Food Trucks on the Eastern Promenade Over this Past Weekend.
Mr. Tuna Food Trucks have Made the Eastern Promenade Their Own Parking Lot to the Objection of Many Residents of the Area. Trucks Are Parked There That Are Not Selling Their Product.
Food truck owners believe their concerns about their pending eviction to a parkig lot off Cutter Street were ignored in the decision that goes into effect next month.The decision to evict food trucks from the Eastern Promenade was announced by Interim City Manager West to Councilors on Monday, May 2, 2022.
That evening West told the City Council that there have been complaints about noise, trash and traffic on the Eastern Promenade – all exclusively because of the presence of food trucks. Really?
However, in her presentation to the Council and other public comments, West failed to list the concerns that the food truck owners have about the eviction from the Prom that takes place by June 15, 2022. That doesn’t mean concerns of the food truck owners don’t exist. They do exist. It simply means that West did not reach out to them to consider an equitable and balanced solution to a solution looking for a problem..
“I listened to the city council meeting. The Council hasn’t been very responsive to our concerns,” said one food truck owner this afternoon on the Prom. “We bring a lot of tourists to this destination on the Prom.” Another food truck owner said: “There is a problem here on the Prom but instead of addressing it, the city wants to move it farther away. This move will create a whole set of new problems. Problems like parking, traffic into and out of the parking lot for starters. Where will lthe boat/trailer people park?”
“It’s my understanding from talking to my colleagues there are more than 10 trucks interested in the Cutter Street lot. All of this pr will undoubtedly attract more food trucks. How will we be able to have lines of customers waiting to order and receive their food if it’s an active parking lot? Shouldn’t those with seniority on the Prom be given priority before going to a lottery,? These were just some of the questions of one truck employee.
“It’s been hard to get information from city hall. We’ve had to rely on the media for what we’ve learned. I’m not sure how accurate that information always is. Why didn’t city hall use our contact information we filled out on our license applications to keep us informed?” asked another food truck employee. “Why bother to collect that information if you are not going to use it?” asked another food truck owner. At the least, city hall could have dispatched a city employee to the Eastern Prom to survey the industry members about their questions and concerns. “Haste makes Waste,” lamented this blogger.
“I’d like to think the city knows what it is doing, but I doubt it from what I’ve seen so far,” said one food truck employee. The foregoing is just a sampling of the questions and concerns expressed by the limited number of food truck operators on the HIll today – a weekday that does not draw the full fleet of food providers. Not all comments ae recorded herein.
West is serving as interim City Manager, temporarily replacing the vacancy created by former City Manager Jon Jennings leaving Portland for a similar position in Florida last fall. West is a city attorney. This decision by the city manager who is not accountable to Portland voters gives credence to the work of the City Charter Commission who is considering giving more authority to Portland elected officials.
Please visit posts herein dated May 1, 2022 and April 29, 2022 for more background on the subject – West vs. Food Trucks.