the city to pass an ordinance to allow them to expand their vending operations past East Oakland.
Currently, mobile merchants are not allowed to operate outside designated zones, mostly in flatland Districts 5, 6 and 7. Mobile vendors say they are feeling increasingly congested by the growing number of trucks and relatively few places to park their trucks for business in these areas.
This, as a result, has hurt their businesses, many of which are family-owned and employ up to 10 workers who are supporting their own families.
They also say that the city’s unwillingness to expand their vending parameters and the use of police to shut down those working outside the currently allowed zone equate to discrimination.
“It’s very saturated here,” said Ezequías Ortiz of Tacos Acapulco. “The city won’t give us permission to work outside and now they’re ticketing businesses that have been here for years.”
The mobile merchant ordinance, which was introduced to the City Council in 2009, has taken six years to get through the City Attorney’s office, city staff, the planning commission and countless public hearings.
The law would expand the merchants’ working zones to certain locations within the entire city of Oakland.
Mobile vendors believe this is the year that City Council will pass the ordinance.
On Monday, several commissaries—established commercial kitchens where food truckers and other food service providers can go to prepare and store food in clean and inspected locations—came together for the action, also calling for an end to what they consider harassment by the city.
According to several merchants, the city has recently been serving more cease and desist letters to mobile restaurants that are as close as a block away from the allowed parameter and often the police show up to shut their restaurants down.
Since the mobile merchant ordinance would nullify these charges, vendors are upset by the city’s stringency and aggression that has recently become more frequent.
Pati Liles, owner of Taquería La Bonita, a family-run mobile restaurant, said police have recently shut down her business three times after receiving complaints from neighbors. Each time, the police showed up within minutes of being called.
“It’s unjust that police are being used to stop people who are doing nothing wrong and are just trying to work,” said Liles. “The police never showed up when my son was hit by a car. We called them and they never showed up.”
Furthermore, Nancy Marcus, administrative assistant for the city of Oakland, has been denying requests to renew special business permits for some of the vendors that have existed in Oakland for over 10 years, say mobile business owners.
The food truckers who took to the street on Monday afternoon view the city’s aggressive behavior as a drive to squelch the businesses of mobile vendors in favor of stores that are renting space.
The mobile vendors face opposition mainly from store vendors who feel they cannot compete with the trucks and carts stationed outside their stores and by neighbors who are afraid of the crowds that would follow food trucks into their neighborhoods.
According to Councilmember Noel Gallo, who has been working with mobile merchants in the Latino community to get the ordinance passed through City Council, the city frequently has failed to ensure that vendors who operate mobile stores are doing so legally and with a permit.
“There’s a lot of illegal trucks competing with restaurants that are paying fees and getting their inspections,” said Gallo in an interview with El Mundo. “It causes everybody to lose business because they can’t compete with unpermitted vendors selling on the corner.”
The new ordinance would only apply to mobile merchants who have a permit to operate in certain zones and in safe and legal ways.
Food truck owner Antonio “Tony” Belayo says the ordinance is simply a matter of keeping business afloat in a city that’s becoming more and more popular to live and work in.
“We don’t want to interfere with restaurants or other vendors. We just want everyone to be happy,” said Belayo. “Mobile merchants are a source of employment in Oakland and it helps many of us support our families.”
“Mobile merchants have always been a vibrant part of this city and form a vital part of Oakland’s economy,” said Araceli “Shelly” Garza, an advocate for the mobile merchants who helped organize the caravan on Monday.
“Since 2009, the city has been telling us that the ordinance is going to finally be scheduled,” said Garza. “People are sick and tired of being put on the back burner.”
At City Hall, Councilmember Gallo promised the crowd that the mobile merchants ordinance would be approved by City Council by the end of the summer.
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Oakland Post: Week of June 25 – July 1, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 25 – July 1, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

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OPINION: California’s Legislature Has the Wrong Prescription for the Affordability Crisis — Gov. Newsom’s Plan Hits the Mark
Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.

By Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook
As a pastor and East Bay resident, I see firsthand how my community struggles with the rising cost of everyday living. A fellow pastor in Oakland recently told me he cuts his pills in half to make them last longer because of the crushing costs of drugs.
Meanwhile, community members are contending with skyrocketing grocery prices and a lack of affordable healthcare options, while businesses are being forced to close their doors.
Our community is hurting. Things have to change.
The most pressing issue that demands our leaders’ attention is rising healthcare costs, and particularly the rising cost of medications. Annual prescription drug costs in California have spiked by nearly 50% since 2018, from $9.1 billion to $13.6 billion.
Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.
Some lawmakers, however, have advanced legislation that would drive up healthcare costs and set communities like mine back further.
I’m particularly concerned with Senate Bill (SB) 41, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a carbon copy of a 2024 bill that I strongly opposed and Gov. Newsom rightly vetoed. This bill would impose significant healthcare costs on patients, small businesses, and working families, while allowing big drug companies to increase their profits.
SB 41 would impose a new $10.05 pharmacy fee for every prescription filled in California. This new fee, which would apply to millions of Californians, is roughly five times higher than the current average of $2.
For example, a Bay Area family with five monthly prescriptions would be forced to shoulder about $500 more in annual health costs. If a small business covers 25 employees, each with four prescription fills per month (the national average), that would add nearly $10,000 per year in health care costs.
This bill would also restrict how health plan sponsors — like employers, unions, state plans, Medicare, and Medicaid — partner with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate against big drug companies and deliver the lowest possible costs for employees and members. By mandating a flat fee for pharmacy benefit services, this misguided legislation would undercut your health plan’s ability to drive down costs while handing more profits to pharmaceutical manufacturers.
This bill would also endanger patients by eliminating safety requirements for pharmacies that dispense complex and costly specialty medications. Additionally, it would restrict home delivery for prescriptions, a convenient and affordable service that many families rely on.
Instead of repeating the same tired plan laid out in the big pharma-backed playbook, lawmakers should embrace Newsom’s transparency-first approach and prioritize our communities.
Let’s urge our state legislators to reject policies like SB 41 that would make a difficult situation even worse for communities like ours.
About the Author
Rev. Dr. VanHook is the founder and pastor of The Community Church in Oakland and the founder of The Charis House, a re-entry facility for men recovering from alcohol and drug abuse.
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