Nov 13, 2008 12:09 am US/Pacific
Building a Safe System for Street Vendors
Jefferson Award Winner: Emilia Otero
OAKLAND (CBS 5) ―
For more information on ACAF, call 510-436-6970. Manuel Beltran has been a fruit vendor in Oakland for sixteen years. Seven days a week, he's up at 4a.m. with his wife Zeffe and son Miguel buying, preparing, and bagging fresh coconut, melon, and grapes -- fruit they sell from pushcarts on the street.
"We have sinks, water, a table that is appropriate for this," he says, with his wife translating from Spanish. "Before, it was a wood table. Now it's better, more clean."
Manuel says his working conditions have improved a lot over the years due in large part to Emilia Otero. Twelve years ago, Emilia helped organize street vendors on Fruitvale, forming an organization called Asociation de Comerciantes Ambulantes de Fruitvale, or ACAF.
Back then, Emilia was known in her community for organizing after-school programs at her granddaughter's school, when a local vendor asked for help with his street-side business.
"Back then it was not legal, it was not illegal," she remembers. "It was nothing. It was in limbo. The police can come and harass them and take them off the street, or the health department can come and take the fruit and throw it away!"
So Emilia went to work, organizing 25 vendors and hammering out an agreement with the health department. She then found a commissary for meal preparation and new pushcarts that met health code guidelines. Before her association was formed, the local venders used to use shopping carts to sell their wares. Now there are heated and refrigerated pushcarts, all up to code.
"They pay the business taxes, they pay the city permits, the health permits, they have the food safety certification and they are complying with all the regulations with the city, state, and health department," Emilia explains.
Emilia is now raising money to give vendors a permanent headquarters. And other cities have contacted Emilia to learn how to organize similar programs.
Today, the Fruitvale street vendors welcome Emilia and proudly display the ACAF sign.
Manuel says, "It has changed a lot. No problems with the police, health department, and the people eat the fruit with more confidence."
"It was just the profound feeling of wanting to help," says Emilia. "Especially when I found out how they were living and how hard they were working. These people, incredible, back then they were seeing them like second-hand citizens and when you see that, you say, 'But this is good people! This is hard working people!"
So, for protecting street merchants and their customers with a safe and healthy service system, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Emilia Otero.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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