Let the Correspondence Begin
From: XXXXXXXXXX [mailto:xxxxx@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 10:05 AM
To: Steve Lackmeyer
Subject: Innaugural Food Event on Friday Night
Just to be accurate there were also many issues involving food safety with the taco trucks. One truck had no electrical power hence no way to keep any of its food refrigerated. The second truck lacked proper refrigeration and food was being held at temperatures which would quickly contribute to a foodborne illness. Licenses and electrical problem surely were problems, but the more serious problem was the lack of proper food safety by the coordinator of the event and the people operating the food outlets. The event coordinator never contacted the Oklahoma City Licensing division, ABLE Commission or the health department to see what was needed to sponsor such an event. While I sympathize with the people who showed up for a festival, I believe the event should be done in a responsible manner that does not endanger the health of the people who consume food at the event.
XXXX XXXX
Senior Environmental Specialist
and a member of one of the teams that asked one of the taco wagons to exit and return to their restaurant
MY RESPONSE:
I’m getting conflicting information on this matter. The organizers say the trucks did provide copies of their licenses and that they did talk to the licensing division and were told they had taken proper steps.
What puzzles me is how you guys decided a raid at night, instead of a phone call on Friday morning, was the more appropriate action on this matter. Mr. Bailey said your team were acting in response to my story. The phone numbers to Elemental Coffee, J.D. Merryweather at Coop Ale and Jonathan Stranger at Ludivine are all listed in the phone book.
Is this not an attempt at theatrics over a more mature but less dramatic alternative of making a phone call instead? The fact that Mr. Bailey indicated that The Oklahoman was invited to accompany this virtual strike force makes me question further the conduct of this action. (NOTE: This invite was news to me; no such reporter or photographer was present other than me, and I showed up not knowing this was happening).
- Steve Lackmeyer
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Comments
Mike, you’re assuming that the authorities are telling the truth. I’m assuming it’s possible I’ve been misled by either side.
I must also question whether the message was sent with a “heavy hand,” and if so, is that deemed appropriate by elected officials and their constituents?
There are obviously, as shown in this action, people holding the food trucks accountable. But is there accountability for the authorities in this matter?
One more thing: I’ve been lied to and misled enough by authorities the past 21 years I do not automatically assume they are honest.
I can understand. I however beleive they are truthful until proven otherwise. Each side has an agenda and being misled by either is possible. However since it entails money those with the most to loose, the vendors, are in my book the most suspect.
It comes down to the undeniable truth of follow the money. As to accountability of the officials as long as what they did meets the minimum letter of the law there is no accountability beyond that.
Personally I would want the health officals to act very heavy handed at the start of this to let the vendors know they better do it right or pack up and leave. It is far easier to lighten up later than to start easy and get tough.
Dealing with these vendors in a regulatory enviroment is a lot like raising kids. Make a firm and non-negotiable point early on and then relax later when it will not be so noticeable.
Want them to act heavy handed? How about some personal responsibility on what and where you eat? If I want to eat out of the trunk of a guys car and pay him for it, that is a private contract that is none of the govt’s business. If I get sick then a civil action may be in order but honestly, I chose to eat out of a guys trunk.
The open market will take care of a business that treats it’s customers poorly…. Upton Sinclair put us on the wrong path….
You cannot legislate or tax an entirely risk free life and it’s killing business and freedom that they try.
If what that environmental specialist says is true regarding the refrigeration issues, then I don’t feel sympathetic toward the food trucks at all. That’s dangerous and irresponsible behavior on the vendors’ part.
That’s IF what he/she says is true. (I see no reason for them to lie, and I haven’t heard any contradiction of that set of facts here or at OKCTalk). And it would explain why it wasn’t solved with a phone call–you can’t call in to make sure the trucks are properly storing their food. Still, such a large “strike force” seems overkill. That kind of problem can be handled by 2 inspectors/agents/
Steve, there was NOT a city-wide crackdown last evening. Instead, it was a surgical strike.
