No, I am not talking about what is going on in the Federal government arena of Third World Banana Republic tyranny in attempting to eliminate your political competition.  That will be for another time and another Musings column.  No, I am talking about what is happening in Dixon and in city government where not one of you attend a council meeting to educate yourselves about the performance of those you have elected to represent you and make good decisions in your behalf.

I reference the meeting of August 15, 2023 and specifically the irrationality combined with ignoring facts while once again benefitting the who’s who of Dixon.  Spending money they don’t have like drunken sailors won’t impact inflation ala the Let’s Go Brandon resident of the White House.  However, it will eventually impact local services as we drive madly down the highway to bankruptcy.  This is one of the reasons those on the council, especially Kevin Johnson and Jim Ernest, will continue to bring up a sales tax to fund those wallowing at the public trough.

I got on Thom Bogue for even mentioning “free enterprise” in his vain attempt to justify his position endorsing the passage of an ordinance to make it extremely difficult for “street vendors” to continue to provide services some of us enjoy.  There is nothing “free” about any enterprise when you attempt to control every aspect of how they do business.  Thank God this type of government didn’t exist in 1848 where the environment was if you had an idea for a business you weren’t shackled in how it was accomplished.

As a caveat, Bogue has announced he will be running for State Senate and I endorse him wholeheartedly.  That does not mean he is above my constructive criticism.  I am no one’s “yes man”.  Frankly, there is no one else in the race for Bill Dodd’s old seat that can hold a candle to Bogue.  You can make the judgement as to whether that is a compliment or just the sad state of politics in California.  Perhaps it is both as they are not mutually exclusive.

When I asked Bogue to identify “just one street vendor who was not Hispanic” in my accusation that this is a racist ordinance, he first ridiculed the comment at the first reading and then attempted a deflection that vendors in San Jose were other than Hispanic.  Are any of you concerned about what is happening in San Jose or do any of you actually think Dixon will become a San Jose?  Apples to oranges, my friend.

Ricardo Lara’s Senate Bill 946, which the as usual confused Jim Ernest pushed as validation for supporting this measure as “another example of the State pushing an unfunded mandate on local communities”, is described as being a bill “to decriminalize street vending”.  There is nothing in the body of this bill that mandates anything as there is a preponderance of “may” allowing local communities to regulate street vendors.  There is nothing which tells a city to pass an ordinance to regulate anything.  There is plenty in there about forcing these vendors to get taxed.

So the city of Dixon could just allow any and all of these people to peacefully exist and provide Section 1 (a) (2) “Sidewalk vending increases access to desired goods, such as culturally significant food and merchandise.” without forcing anyone to get a permit or business license.  As to Lara’s purpose of decriminalization, any action taken against these individuals can only be infractions or misdemeanors.  The law is also very specific about requiring cities to consider “objective health, safety, or welfare concerns” which is mentioned throughout the law.  Sorry but I have heard no reports of anyone being affected negatively in these regards.

Bogue was the main defendant in this ludicrous scam to reverse Lara’s obvious intent to help low income entrepreneurial citizens, if they are even that, as stated within this legislation.  Stating that the city needs the fees to pay for sidewalks, streets, and to provide for other services the city renders is absolutely ridiculous.  Considering the quantity of street vendors is considerably less than one hundred, the permits and business licenses would have to be around $1000 per vendor to bring any substantial amount of money to the city.  My question has always been and remains exactly what does this or any business gain from paying these fees?

Bogue’s claims aside, are any business people creating a need for more bureaucracy, such as for inspections?  Are we sending out police officers because they are selling illegal material or is our fire department being inundated with calls to put out fires on push carts full of ice?  Does the public need to be protected because they can’t use their own eyes and ears when making a purchase?  What they do get is some individual checking out unnecessary paperwork of the bureaucrat’s own design which does nothing other than establishing a database.

Not to be left out, Kevin Johnson (who was absent at this second hearing) and Don Hendershot continue to claim they have been contacted by 7 or 8 business owners with complaints.  Really?  As I pointed out at the meeting during this hearing, how many of the vendors customers did you speak with?  Always good to get both sides before making a decision.  Hendershot use to do this kind of research before he made it to the council so what stopped him this time?  The same thing as Johnson, being part of the “bad old boys” club of Dixon?

Let’s just assume the complaints are valid.  Why aren’t you asking “how is the business in direct competition with these vendors and what is the dollar loss in sales?  That isn’t how decisions are made in a tyran-ocracy as was so adequately demonstrated.

This is your approved and authorized golden rule government.  Those with the gold make the rules.  The rest of us here just get to share the left over crumbs until we become competition, then we must go.

There are two ways for you to make a difference and stop this nonsense.  Show up at council meetings and speak.  When they don’t listen to you, kick them out of office at the next election.

Don’t expect them to understand why you did what you did.  They will remain in their egos and on that river in Egypt called Da Nile …