WEBVTT FILE

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[music playing]

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-I manage the Cheesie’s truck.

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We sell perfect
grilled cheese sandwiches.

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-The name of my company
is called the Tamale Spaceship.

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Our theme is we wanna provide
great food with a little bit of fun.

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-My food truck was
the DucknRoll truck,

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and I used to sell Asian style
Banh Mi sandwiches

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and rice bowls on there.

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-We have Chicken Tinga,
Al Pastore, La Tejana.

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And for platters we have Alhambras,

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which is like
a Mexico City specialty.

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-This is basically
our company on wheels.

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We’re all entrepreneurs
and small businesses.

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We just want to provide the consumers

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more opportunities to have
different types of food.

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-They provide like a really friendly,

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really fast, on the go
kind of service.

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It's nice to just come out
and be able to get something to eat.

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-I realize that food
trucks don’t have it

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as easy as I thought they did.

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I thought they could pull up to
any curb and serve

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any customer who was
willing to pay for it,

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and that’s far from the truth.

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-If you get caught parked
too close to a restaurant now,

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it could be a $2,000 fine.

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Yeah, it could put
somebody out of business.

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-I’d like to be able
to have the freedom to sell

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wherever we’d like,

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and not have the restrictions
that we have right now.

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-We are not criminals,
we’re not bad people,

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we’re not out trying to mess up
anybody’s business.

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-They treat us almost like
a second-class citizens.

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We’re going to make
your life impossible

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so hopefully you’ll be
out of business in a year.

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-It blows my mind that
you would restrict somebody

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that wants to make food
and feed people.

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[music playing]

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-Mobile food vending has been around
since ancient Greece.

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They sold fried fish on the street.

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Here in Chicago, I would say
the food truck industry

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really started, probably in 2010.

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There’s over 100 food trucks.

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Most of them can only
prepare food in kitchens,

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pre-package them individually,

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and then sell them
straight off the truck as is.

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-Back in the day,
when we started it in 2010,

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legally we couldn’t really sell you
a traditional Mexican dish.

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[music playing]

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-So what we did is we took
a traditional Mexican dish

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and we made it into a tamale.

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Basically this is our kitchen.

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Everything is happening right now.

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We’re planning to make
around a 1000 tamales today,

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and we wanna prepare
some moles tonight,

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and some other fillings as well.

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-Last year they passed
an ordinance in Chicago that says

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you are finally allowed
to cook on trucks.

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So we are one of the first,
I would say 20 or so,

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cook-on-board trucks.

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It requires the standard
things that you need

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to operate a restaurant.

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So you need a sanitation license,

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you need health
inspections, obviously,

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and then on top of that,
since you have a truck,

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you need to get
an inspection of the truck

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on a year-to-year basis
by the fire department.

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-We want to regulate for safety,
regulate for quality,

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but if we’re over-regulating it,

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we’re going to see people
moving out of the market.

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I’m Alderman John Arena
of 45th Ward, Chicago.

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What I want to do is help
support small business

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in the city of Chicago.

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These are entrepreneurs,
they gestate businesses.

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A lot of them have
actually converted into

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brick and mortar businesses.

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So, they could be a great
tool to encourage people

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to get into the food service
industry and be successful.

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[music playing]

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-Chicago’s been difficult because
they’ve viewed food trucks

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as competition to the restaurants.

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My name is Erika Harford.
My title is Assistant Director

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of the Institute for Justice
Clinic on Entrepreneurship,

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and we advocate for change to laws
that have become so burdensome

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that it’s difficult for
businesses to operate

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here in the city of Chicago.

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Mobile food vendors have found
the laws can virtually obstruct them

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completely from being able
to operate a business successfully.

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One of the major frustrations is
that they’re treated like criminals,

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rather than as productive
members of a society

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who are creating jobs at a time
when we desperately need jobs.

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-I’m getting your French fries ready.

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-Food trucks have rules and regulations
that really make no sense.

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Food trucks can’t park wherever
they want to park here in Chicago.

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They have to park over 200 feet
away from anywhere

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that serves prepared food or drink.

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That includes anywhere
from a really fancy pants,

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white tablecloth restaurant
to a gas station.

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-There’s like restaurants everywhere.

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There’s some restaurants that
you wouldn’t even know are there,

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you just… but they’re there

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and if some cop knows that it’s there,
he can use that against you.

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It’s like, there’s a main entrance
right there, it’s within 200 feet,

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here’s a $2,000 fine,
have a nice day.

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-It didn’t make sense to me that
a health violation was $250,

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and a food truck violation
was $2,000 for parking

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200 feet from a brick
and mortar restaurant.

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-I never understood
why it’s a $2,000 fine

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in a teeny, tiny food truck.

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-It’s a much higher fine than
if they caught me picking up meat

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from the floor and
serving it to people.

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So it shows where
their priorities are at.

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-Well I mean, if you
really think about it,

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there are some food
trucks that $2,000…

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that might be the full week
of income, you know.

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[music playing]

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-Food trucks are limited to be
in a certain spot for 2 hours.

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-So they have to often times
spend half an hour setting up,

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half an hour shutting down,

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which leaves them very little time
to serve their food

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before they have to pack up
and move to another location.

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-Our selling time is tiny

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and let’s say you get
kicked out of a spot,

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now you’re like flustered, like,
where do I go, where do I go?

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I have very little time
to find a spot.

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-The ordinance requires them
to have a GPS system on board

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which is a monthly fee.

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-We’ve heard food truck operators say

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that’s it’s like having to wear
an electronic ankle bracelet.

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-For some reason they need
to know where am I 24/7.