My sources told me that Bobo’s was not inspecred, nor was the Pattywagon. I spoke with the Pattywagon people just an hour ago, and was told no one came by. As of Saturday, 2pm, I have not heard of any street-food inspections other than the Elemental Coffee Event of last evening.
Thank you for your dilligence!
When it comes to health laws YES I want enforcement Jennifer. As to public health IT IS the “G’s” business whether you or any of us like it or not. That is how it really works and not a fantasy utopia.
History correction, Upton Sinclair exposed a corrupt and unsafe/poisionious industry that needed exposure. I am not saying risk free is possible or even desireable, but rules and there enforcement are needed to moderate and manage risk. That CAN and SHOULD be done.
What’s interesting is that the raid occurred not three hours after it opened, but about 15 to 20 minutes after it opened. Which does beg the question – why not do it before it opened?
For the Health Dept I suspect it is all about “shock & awe”. ABLE too. The smart play would have been for the food vendors to have invited the inspectors to meet them there around the beginning of the event, I have witnessed this before for food service.
Preemptively asking for their assistance can blunt the effect of the inspectors just “showing up”. Due to the vagaries of the health standards they must in most cases witness a violation. The only way to do this is wait until the operation is functioning.
The smartest action the vendors could have taken was:
1. Have their trucks inspected 1-2 days ahead of time.
2. Make ANY & ALL changes noted by the inpsecotrs.
3. Had inspectors invited to the event.
Ultimately the fault lies with the vendors for failing to take proper measures in advance. They need to ask State Fair food vendors how to do this corrrectly since most of the facts would overlap. State Fair vendors are experts in compliance…food truck operators could learn a lot.
Mike, I understand what you’re saying. And if the health department folks are telling the truth, then you’re right – the responsibility ultimately is on the vendors. But I’m not convinced we’ve been given the total truth yet.
Probably but it is interesting to speculate. I am aware of a LOT of brick and mortar eateries that would like nothing less than to see the food trucks to vaporize. As to the Health Dept. genuflecting to that constituency I just don’t see it. Self agrandizing maybe but stepping and fetching not so much.
But regardless of the Health Depts. motives the vendors still have to come to heel and abide by the standards mandated by state law.
this sounds like someone in the health dept and the able commission .. didn’t really like the sound of “food markets” and wanted to make it hard for the to have a good first day to hopefully stop these from growing and spreading in the future …
i will be very interested to read the info you find steve and i will not be surprised if you uncover an email or two that shows that they don’t want these food markets to happen.
AJ I am in a completely different line of work. I really like the fewest rules possible. In two areas I want rules and strict enforcement food/health/safety and building codes. I want my food to be the safest it can be and also the buildings I am in. The rest I am pretty laid back.
There seem to be two possible narratives developing here.
1. The conspiracy narrative – This happened because somebody is out to stop the food trucks from getting a strong footing in the city.
This seems inherently unlikely to me, but it isn’t impossible. I don’t know the politics of these departments.
2. The early enforcement narrative – This happened because the agencies are trying to send a message that they want these relatively new vendors to be safe and by cracking down hard and in the public like this, they can scare current and future vendors into compliance.
This seems the more inherently plausible reason, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it is true.
With the number of people involved in the decision-making process, it could be same elements of both narratives, or something else entirely that hasn’t been suggested yet. I’m personally looking forward to seeing how this story develops. I might actually buy a copy of the Oklahoman (shudder).
In regards to the licensing issues, someone at the City/County should clarify if the trucks themselves were not licensed or if they didn’t have a “special event” permits for this gathering. These are different issues. If the City/County was requiring a “special event” permit, then one should ask why can’t multiple mobile vendors gather in one place without the govt. demanding additional permits/fees.
The response that one truck didn’t have electricity to power it’s refrigeration is “BS”. The authorities didn’t like the gauge of electrical cord being used to power the trucks, but it did have power. This is not a real health concern, but an abuse of power by overzealous inspectors.
