Skip to content
The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Community
  • Schools
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • Mill
  • Flora
  • Print Archive
  • About
Menu

Ask the restaurants

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Staff

In your “Town’s taco trucks in jeopardy” article on Jan. 24 article, Mayor Mark Chilton and Board of Aldermen member Jacquie Gist [said they] don’t understand why a complaint was filed against trucks selling prepared food from parking lots.

Gist writes, “I am worried by the real possibility that hard working entrepreneurs who are adding to our community could be put out of business and have their livelihood threatened. It is un-American and certainly un-Carrboro. If Carrboro cannot offer a welcoming home to immigrants trying to achieve the American Dream, then maybe I don’t know Carrboro as well as I think I do.”

The Taco Stands are not an immigration issue. The Taco Stands are not an entrepreneurial issue. The Taco Stands are a public health and a business licensing issue.

May I suggest that Chilton and Gist interview some of the real entrepreneurs, local business owners of Carrboro restaurants, and ask them how they feel about the fact that there are two sets of zoning and public health standards when it comes to serving food in downtown Carrboro. They might ask about the livelihood of local business people who have invested substantial tangible and permanent assets into downtown Carrboro.

Fitch Lumber, Johnny’s Sporting Goods and Cliff’s Meat Market parking lots are not licensed and inspected as restaurants, period. They don’t have to install costly HVAC systems, restrooms, pay overhead for rent or phones. (Whom do you call if you are in the ER with possible food poisoning?)
Full-functioning restaurants are the center of community life in Carrboro, but they live on the edge. They are faced with high employee costs, high rent costs, high food costs and very high construction costs. They must then survive on a slim margin … take-home salary is minimal. Interview the owners of Glass Half Full, Tyler’s, Spotted Dog, Southern Rail, Elmo’s, Panzanella or Weaver Street Cafe and ask them how they feel about a competitor setting up shop next door who faces almost no start-up and maintenance costs.

Gist’s and Chilton’s comments were irresponsible and a slap in the face to existing, locally owned small businesses. It’s time, long overdue, for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen to end their arbitrary attitude toward zoning laws. They need to stand up for local businesses that pay taxes and support the long-term viability of Carrboro. Please stop pandering to imaginary issues and face those that strengthen our local economy.

Ken Mills
Carrboro
P.S. I did not file the anonymous complaint.

16 thoughts on “Ask the restaurants”

  1. Mark Chilton says:
    January 31, 2008 at 6:26 am

    The Taco Trucks are regulated by the Orange County Helath Department. They have to pay sales tax just like anyone else. They also rent their commercial space just like every other restaurant in town. So what’s the problem?

  2. Andrew Davidson says:
    January 31, 2008 at 7:16 am

    The vendors at the Carrboro Farmer’s Market don’t pay sales tax. Are they threatening to drive Weaver Street or Harris Teeter out of business?

    I love all of the restaurants you mentioned, but: I’ll go to GlassHalfFull to taste a few glasses of wine. I’ll have Sunday brunch at Elmo’s. I take my kid to Southern Rail so he can run through the trains. Maybe once a month, I’ll spend 5 minutes, and four dollars, and grab two tacos from one of the trucks — like you all over New York, which is full of street carts — and that is the most thriving restaurant city in America. Union Square Cafe isn’t sweating over the hot dog vendors — in fact, its owner, Danny Meyer, has opened a gourmet hot dog carts right in Madison Square Park.

  3. John Kramer says:
    January 31, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    Typical Orange Progressive-speak, it is sad and amazing how few people understand the underlying issues. Do you really think those folks running the Taco Trucks are paying FICA, FUTA, SUTA etc etc? Give me a break!

  4. John D'Alessandro says:
    February 1, 2008 at 10:20 am

    I see both sides and their arguments, but I weigh in on the side of the taco stands. Yes, they should pay all taxes, comply with zoning, undergo health inspections. Agreed. But, they should also be INFORMED that they must do so. Many of these people don´t speak English, so lets tell them in Spanish. I think the shutting them down was a knee-jerk reaction, and should have been handled with more care. Why not tell them about the laws and codes, give them time to comply, and then see where that takes us? Also, did no one think of the consequences of closing these stands? Id like to see a cost benefit analysis of that, maybe that will get more people thinking, as unfortunately this is the only way to do so sometimes.Also, I think there is more at stake here for the restaurants. Maybe they are scared that when these vendors find out the way to set up these carts legally and efficiently, the competition will be even greater due to more of them popping up. This IS an immigration issue, or at least has EXTREMELY strong ties to this whole notion.

