Redlands City Journal

07/16/2021

This is an astonishingly bad idea. If local Democrats are successful in preventing Republican members of Congress from speaking in Riverside, on what principle may the Redlands Area Democratic Club object to local Republicans elsewhere doing the same to Democratic members of Congress—or even the President? So shortsighted... A perfect example of an eye for an eye making the world blind.

05/27/2021

Judge for yourself...

Resolution No. 8211, a proposed code of conduct for the Redlands City Council sponsored by Mayor Paul Barich and Councilmember Denise Davis is on the agenda for the council's June 1 meeting.

Council Agenda: https://destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=73352&mt=ALL&get_month=5&get_year=2021&dsp=ag&seq=242

For a PDF of Resolution 8211: https://destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=73352&mt=ALL&get_month=5&get_year=2021&dsp=agm&seq=3274&rev=0&ag=242&ln=15203&nseq=&nrev=&pseq=3352&prev=0 #

04/23/2021

04/20/2021

UPDATE:

Sources inside Redlands city government have said that Ordinance No. 2922 has been pulled by staff from tomorrow night's city council agenda and permanently tabled.

Earlier today the Redlands City Journal posted an update on social media that City Councilmember Eddie Tejeda had withdrawn his support for the ordinance as written and intended to submit a motion to table it.

Redlands Planning Commissioner Joe Richardson insisted over an April 19 phone call that while he does not question the intentions of the city council, he said, "it was a bad idea to begin with that could have slipped through." But "people became aware and there were objections."

The ordinance, which narrowly passed its first reading on a 3-to-2 vote on April 6, would have impacted low-income street vendors in Redlands with burdensome regulations and the threat of financially devastating fines.

Had it been implemented, Ordinance No. 2922 would have effectively eliminated otherwise lawful sidewalk vending in the city, in violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of state law requiring municipalities to accommodate these entrepreneurs, most of whom are people of color and immigrants.

By Mark Parker
April 19, 2021

04/19/2021

ORDINANCE NO. 2922:
A representation of systemic barriers already inflicted

The state of New York is very proud of its to***co control policies. Many pages of the New York Department of Health website are dedicated to singing their own praises online. “As of June 1, 2018, NYC Local Law 145 requires retailers sell ci******es for a minimum retail price of $13.00 per pack, the highest pack price in the U.S.” No doubt it was all very well intended. Lung cancers have been prevented. Fewer New Yorkers are addicted to to***co products as a result of the state’s commitment to discouraging to***co use.
https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/to***co_control/current_policies.htm

But the enforcement of these policies is also the pretense under which Eric Garner was wrestled to the ground using a police chokehold and died on July 17, 2014. Garner was a Black man who sold individual ci******es for a dollar near Staten Island Ferry Terminal, in violation of New York’s to***co control policies. “I can’t breathe,” were Garner’s dying words.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/nyregion/eric-garner-police-chokehold-staten-island.html

There is a long history of petty municipal codes and state laws being used to constrain the lives of poor people of color all across the United States. Often these laws are accompanied by seemingly modest penalties that become more severe with repeat offenses. Even Redlands is not above this practice. We cannot even rest assured that this approach to local governance has been relegated to the dustbin of history.

Consider Ordinance No. 2922, which recently moved forward in the Redlands City Council on a 3-2 vote April 6. Under the guise of maintaining public safety and protecting vendors, 2922 severely restricts street vending in the city under a complex set of rules.

While it does not demand from vendors licensing fees, the ordinance does come with a penalty structure that could result very quickly in an overwhelming financial burden for low-income sidewalk and pushcart vendors. Fines begin at $100 for the first offense, doubling to $200 for the second offense, jumping to $500 for the third violation and all subsequent violations thereafter within a 12-month period. And the rules are written in such a way as to make full compliance by sidewalk vendors all but impossible.
https://destinyhosted.com/redladocs/2021/CC/20210406_238/3164_2922_Adding_Ch_12.45_%26_Amending_Ch_12.44_Sidewalk_Vending_Clean.pdf

“I’m disappointed that that wasn’t discussed at the meeting,” said Redlands Planning Commissioner Joe Richardson, regarding the fines, in a phone interview on April 17. In fact, very few particulars were discussed at the April 6 city council meeting.

Mayor Paul Barich asked Facilities and Community Services Director Chis Boatman, who presented Ordinance No. 2922 to the council, “With this vote are we prohibiting these vendors?”

Boatman said, “No, Mayor, Senate Bill 946, which was passed by the state, prohibits cities from outright prohibiting sidewalk vendors. We have to facilitate them within the city. So the intent of this ordinance is to create parameters to ensure that they operate in a safe manner. That they do not impede access, traffic, and that they operate in a way that’s consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act, for example.”

While not in direct response to Boatman, Richardson said in regard to the stated intent of the ordinance, “We are more likely to regulate the least of us.”

