Here I explain some of the issues surrounding the issuance of a permit to sell booze at a local store. Yes, this should be a routine matter. But for the viewers and for the council I examine the issues in a little more depth and show the area in question.
It's suddenly become controversial to issue a permit in Manteca! One was denied last month and now the neighbors are pressuring the council to deny the permit here also. The neighbors had complained of annoying people with car stereos and the like.
I did note with some surprise and annoyance that when I first arrived, there was a guy playing a loud car stereo there! (Edit: I had previously thought the street vendor was just outside the city's border. However, the street vendor is within the city limits according to Google Maps. That raises a whole other set of questions such as why aren't they enforcing the noise ordinance?)
As you know, I have always advocated in favor of the hard working street vendor -- but not one that annoys the neighborhood with blasting "music" all day! And it was blasting even though it may not sound like it on the video. (An old VHS tape camcorder with poor audio and it was noisy there. And you can still clearly hear the car stereo over the noisy traffic!)
Not shown on the tape, the guy turned down the stereo when customers came by -- so he could conduct commerce -- but he didn't seem to care much about others in the neighborhood trying to conduct commerce or anything else! And also, when the guy noticed me filming, the music mysteriously disappeared. hmmm.
The real anoyance in that area is the poorly behaved street peddler. I support the granting of the permit because it's not fair to punish the merchant for what is by all appearances a perfectly ordinary convenience store /gas station just like every other gas station in Manteca. He's just asking for the same permit to sell liquor everyone else has and he is not the real problem at that corner.