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And I just don’t understand
that, I never did.

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It just really make me feel like
I was some sort of a house arrest

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or something like that.

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-I feel like I’m a drug
dealer sometimes.

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Like I’m watching out
for cops, you know…

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it’s… Like, I shouldn’t
have to, you know,

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be worried constantly about police.
I’m just selling food.

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-The very first time I ever got
a food truck citation ticket

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was my first week
after I launched the truck.

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And then from that point on,
it was this constant

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look over my shoulder
every time I parked,

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come out with the measuring tape
to make sure I was 200 feet away.

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It was constant paranoia.
I felt like I was a drug dealer.

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-The city doesn’t have
a very efficient process

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to get these trucks licensed

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and built so that they can pass
the licensing process.

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-It could take months, months, months
and years to get licenses.

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I’ve had people say that no matter
how hard they tried,

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they’ve never been
able to get a license.

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-They just can’t get a clear read
on what they need to build.

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-That you have to go
to city hall every week

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and then you bring all this
paperwork, all this paperwork,

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and they will say, “Oh no,
this is not what you need,

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you need something else".

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And every week, I mean,
it was going on for a while.

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-I can’t imagine the frustration
that they must feel

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when they follow the law,
exactly to its specifications,

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and then are denied for a reason

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that seems to come out
of absolutely thin air.

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-To me it really was,
it was going through hell.

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It was just, you know,
going through hell,

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and there was no way back for me.

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I already make a huge investment.

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-If you do know somebody
within city hall

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or within the business affairs

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that can help expedite
your licensing process, it helps.

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But unfortunately, if you don’t have
any of those connections,

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you get kind of caught up in all
the red tape and paperwork.

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[music playing]

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-Many of the restrictions
that are placed on trucks

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are strictly anti-competitive.

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-We have restaurant next
to restaurant, next to restaurant,

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but a food truck serving food

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now can’t compete
with those restaurants.

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-Imagine if the city passed a law

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that said a restaurant couldn’t open

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within 200 feet of
another restaurant.

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I would say one of the dirty little
secrets about licensing laws

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is that consumers rarely,
if ever, want them.

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It’s existing industry insiders
who lobby for these laws,

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and they do it because it’s a way
of protecting their turf,

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and keeping competitors out.

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-This ordinance was written
by a lobbying group

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for the brick and mortar restaurants.

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They were in the room
when it was written,

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they lobbied very hard,
they testified.

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-And in fact, there are
members of city council

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who own restaurants themselves,

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and were not eager to open up
the law to food trucks.

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-It’s about how much power,
and how much influence you have

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in the city that gets you anywhere.

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So somebody that’s just
a small entrepreneur,

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that doesn’t have connections
or the money, may not get very far.

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-Ultimately, consumers are the ones
who are hurt by that,

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because they end up paying higher
prices and having fewer options.

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-I, as a consumer,
should be able to choose

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where I spend my money
come lunchtime.

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-If a food truck or a restaurant
goes out of business,

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it should be because
their food wasn’t good,

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not because the city decided
where they got to serve their food.

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-You know, capitalism is about
the best product wins,

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the best service wins…

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-I’m having the Caprese sandwich.
-Me too!

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-If you can have 2 sandwich
shops next to each other,

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one of them is going to do
better than the other,

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then that’s the way it works.

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And the same thing happens
when there’s a food truck

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versus a brick and mortar.

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[music playing]

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-The trucks bring people
out of their homes,

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into the community,
increase the foot traffic.

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And that’s good for
a number of businesses,

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not just the trucks themselves.

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-Food trucks serve great food
that is a welcome departure

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from the kind of typical lunch
options you have around.

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-I think it’s delicious.
I like the variety.

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I like the fact that you get pizza
and tacos and there’s some health,

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there’s vegan, there’s Jamaican food,
there’s like a great variety.

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-Jerk Chicken, Ribs, there’s Pepper
Steak, Ox Tail, Catfish…

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-I’m happy that we have
food trucks here.

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-It's nice to have choices,
so I’m all for it.

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-Entrepreneurship
and small businesses

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are where our economy is generated.

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Everything that’s done
in this country

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is funded by 70% of businesses

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that are under 500 employees

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and many, many of those
are under 25 employees.

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-So when I had the food truck
it was a small operation.

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It was myself and one
other part-time person.

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And now, at the restaurant,
I employ about 5 to 6 people.

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-When we started, it was just me
and my business partner.

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Now I have a crew of 5 people,
so I’m also contributing.

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I’m a source of jobs.

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-They want to be able
to cook on board.

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They want to be able to park
in legal parking space.

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-If the city would get rid
of the parking restrictions

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I think it would be
a lot easier for us,

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because it really limits to where
we can go to make a good living.

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-I’d like to be able to
have the opportunity

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to pull up in a legal
parking spot on a meter,

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downtown location,
pull my truck up and sell.

241
00:11:10.851 --> 00:11:13.889
-If they just put a food truck zone
in a high traffic area

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it would be fantastic.

243
00:11:15.119 --> 00:11:16.527
-This should be a conversation about

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how do we generate
business in Chicago?

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00:11:18.567 --> 00:11:21.304
How do we generate
small businesses in Chicago?

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That’s where our economy’s
going to be the strongest

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and entrepreneurs should not be
told through ordinance

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that we don’t want you here.

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-We all have a lot of appreciation
for how courageous it is

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to step out and start a business,

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00:11:37.851 --> 00:11:40.820
where it’s all on you
as an individual

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to really have the vision
to make that happen.

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-We need to reform it and
we need to allow open competition,

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and that’s where we’re
best as a country.