I operated a mobile food concession for 3 years at events and festivals throughout Oklahoma. What most people don’t realize is these mobile concessions are inspected every time they attend a festival. The health inspectors may show up before the event starts or in the middle of the event. I had one walk in on me after I had been slammed during a lunch rush that I was working alone thinking it would be a slow day. The inspector wanted to see if the temps and conditions of food meet requirements while you were serving. These mobile food vendors have to meet all food handling requirements same as a restaurant, meet electrical code, and contain fire suppression systems. I was delayed opening at one event due to a fire extinguisher having an out of date tag. Most restaurants are inspected once a year while mobile concessions are inspected at each event. Did I feel it was unfair, no. But I did feel it unfair for non-profit organizations as churches to not follow the same requirements. I understand this has been changed now and they too must meet all health codes. Personally I did not oppose to this inspection. And I hope any facility I purchase food from be a restaurant or mobile vendor meets all health requirements. It wasn’t a raid on the event, it was the inspectors job. It may have been an action in response to your story only in the fact that they were not aware of the event until they read your story.
Janet R. thank you for your sage and obviously well experienced thoughts. It is nice to see an insider that has been there done that and fully understands and supports the equal enforcement of the health codes.
I don’t think anyone really questions the need for food safety. That said, the way these inspections were carried out seems to have been rather ham-handed. If it had been a couple health inspectors and an ABLE agent, it would be easy to accept that this is what they always do. Instead, they treated it like the vendors were Branch Davidians.
I’m not trying to brag but I worked at OU Concessions.
Does anyone else understand this captcha thing. I can’t read what to type in. Isn’t that weird?
Oh. And I would like to say that I appreciate the well experienced thoughts. Some people just don’t get it and
it’s nice to see someone who does!Plus, I totally relate to
a lunch rush when you think it’s going to be a slow day.
According to the Dallas Morning News, a “Food Truck Festial” was held in Dallas this weekend. I don’t subscribe online, so perhaps someone else could give us the gist of the article found here: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20110827-food-truck-festival-held-on-greenville-avenue-in-northeast-dallas.ece
Was on the beach in Santa Monica several years ago and noticed that all the food vendors there would have been shut down if they had been in Oklahoma City.
it is a frequent pattern of enforcement agencies to operate in groups. ever drive down i-35 on the north side of town? unfortunately, while the agents or officers feel more secure by having others to watch their backs, the citizens’ perception is entirely different. when government is perceived as strong-armed and heavy handed, you get the kind of community relations that exist in los angeles with the police department. strangely enough, i just visited san francisco, where the atmosphere is completely different.
other food vendors are not likely to be “scared into compliance.” they are far more likely to be scared off completely. deliberate? can’t say for sure, but some folks who are employed by government aren’t the least bit bothered by the prospect of collecting the same pay for not having to do as much work in the future. if there are no food trucks, they don’t have to be inspected. there is no need for a conspiracy. it is more likely to be herd mentality. besides, food trucks are likely considered to be a pain to inspect. you have to track ‘em down, and apparently they must be inspected constantly. it’s not hard to imagine the motivation here.
I had a front row seat for this situation, and I would only like to add that there is no way this was not a coordinated raid. The “agents” came onto the truck with a show of force that I can only compare to a drug raid. There was nothing that the trucks could have done not to be shut down. BTT had the wrong license, yes, but that license was issued by the same people that were shutting down the event. How can it be BTT’s fault that they were issued the wrong license. On another note, BTT was inspected the very next day, made absolutely no changes to the trucks and passed without any problems. How can this be? If they were shut down because elemental never got a license, then there should have been no examination of the trucks and thus no bad press for all of these vendors.
Rule Number One for the vendors know the law and obey the law to the letter. Food trucks are a relative new situation here. It is only a sound business practice to be perfect in compliance as the heat of getting it right will fall on the first not to ruin it for the followers on.
By doing the inspections when and where was obvious to me. It was to send a message and it was sent.