A quick Q&A with the save-the-taco guys
When Aaron Sonderleiter and Chris Rutherford created Save Our Taco Trucks, it was a spur-of-the-moment response to a new law that targets catering trucks that linger too long in one place. But the site and its rallying cry, "Carne Asada is Not a Crime," hit a nerve. LA. locals waged a war of words, while news organizations throughout the country weighed in on those wacky Angelenos and their tacos.
Now, with more then 8,000 signatures on the petition and the law set to kick in at midnight tonight, we thought we'd ask the taco guys about their quest to save the trucks. Here's Chris, answering the questions.
LA Now: How did the save-the-taco-trucks campaign go?
Chris: Extremely well. We’ve received approximately 8,000 signatures and been reported on by Hoy, La Opinion, Time, the N.Y. Times, L.A. Times, Reuters, the local NBC affiliate, Latino 96.3, and KROQ 106.7 just to name a few. It remains to be seen whether this will help nudge the supervisors towards repealing the ordinance.
LA Now: Did any of the County Supes respond?
Chris: No. We’ve heard anecdotally a number of defenses: “Not enough signees are from my district,” “It’s just a bunch of hipsters who think slumming it up is cool,” “They don’t really understand the issues,” etc. I have to emphasize that the only direct correspondence with the supervisors has been a form letter from Gloria Molina’s office that we’ve received (twice now) which I am generous in describing as misleading. We posted both her letter, and our response here.
LA Now: Why the silence?
(Continued after the jump)
--Veronique de Turenne
Photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
Chris: I think they’re hoping the issue will simply go away. We don’t plan on letting that happen. At the very least, we have a contact list with thousands of registered L.A. County voters who we plan on reminding of the board’s voting history when they come up for reelection. I also sense a certain degree of hubris from a group that may have forgotten that they serve the interests of all their constituents. I don’t expect the board to respond to every individual with a complaint, but after our media coverage and the amount of signatures we’ve received, I think we at least deserve a more personalized explanation of where they stand.
LA Now: What's next?
Chris: We’re putting on a Taco Libre event [today] in East L.A. to celebrate the taco truck and lament the new legislation affecting them. Come out and share some great food and company with fellow mobile cuisine aficionados. After that, you’ll have to stay tuned on the website. We have some things in mind, but don’t want to jinx them by announcing them prematurely.
LA Now: Where's your favorite taco truck and what's your favorite order?
Chris: It depends on what I’m in the mood for but I’d have to side with the Tacos La Estrella on York Boulevard and Avenue 54. The carne asada burrito and carnitas tacos are amazing and their salsa roja recipe should be preserved in the Library of Congress. Of course TakiTaco on Figueroa Street and Avenue 51 has great tacos al pastor for 75 cents. Plus, he parks next to an esquites vendor who allows my girlfriend and me to buy on credit.
Calling them a couple of hipsters who think it's cool to slum it sounds about right, like college kids hitting the truck after exams late at night -- but if you own a restaurant or home where these trucks congregate, and little accumulates in the street around them from sloppy customers, you don't think it's so cute. I'm also sick of foodies like that guy who writes for the L A Weekly, extolling taco truck food, and who cares, he also eats and raves about anything, like tripe intestines in Koreatown -- at least they do it indoors off a menu.
Good for Molina, being a Latina who knows the vast majority of established Hispanics (who are behind her ban) and Euros (I refuse to use the word "anglo" because it's racist, includes Russian and Persian immigrants who are anything but) and everyone else, doesn't want the city to look like Tijuana. Most people in Ed Reyes' and Jose Huizar's and Cardenas' districts, wish they'd do the same.
Posted by: janet | May 14, 2008 at 02:17 PM
Here we go again. "carne asada is not a crime", "using leafblowers is not a crime" "mexican immigrants are not criminals", and on and on.... If you want to break the law in LA, all you gotta do is paint the rest of us citizens as wealthy racists, as if we are unreasonable for wanting law and order. What about the mexicans who own restaurants? Are they "racists?"
Posted by: Wilbur Varela | May 14, 2008 at 04:01 PM