At the April 6 meeting Councilmember Jenna Guzman-Lowry said, “Regulations like this can be really harmful to these vendors. To implement a city ordinance quite literally is a representation of systemic barriers that are already inflicted on minority communities.”

Councilmember Paul Foster quickly followed Guzman-Lowry with a question to Boatman, ”As I recall while serving as mayor we received a significant number of complaints regarding street vendors from our local business owners that had trouble with what they perceived was unfair competition from an unregulated business. Can you confirm that that is where most of this generated from or am I not recalling it correctly?”

Boatman confirmed Foster’s recollection, a motivation for the drafting of 2922 that has no relevance to the stated intent of the ordinance, and which appears to be in conflict with the purpose of Senate Bill 946. As Boatman said, “We have to facilitate them within the city” in order to comply with state law. Neither Foster nor Boatman addressed the discrepancy.

Regarding Foster’s assertion that some kind of groundswell of popular demand exists in the city to regulate sidewalk vendors, both Councilmember Eddie Tejeda and Barich are on record contradicting Foster.

In an interview over Zoom on April 16, Tejeda said that he has only heard complaints about street vendors from one local business owner. And at a brief interview at the Redlands Municipal Airport on April 17, Barich stated that he has only received one complaint about street vendors over the course of his seven years on the council.

Barich was adamant at the April 17 interview. “They always want to bring the race factor in. It has nothing to do with race,” he said, even as he conceded that “vast majorities” of sidewalk vendors in Redlands are Latino.

Tejeda initially supported the passage of Ordinance No. 2922 on April 6. He has since expressed an interest in substantially altering it before final passage — including the complete elimination of administrative fines and expressly prohibiting Redlands Police from enforcing rules governing sidewalk vending.

Barich seemed baffled by the suggestion that administrative fines should be stricken from the ordinance. “I’ve never known anybody to be fined. I’ve never known any vendor ever to be fined.” A fact, he argued, that supports keeping the administrative fines on the books.

Both Guzman-Lowry and Richardson, separately, described the new regulations as “tone deaf.”

“What’s the point?” asked Richardson. “You’ve created another law to enforce.”

By Mark Parker
April 18, 2021

Editor's note: Due to technical difficulties this article had to be reposted to Facebook Monday, April 19, 2021.

04/19/2021

UPDATE:

Redlands City Councilman Eddie Tejeda will motion to table Ordinance No. 2922 at the next meeting of the city council this Tuesday, April 20.

The ordinance would impact low-income vendors in Redlands with burdensome regulations and the threat of financially devastating fines.

If implemented as written, Ordinance No. 2922 would effectively eliminate otherwise lawful sidewalk vending in the city, in violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of state law requiring municipalities to accommodate these entrepreneurs, most of whom are people of color and immigrants.

04/14/2021

Priya Vedula Demands an Apology

On Jan. 19, 2019, just days after taking her seat on the Redlands City Council, Denise Davis fired off an email to some of the most powerful men in Redlands government, accusing her former political opponent, Priya Vedula, of stalking. Redlands Police Chief Chris Catren responded, "As we discussed T...

04/01/2021

Kenneth Ford — On Homelessness, Race, and Hate Crime

Kenneth Ford is an appointee to the Human Relations Commission for the City of Redlands. This interview was recorded March 22, 2021.

Kenneth Ford is an appointee to the Human Relations Commission for the City of Redlands. This interview was recorded March 22, 2021.

02/28/2021

THE EMAIL

Editor's note: Councilmember Denise Davis declined several invitations to be interviewed for this story.

At 3:46 p.m., Jan. 19, 2019, just days after taking her seat on the Redlands City Council, Denise Davis fired off an email to some of the most powerful men in Redlands government: then-Mayor Paul Foster, Redlands City Attorney Daniel McHugh, Chief of the Redlands Police Department (RPD) Chris Catren, and then-Assistant Chief Travis Martinez (RPD).

The subject line read, "Re: Priya Vedula."

Vedula had been one of Davis' opponents in the 2018 election for city council in District 1. At 25, Vedula was hoping to make local history by becoming the youngest person ever elected to the Redlands City Council. Davis won decisively, taking 2,058 of the 3,987 votes cast. Vedula came in a distant second out of a field of five candidates with 676 votes.

In normal politics, the losers congratulate the winners and the winners graciously compliment the losers on a race well run—and everyone moves on with their lives.

In a Feb. 5 interview Vedula said, she congratulated her opponent and, as a constituent, sought to build a positive relationship with Davis, who was making history in her own right as the first person elected to the council openly identifing as a member of the LGBTQIA community.

But Davis was having none of it. According to former Councilmember Toni Momberger, then-candidate Davis in 2018 showed Momberger a screen of texts from Vedula to Davis, to demonstrate to the councilwoman how persistent her opponent was in trying to engage Davis, who at the time avoided replying and expressed to Momberger the sentiment, Doesn't she take a hint?