  5. Editor says:
    February 1, 2008 at 10:43 am

    Several comments have implied that these trucks are not legal or legitimate businesses or have passed health inspections.
    As the original article noted, all the trucks have passed health rules (which are generally administered in NC at the county level).
    And no authority — county, town, state or otherwise — has charged that the trucks are not paying taxes. They do indeed, for instance, charge sales tax.
    Thanks,
    The Editor

  6. JohnA says:
    February 1, 2008 at 11:04 am

    “But, they should also be INFORMED that they must do so. Many of these people don´t speak English, so lets tell them in Spanish.”

    If you set up a business in the UNITED STATES, it should be your responsibility to know and understand the language. Having to press the “English” button at ATMS and on phone menus is getting a little old.

  7. John D'Alessandro says:
    February 1, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    Mr.A,
    Let me just lay out a couple things so we can progress in our conversation. One, I’m not totally in disagreement with you about the point in which you state “If you set up a business in the UNITED STATES, it should be your responsibility to know and understand the language.” To tell you the truth, I feel that we have similar views on the subject of the English language being preserved, all of this coming from a person typing this from Mexico. Also, I think that I may have made an invalid assumption in my previous posting, as maybe some of these people do speak English, or have an understanding of the language. However, lets look at it from another perspective. Assuming that some of these people do not have legal status here in the USA, it isn’t so easy for them to find work. When you don’t have work, you can’t live, at least not properly. Think about this, these people are trying to make a living, a very minimal living to say the least, and I assume that they thought they were doing nothing wrong in the process. Then, all of the sudden, they are given one week to close up shop and find something else to do, all because of zoning laws which they, nor the people who they were renting the space from were aware of. What do they do? Well, if they are in fact from another country, they’re not going to go home, I can tell you that from experience. They are already here, and they are going to stay. So, you are left with a couple of options. 1)Find another job, where, the same principal applies, as they are not legally permitted to work. 2) Find a way to live off of the system. I don’t think we nor them want to take this option. 3)Pack up, try out another city. For me, this option is particularly disturbing. Carrboro, to me, isn’t the place to be driving already marginalized citizens out of town. On the contrary, it should be more of a refuge, a place to try out the all but vanished American Dream. I think Carrboro has this reputation, and for this reason so many people, be it from the USA, Mexico, Guatemala, or wherever, have come to live and to try to prosper. Lets not ruin this reputation by continuing with the actions taken towards these taco stands. Instead of these options, lets take number 4, which is to work together and find a way for these taco stands to be operational again. As many people have stated, they add a lot to our community, and more importantly, provide a way to make a living for these people. I don’t see a reason why we should ban these stands from operating; assuming that taxes, health inspections, and property issues are taken care of.

    I see the argument which restaurant owners are making about, but honestly, how much business is going to be lost to a taco stand? Eating at a restaurant and eating at a taco stand are different concepts. Plus, these stands are open mainly on weekends, and stay open later than other places. They don’t even deliver, knocking out even more potential competition. Now I’m not trying to say that these stands will not take customers away, they will. But how many? These tacos are so cheap that maybe people who usually do not eat out will frequent them, instead of patrons from other restaurants being drawn away. This also could potentially bring more people into town at night; and after tacos they my buy some ice cream or coffee at Weaver st. Besides, I may be mistaken on this, but aren’t they the only Mexican food in town other than Bandidos?

    I feel like I have already written WAY too much, but I really feel strongly about this issue, and I believe its pretty important. I think that we need to stop and think about all of this; hear everyone’s opinion. And when I say think, I mean really to think. What happens if we shut them down? Whats worse? How big of a problem is this? Is this really a problem? What can we do to solve this rather than just close the stands down?

  8. Phillip Son says:
    February 1, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    “Do you really think those folks running the Taco Trucks are paying FICA, FUTA, SUTA etc etc? Give me a break!”

    No one knows what you are talking about, John Kramer. Why don’t you tell us about these FICAs, SUTAs, and such instead of trying overwhelm us. I doubt it is so complicated that the only explanation is to throw acronyms no one is familiar with.

  9. JohnA says:
    February 2, 2008 at 3:12 am

    “….Assuming that some of these people do not have legal status here in the USA, it isn’t so easy for them to find work.”

    Illegal=hard to find work? I wonder why that is. Oh, yeah…..illegal.

