Atlanta Mayor Opposes Temporary Reinstatement of Street Vending

Atlanta’s street vendors were cleared out back in March to pave the way for a more uniform citywide system. Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration, however, has yet to establish the new system and complaints from vendors have mounted.

Councilman Michael Julian Bond says something must be done.

“These vendors are out of work through no fault of their own and so the temporary program is only proposed to help these people function and get back to work so they can support their families,” said Bond.

The proposal would reinstate permits that had been in effect up until 2013. That means vendors who worked near Turner Field and Woodruff Park would once again be allowed to sell their wares. The area surrounding Five Points MARTA Station, however, would remain off limits. 

“Take the people who were in the previous program, allow them an opportunity to vend if they choose – they don’t have to – until the mayor’s office comes back with what we all hope will be a better solution,” said Bond.

Reed, however, is opposed, saying he has no intention of returning to the old system.

“All we want is to have a uniform system for vendors. I’m not going to allow the city of Atlanta to look like a swap meet,” said Reed.

He said he’ll have the new vending system established by the end of the year.

“I am not going to going to deal with this in a piecemeal fashion. We are going to address it and we’re going to put it to bed once and for all but I’m not going to have vendors go out there and begin vending in a fashion that makes the city look terrible.”

But street vendors argue they’re suffering in the meantime.

“We’ve been out of work for over 90 days and vendors live day-to-day and a lot of them are under stress right now trying to feed their children and [pay] house notes, car notes, and whatever else…we need to work and make money to live,” said Larry Miller of the Atlanta Vendors Association earlier this month.

Councilman Bond says it’s the least the city can do.

“I don’t necessarily disagree with the mayor that we don’t want to have a varied look to what is going in our streets but this is an attempt to allow them to earn a living until we get this latest, greatest proposal from the administration.”

The city council’s public safety committee considers Bond’s plan next week. If it passes, it could be voted on at the council’s next full meeting August 19^th