Superman hears food safety concerns – The Vacaville Reporter

Public comments at Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Solano County Board of Supervisors focused primarily on the lack of enforcement of county regulations regarding unlicensed food vendors within the county.

Marissa Alcazar, a public commentator, expressed concern along with her husband and many other Solano County food vendors about illegal pop-up restaurants in the county, which they say pose public safety risks through traffic and food safety concerns. Alcazar, who said she runs a legal ice cream business with her husband, argued that businesses that go through the regulatory process and get a permit to operate are effectively “punished” by the county when those regulations are not enforced.

“The pop-up doesn’t have to do anything about it, even though it poses a much greater risk of harm to the public than we do,” she said.

Compliance with the regulations isn’t always easy, she said, and without enforcement, there’s no incentive for pop-ups to play by the same rules, she said. By increasing the number of crackdowns, Alcazar said, increasing penalties for those who break the law and launching a public health awareness campaign to deter citizens from eating at these pop-up restaurants, the county can support legitimate businesses.

“It’s unfair to punish us for allowing this to happen,” she said.

Alcazar made it clear that she does not want other businesses to be forcibly closed, but does want them to be forced to comply.

“Without your help, the county will lose more businesses and will be unable to attract new ones.”

Supervisor Erin Hannigan noted that illegal pop-up businesses are a problem in Vallejo, where bright lights and fast-moving traffic create an unfavorable mix: long lines for food and servers taking orders across the width of the roadway.

“It’s a dangerous situation,” she said. “I’ve witnessed near accidents.”

Hannigan thanked the vendors for expressing their concerns and noted that she had approached the county about the issue in the past, but said the city of Vallejo had shown it “wasn’t necessarily interested” in addressing the issue in the past. Still, she acknowledged that the county could do more.

“You’re right, we can add a little more teeth to our side,” she said. “But unfortunately we have to work with the cities on that.”

Supervisor Wanda Williams agreed with Hannigan that pop-ups are a problem. Supervisor Mitch Mashburn also shared Hannigan’s concerns about safety and said the sheriff’s department could be equipped to help address these issues in the future.

“If we can’t get help from the cities, the sheriff will have jurisdiction over the entire county,” Mashburn said.