  10. Tom Roche says:
    February 2, 2008 at 11:26 am

    John Kramer January 31st, 2008 at 4:16 pm
    Do you really think those folks running the Taco Trucks are paying FICA, FUTA, SUTA etc etc?

    Phillip Son February 1st, 2008 at 5:02 pm
    No one knows what you are talking about, John Kramer.

    Hey, Phillip Son: there’s this incredible tool called Google. You just type what you’re looking for into a box, and it gives you links to related content! I did that and got

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=FICA+FUTA+SUTA

    and the very first link is

    http://www.alllaw.com/articles/tax/article5.asp
    > What Are Payroll Taxes?
    > by Rebecca Berlin

    Pretty easy, huh? Check it out!-)

  11. PjP says:
    February 3, 2008 at 10:53 am

    Businesses fight each other, the Mayor fights for downtown business, the people fight the mayor, people fighting over the fighting, another fights for “FICA”, and then they fight some more about self imposed laws.

    All that friction. It is no wonder the planet is still warming.

    Peace is every step.

  12. John D'Alessandro says:
    February 3, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    JohnA,

    I’m sorry that, apparently, you do not have the ability to have a decent conversation. I don’t know if it is the fact that you blindly ignore opinions other than your own, do not care and just want to provoke others, or if you are just incapable of the required level of comprehension in order to have such a discussion. If you blatantly ignore certain points and take things out of context (they may be “illegal”, as you say, but you ignored the comments following this statement, which you can’t separate) then you are just part of the problem. I think that as adults we are better than that, or at least should be.

  13. John D'Alessandro says:
    February 3, 2008 at 8:32 pm

    Also, I believe that our friend Mr. JohnA has shown that, contrary to the opinion of the author of this editorial,

    The Taco Stands are not an immigration issue. The Taco Stands are not an entrepreneurial issue. The Taco Stands are a public health and a business licensing issue.

    this is an immigration issue to some.

  14. JohnA says:
    February 4, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    “I’m sorry that, apparently, you do not have the ability to have a decent conversation. I don’t know if it is the fact that you blindly ignore opinions other than your own, do not care and just want to provoke others, or if you are just incapable of the required level of comprehension in order to have such a discussion.”

    I’m sorry that you feel that you’re the king of intellectualism. The demeaning tone in your post says plenty to me. I haven’t commented on the story because I don’t really have an opinion either way. I don’t have a problem with the taco stands operating as long as everything is in accordance with the law and town policies. I do have an opinion on people owning a business in the US speaking English and illegals having trouble finding jobs. That is why I posted on those topics.

  15. John D'Alessandro says:
    February 4, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    JohnA,

    Don’t be sorry, because I don’t feel that way about myself. I’m aware that I’m not the “king of intellectualism, nor anything close to it. What I am aware of is that I am discussing this topic, and that you took my words out of context. I specifically made the point which you quoted me on

    “Assuming that some of these people do not have legal status here in the USA, it isn’t so easy for them to find work.”

    in order to support my other points

    “When you don’t have work, you can’t live, at least not properly. Think about this, these people are trying to make a living, a very minimal living to say the least, and I assume that they thought they were doing nothing wrong in the process. Then, all of the sudden, they are given one week to close up shop and find something else to do, all because of zoning laws which they, nor the people who they were renting the space from were aware of. What do they do? Well, if they are in fact from another country, they’re not going to go home, I can tell you that from experience. They are already here, and they are going to stay.”

    I didn’t say that there isn’t something wrong with this scenario, I am merely pointing out the relationship these two ideas have with each other. Therefore, by me making the point I did about undocumented people, I did so specifically in the context of this article. My logic is completely tied to this article and this specific situation, and I hope that you see that this is the point I am making.

    I am glad that you have opinions on these topics, because they are pretty important and timely. I am also happy to discuss these and to be refuted, as that is one of the best ways to progress. However, using sarcasm doesn’t do anything but piss people off and make for a digressive conversation. If you want to talk about these topics or tell me something I said which you disagree with or have an opinion about, that is great, but please do it in a respectful manner. And please remember that this is the forum for this article, therefore what people are saying should be viewed within its context.

  16. Maria Bolanoños says:
    February 20, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    i love the taco stands and just so you know the people there do speak english because i know them. They are some of the most comprehensive people i have ever meet in the U.S and thay do understand what the problem was. and they do pay taxes like any other restaurant. plus the food is better than any other place around there.

Comments are closed.

Web Archive

© 2025 The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme