He just noticed this? He must not get out much.

The fire sprinkler business will be hiring!!

The foodies are gonna freak out!
I sometimes wonder if the hygiene of these bunky wagons is up to snuff.

Checking up on the roach coaches is not the worst idea he's had. Should be fun to watch.

What happened? Did Randy get food poisoning? I dare say he gives most everyone indigestion.

Yet sometimes, you just have to look the other way! http://angelaschneiderphotography.com/?page_id=60

I am no fan of gov over regulation - and am a food cart fan.
But this was prompted by a TV report on how the carts are skating on code adherence.
I applaud this only as a victim of BDS punishment. An agency that cannot even uniformly explain its own regulations.

If its anything like Cindys, Greek c., 92nd street club or the other business' that wrinkled a hair on his behind it will be all over the airwaves on how he closed them down for the 'good of the public'.....

Food carts have enjoyed lax enforcement of health, safety, and building standards. This isn't "cracking down", it's "doing an adequate job".

What, the carts don't pay fees and taxes equal to the brick and mortar folks, yet?

Randy must have had a serious falling-out with the operators of City Center Parking for this to happen.

Sure this makes sense in a normal world, but Randy's no normal person nor are these normal times. He's a firebrand who regular appears to put his pet issues and union buddies ahead of citizens, jobs and the economy. Add in the economic dregs the city and state are in, and ask why strict enforcement makes any remote sense today. These food carts took over many years ago. This is petty, mean-spirited and poorly timed. In other words, the usual.

But wait -- don't tell me -- you're still going to vote for him.

Its the mixed crowd of Kinkies, Perverts, PSU students and 4:20 crowd who keep voting in the Yoyos like Randy as they see them least likely to infringe on their questionable behaviors. Squawk and squeal all you want but ain't nothing gonna change. Such are the rewards of embracing diversity.

But then, if Mohamdud had been successful??

I say it's about time the city did this. These carts get away with so much compared to regular eateries. I just don't get the appeal of the carts, the food I have tried has been pretty bad.

A friend of mine who was recently involved with a cart just told me that the IRS is starting to sniff around some of the carts due to unreported cash income.

If Leonard is truly interested in finding a balance, that's fine.

I think that most cities ban food carts due to pressure from established restaurants owners who, simply out of greed, want to kill the competition.

But the reality is that food carts provide an affordable option for people who need an affordable, entry-level option to get into the restaurant business in the first place.

At the corner of SE Division and 50th, there's a very successful taco truck whose owners have now been able to open a sit-down restaurant at Division and 12th.

So, more power to them, and all of their peers.

One benefit would be if it takes from his time spent on other ideas, which tend to be pretty idiotic. There are so many of these food shacks around it could take years going after them. Maybe these vendors send a few poor food vendors with "violins" to play their sad cases before city hall.

Commissioner Leonard in another recent example of brilliance said the Corvallis Mosque fire was a revenge thing. But before the evidence comes in, maybe it was some one burning the records kept at the Mosque on its activities or maybe the owners just wanting some insurance money. Who knows but Commissioner Leonard was pretty quick to go political correct.

IRS + restaurant = boom!

Just another distraction in The City That Works You Over, this time it's Commissioner Corndog's turn.

Meanwhile:

Fed Names Recipients of $3.3 Trillion in Crisis Aid
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-01/fed-names-recipients-of-3-3-trillion-of-aid-during-u-s-financial-crisis.html

Excerpt:
Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. were among the biggest borrowers from one program, the Term Auction Facility, with as much as $45 billion apiece. Some aid went to U.S. units of foreign institutions, including Switzerland’s UBS AG, France’s Societe Generale and Germany’s Dresdner Bank AG.

Fireman Randy gives him too much respect and insults the men and women who take those risks ....it should be Firehose Randy.

The nitwitted egomaniac would take that moniker as a compliment. Randy Ding-a-ling has a nice ring to it, on that theme.

I've tried a few of the carts here and there. By and large it's a cheap quick meal, and a quality option to the fast food chains. So the consumers have a choice, and these are carts, with wheels, in parking lots, as opposed to structures, which can fall down, or cause death, or serious injury, to people who happen to occupy them and so forth. The Greek Cusina, a multi story monstrosity/death trap remodeled without regard to the building codes, where literally hundreds of people could be trapped inside and burned to death, etc. is the polar opposite of a cart on wheels situated in an open air parking lot. Yes, there need to be a few common sense health dept. sanitation rules and regulations, and these operations need to have adequate liability insurance in case something happens. Other than making sure people don't get sick, and they are insured adequetly, I see no need for governmental interference with these small scale businesses that provide an opportunity to supply a demand that clearly exists within the community.

Isn't this just another opportunity to collect more revenue? Establish an entire culture that becomes part of the scene and somewhat permanent, then, "Oh yeah! Now we get to take money from you!" I don't have any problem with expecting the "carts" to pay for permits, inspections, etc. (and abide by the rules of businesses, heaven forbid), but if that had been part of the deal to begin with, maybe the cart culture would never had exploded. Sounds to me like the old "Wait until they're stuck, then take their money." I guess kind of like the leaf collection fees.

Typical. Find one of the few segments of the economy that's actually growing, and squash it.

Although I think it would be nice to know that the carts have passed some form of health inspection. Maybe an inspection modified to meet the situation, but hot food staying hot, cold food staying cold, and raw food staying away from cooked food.....

"But this was prompted by a TV report on how the carts are skating on code adherence."

Maybe Randy should a trip to Dignity Village. He'd have a field day if he's looking for violations.

Portland - No spray paint or food carts, but plenty of neon.

Why shouldn't food carts have to abide by the same rules as other restaurants *and* businesses that build structures?

Because most wouldn't exist without the rules being mostly ignored.

And what's all this about the "evil restaurants" wanting to kill food carts? Many of the restaurants *own* food carts. And, Portland has had "food carts" for a few decades, all over downtown. The recent fad of building "pods" in parking lots is the problem, for several reasons--none of which have anything to do with competition or how tasty the food is.

I like them because at night, when it's raining it's just like a scene out of 'Blade Runner'

There are just as many violations at Dignity Village as there are at the food carts. I hope fairness runs rampant with Randy's Charge.

There are just as many violations at Dignity Village as there are at the food carts. I hope fairness runs rampant with Randy's Charge.

Why should a special case of shelter for people that are homeless and destitute be treated the same as a small business serving the public being run for profit on a leased lot? Dignity Village is more than just a "camp"--it's been a way to help homeless folks pull themselves up by their bootstraps and move on.

Ecohuman, aren't you for "public safety" equally for everyone? Homeless folks should have equal public safety, right?

Ecohuman, aren't you for "public safety" equally for everyone? Homeless folks should have equal public safety, right?

What does "equal public safety" mean to you, exactly? Because I'm confused why you're focused on having food handling and construction requirements for public-serving businesses apply to a homeless camp.

Ecohuman, Dignity Village is on publicly owned land. If there is a code violation in any category, those injured by such would have rights to sue the City-us.

Why should there be any differentiation between a public-serving business, a public owned property, or a privately owned property where codes have been established under the guise of "public safety"?

If you've ever been out there, or reviewed photos, or city files on DV, you'll see numerous food handling, building code, electrical, sanitation violations. Personally I've even been cited for having a stair riser up to a house porch being 3/8" in height higher than the other two risers.

In DV photos just posted on this blog it shows the inside of a structure with numerous posts with wood brackets holding up a jungle of roofs. The connections of brackets to posts are held together with nails and no structural, metal brackets. Ask Randy if BDS reviewed this structure and if it complies with structural codes. It doesn't.