Street vendors working in L.A.'s El Salvador Corridor say police regularly harass them, and their representative, Eunisses Hernandez, is ignoring their complaints, leading to a threat of legal action against the city.
There are dozens, sometimes more than 100, street vendors doing business in the approximate four-block area between Olympic and PICO, and a group representing the community said that the LAPD Olympic Division has been harassing and running them off for years.
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So, they went to L.A. City Hall Wednesday to get the attention of council member Hernandez because, as Raul Clauros told KNX News' Craig Fiegener, "It's Wild Wild West. There's no regulation, no accountability."
Clauros said officers have suddenly taken on a very aggressive approach toward vendors they find in their patrol area, "So this whole, 'Not in my backyard,' 'Get off my front lawn' really triggers our 2020 sentiments of what led to a civil unrest. It reminds us also of a Donald Trump rhetoric."
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He says they've put together a plan that would allow vendors to continue doing business in the area, but they say Hernandez has been ignoring them - Hernandez told Fiegener that's simply not true.
The councilwoman said her office does support the Salvadoran Corridor and the plan to make it an official and permanent fixture in the community, but as for the allegations that she has been unresponsive, Hernandez said, "They've been in constant communication with my team. So I'm not sure what they're talking about because we're in constant communication with them."
With the threat of litigation, the council member says, for now, that is all she can say on the matter.
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