On Friday’s Z107.7 Up Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke with Chair of the County Board of Supervisors Dawn Rowe. The conversation turned to technological innovation in county government, and Rowe explained that new tech is being used to combat a decidedly low-tech problem.
“We have a new pilot program. Illegal food vending is becoming a problem. You can drive along Highway 62 at night and see them popping up right over by Pie for the People, down by Triangle Liquor. Not all of them are legal.
They have food borne illnesses, they’re not necessarily inspected. They can apply to be legal, but I would say the majority are not. You risk hepatitis, you risk all kinds of things.
We have a pilot program where we are taking iPads with our code enforcement officers. When he sees a visual infraction of the code, he pings the person on Facetime and the environmental health officer does a visual inspection that is legal through the iPad and will determine whether it is worthy of confiscating the food from the vendor.
I understand the appeal, but when you look at our small businesses that we’ve gone to great lengths to attract to the (Morongo) Basin.. the cost of opening up and maintaining a business – especially in the state of California – is pretty onerous, so they have a disadvantage against the food trucks.
It’s an unfair disadvantage to those people who have put their life-savings into operating businesses and doing it the legal way. In these instances, the county is reactive and responds to complaints.”
You can hear Daigneault’s full interview with Supervisor Rowe by listening to the Up Close Show as a podcast or below:
