Food Trucks and Fallacies

Human beings are 'fallible: liable to make mistakes or be deceived; liable to be erroneous or inaccurate' (Websters). What makes them so much better than imperfection, however, is their ability to rise above their situation and remedy it.

When the Food Trucks arrived I was enthused. It was something new and not just one new choice but 30 trucks at once. Wow. I attended every Wednesday night at first, in order to try several 'gourmet' foods. I had fun. I'd never eaten from food trucks before. I also did not understand why some people wanted to lock arms with me and "be seen at Food Truck Night", in my company. Apparently they thought I represented something.

The Facebook pages lit up in a new Sunland Tujunga controversy. Heading up that discussion is Tomi Lyn Bowling. Its not that Tomi means harm, she does what she deems best for others without consulting them. She is in a position of power when she does this and her views carry weight. She feels she always 'has the good of the community in her heart' while she affects change. When she is questioned she is hurt and the change she championed becomes secondary to her need for validation. Her fans surround her posts with affirmations and the true topic of discussion is lost.

Writers such as myself and Joe Barrett, will drop everything in such a situation as community controversy and become reporters. However, while informing readers all about it, we become part of the story as well. Our voices add weight to differing 'sides'. (Others such as Doc DeMulle, and Joseph Mailander from Los Feliz, deliberately report the side they favor.)

Other vocal community members like Robin Meares, Tom Borquez, Sharon Ratz and Joseph Sheppard weigh in and state their views. As vitally important as it is to hear that brick and mortar stores are determinedly opposing Food Truck Night (and 'why' they are doing so) their reasons are lost amid the sounds of battle. Tom is inspired to write a treatise on the secret meetings which eclipses Tomi's 'whole story'. A new round of controversy wraps itself around what they (and reporters) write, instead of the issue.

Sonia Tatulian, the Chamber President comes out fighting for ground on issues not even on the table for discussion. Personal insults become all that is exchanged and quiet excellent ideas from stakeholders like Cecile Vargo and Abby Diamond are lost like a flashlight in a forest fire.

What happens in this community is every issue is a stage for key players to fight over in order to be important in their own way. Its time for all the usual people to step away from the controversy and let others whose names are totally unknown to the Facebook crowd, take over. Let the quiet merchants who haven't been heard, the CoC members who have no self interest, the community members who have never dared voice an opinion... step up to the plate and take the reins. There are quiet people out there with an opinion... these are your new Unknown Leaders.

Brick & Mortar Stores Air Their Views

Food Truck Night (FTN) in the “small” town of Sunland has taken on an amazing number of opponents and proponents since its unheralded start at the behest of the Sunland Tujunga Chamber of Commerce a few months ago; Facebook pages by the score, blog posts, and news agencies large and small: report every nuance of its daily activity.

Most surprising in their determined stand are the opponents to FTN. Opponents are a quiet and stubbornly persuasive lot (consisting of brick and mortar store owners and their followers) and their message is being heard. They will not ‘yield the floor’! Councilman Alarcon has again arranged a meeting between six Brick and Mortar store owners (who object to FTN) and six members of the Sunland Tujunga Chamber of Commerce (who organized the event and support it).

This meeting, held a couple of nights ago afforded representatives from “both sides” of the argument to hear and be heard by those expected to carry the message of the meeting back to their side, and to the community. The community of Sunland Tujunga is unrepresented in these meetings and is the only group held captive to decisions affecting them without a voice in the matter apart from Facebook.

One of the most respected members of the brick and mortar stores told Brock Baj’er that the primary negotiation points are the location for the food trucks and the number of times a month they appear. Surprisingly, the complete discontinuation of the food trucks is not an issue! This contradicts the many heated arguments on community Facebook pages which (not surprisingly, since they have no representative to inform them) are unaware that argument is no longer discussed as a main point.

Many merchants including my source have conceded the influx of customers to FTN is making more residents and outsiders aware of the community and the businesses that are always here, not just on Food Truck Nights. They appreciate this marketing potential but, “every week, every week, every week… is just too much: too much traffic, too much stress, too much loss of revenue,” this restaurant owner explains. “Customers spend their dollars at food trucks every Wednesday, I loose customers Tuesdays and Thursdays too because they spent their money at FTN on Wednesdays. The whole week, every week, my business is affected.”

My source reports: the likely outcome of these meetings will be a reduction in the number of times a month the food trucks are allowed to sell in ST and the favored location being discussed is Sunland Park, not Foothill Blvd. This would reportedly satisfy many members of both sides and community response remains to be heard.