It looks like hot dog vendors have become enemy number one at city hall.
Prompted by Uptown Saint John, common council has agreed to raise the minimum bid for a sidewalk site this spring to $2,000, a $1,400 increase, despite the fact that most of the spots weren't even taken last year.
City staff interviewed police, the works department, Uptown Saint John, the Parking Commission and the Hardman Group about the available sites, without bothering to ask the vendors themselves.
It's clear what the intent is: suck more money into the city's coffers or put the poor vendors out of business.
Why is it that anytime someone shows some hustle and attracts some bustle, the instinct at city hall is to snuff it out?
The hot dog vendor works long hours early into the morning, attracting a little bit of life to our sleepy streets, and this is the thanks he gets?
Friday, April 28, 2006
CITY OF SAINT JOHN WON'T DARE TO GO AGAINST THE IRVINGS BUT THEY WILL GO AGAINST HOT DOGS VENDORS!!!!!
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3 comments:
This just confirms all suspitions to be true that in todays business dealings there is no longer any room left for the little guy which is a real shame.
Charlie it's the same in the summer, Some people here try to make a couple of dollars during the cruiseship season but are unable to aquire a proper licence to sell their goods and wears along the sidewalk which puts them at a disadvantage against the bigger players who are able to be the first ones to reach the passengers by buying a very expensive permit to be on the other side of the fence.
The irony is that this works against one of the main industries-tourism. People have the really dumb idea that people simply travel to 'see stuff'. One of the main reasons for travel is meeting people. Where there are no people, what's the point? It's not like Saint John has the Eiffel tower or something people just 'have to see'. Having these people even been on a cruise to the caribbean? Most of the fun is buying all the crap that sellers offer right off the boat.
I point seems to be that NB is being made into a 'zone of sacrifice'. A place designed to suck all the resources out, pollute all the hell, and screw the few people still living there. I don't think they even want tourism, because that means another industry might want access to crown land, clean up polluted areas, and get access to parts of the Miramichi River reserved and auctioned off to rich folk. What a province!
Truer words if the Empire; they always get the deal, forest products, water and now the LNG and Vendors!
We need to have alittle of the pie, greedy Billionaires and Mayor!
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