"I do not know what happened between them and was involved only insofar as I was an audience to Denise's comments that she was getting texts that she was not encouraging," Momberger said in a recent statement.

Both Vedula and Davis separately attended the 2019 Riverside Women's March on the morning of Jan. 19. Two years into the Trump administration, the event had become something of an annual landmark for progressive activists.

According to the email Davis sent later that afternoon, Davis was given a wristband granting her access to a "VIP area," which consisted of a section of the steps leading into the Riverside County Courthouse demarcated by yellow caution tape. Davis gave her speech at around 10:30 a.m. After addressing the crowd, Davis remained in the VIP area to listen to other speakers.

According to the Feb. 5 interview, Vedula said, she had been invited into the VIP section by a staffer to a Democratic member of the California State Assembly as that person's guest.

Editor's note: Fear of reprisal is rampant among many sources for this story. Interviews have been recorded and then scrapped or heavily redacted at the request of interviewees out of concerns of retribution. For this reason the name of the staffer is being withheld.

At 11:20 a.m., according to the Davis email, Davis was notified that Vedula was in the VIP section. "When I looked up, Priya was there, making her way to me. She saw me look at her, and she smiled." Davis then asked to have Vedula escorted out of the VIP area.

According to Vedula, this surprised her friend and embarrassed Vedula, who said she immediately complied. Two hours later Davis and Vedula would run into each other again at the Riverside Food Lab.

Davis concluded the email saying, "I'm very disturbed by her persistence, and her apparent stalking...,” and addressing then-Assistant Chief Martinez by his first name: “Travis, I know we spoke on Thursday about you calling her. Have you been able to do that yet?"

At 5:03 p.m., Jan. 19, less than 90 minutes after Denise Davis sent the email requesting police intervention on her behalf, Chief Catren replied all, telling Davis—evidently for, at least, a second time, "As we discussed Thursday, none of Ms Vedula's actions described (including today's events) constitute criminal behavior..."

Davis never rescinded her accusation against Vedula. Through recent posts and comments in social media, Davis continues to insist she suffered "harm" by her alleged stalker.

The city of Redlands responded through email to an inquiry on Feb. 25 into whether Chief Catren maintains his opposing assessment. "Redlands Police reviewed the original allegations and, based on the description of the incidents, determined that they do not meet the elements of a crime. RPD has received no new information to change that assessment."

Deputy Chief Martinez did reach out to Vedula via email on Jan. 19, 2019, which Vedula saved, asking her to call him back "to discuss a concern that was brought to our attention."

Within minutes of receiving the email, Vedula spoke with Martinez over the phone and learned for the first time, she said, of Davis' stalking allegation.

However, Vedula had previously said she experienced anxiety when she saw Davis enter the Riverside Food Lab, where Vedula was having lunch with friends after the Women's March. Vedula said, she and her friends were seated well before Davis' party entered the restaurant. Vedula's account was supported by Loma Linda City Councilmember Bhavin Jindal in a public comment read at the Feb. 16 Redlands City Council meeting.

In social media Davis continues to press her stalking accusation against Vedula, who is South Asian and describes herself as a woman of color. In February Davis posted a long statement on Instagram and Facebook: "In 2018 I ran for office... One of my opponents began stalking and harassing me, in person and on social media."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLTUfN0BQi3/?igshid=15dxnt61t2c9c

No evidence for either of Davis’ accusations was proffered.

A few days later, on Feb. 18 Davis weighed in with a comment on a heated Facebook post initiated by a Davis supporter. It read, "Having personal knowledge that Priya Vedula is a lying, manipulative do*****ag, I 100% hope Denise Davis will be cleared of any wrongdoing and all the people that are being duped and manipulated by Priya will see that she is a divisive imposter who should probably get help."
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10223989961277736&id=1259130103

Though she added a comment, Davis neither directly responded to nor distanced herself from this post in which she was tagged.

Former Pomona City Council candidate Jacqueline Elizalde tagged Davis in her comment to the post, asking Davis to "discourage these comments and slurs...," appealing to their solidarity as women.

Davis did reply to Elizalde, "With all due respect, this comment doesn’t sit well with me. It’s not okay or trauma-informed to ask me to defend someone who has done so much harm. Would you ask me to defend a man who had been stalking and harassing me just because he’s a member of the community?"

To Davis’ Instagram post of Feb. 14, in which she described a number of allegations, including an accusation of stalking and harassment by an unnamed “opponent” in 2018, a supporter of Davis asked, “How can I help?”

Davis replied, "—Thank you. Please just encourage people to do their own fact finding. We need to stop the spread of toxic lies on social media." https://www.instagram.com/p/CLTUfN0BQi3/?igshid=1vhyymxrdrsv0

Priya Vedula is now in medical school and remains politically active in her community.

By Mark Parker
February 28, 2021