HomeMy WebLinkAboutSHANNON DOUGLAS (ITEM NO. 12) 18 August 2020
To : City of Tustin
City Councilmembers
From: Shannon Douglas
Re : Drafting Street Vendor Ordinance
Agenda Item #12
Cc : City of Tustin Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem
The District at Tustin
I live near The District at Tustin and over the past six
years I' ve patronized its eateries , theater, gym and
shops . Because my experience has been overwhelmingly
positive, I feel customer loyalty towards the District
and, by extension, towards the city of Tustin as well . I
have continued to be a regular District customer during
the pandemic, and drove there on August 17 .
At the corner of the Lowe' s/Cosco lot there was a stand
assembled, displaying Trump merchandise . (I will refer to
Trump hereinafter as the Current Occupant of the White
House "COWH" and to this stand as "COWH stand. ")
After the murder of George Floyd, thousands gathered
within walking distance of the District, for a series of
protests against police racism and brutality. Since then,
many District and other businesses have expressed support
for Black Lives Matter in their corporate messaging. How
seriously will District customers take their messaging if
these same companies agree to conduct business alongside
a display of COWH merchandise?
The COWH stand at the District is not simply a collection
of merchandise . It is a physical reminder of what COWH
has actually done and said over the past four years . It
represents , for example , COWH teargassing and dispatching
mounted police upon peaceful protesters in DC' s Black
Lives Matter Plaza. It represents COWH praising murderous
supremacists as "good people . "
The City of Tustin website states that street vendors are
not allowed to impede pedestrian activities . But should
they be allowed to impede commerce? If the City of Tustin
and the District accept the presence of the COWH stand,
it will erode customer loyalty to the District and its
merchants .
In my experience, the District has been a place where
men, women and children of diverse backgrounds (and
budgets) enjoy a range of interests and activities ,
harmoniously. Will the District continue to provide a
supportive and welcoming place for families? Will the
City of Tustin?
The COWH stand also represents COWH' s border policy: the
systematic separation of families , the systematic
confinement of children within cages . The presence of the
COWH stand degrades the diverse and family-friendly
character of the District.
The COWH stand also represents a proven pattern of
incitement to inflict harm.
In the previous election cycle, COWH incited campaign
rally attendees to violence against journalists . At COWH
rallies this year, the use of masks was discouraged,
which inflicted COVID suffering and deaths upon his own
followers .
COWH' s hateful anti-immigrant messaging incited last
year' s mass shooting at the E1 Paso megastore .
COWH advocated assaulting women in his taped remarks to
Billy Bush. He followed this incitement with Supreme
Court and other appointees hostile to women and their
rights .
The man assembling and staffing the COWH stand on August
17 was not wearing a mask . Beyond just selling COWH
merchandise, this vendor is a physical representation of
COWH' s reckless and ignorant executive response to the
COVID pandemic . Not merely peddling COWH symbols and
slogans , he was willing to personally infect others and
threaten public health, as is COWH.
COWH has incited continued irrational resistance to
public health precautions . He has followed this
incitement with overseeing the deaths of now 1 , 000
Americans to COVID daily.
Over four years COWH has inflicted grievous harm, not
only upon people of color, children and women, but now
upon the public health of every sector of American
society.
The COWH stand is not a generic collection of campaign
ideas , slogans and merchandise . It is the calling card
for a proven record of hate and destruction. The City
Council should treat all COWH stands as such.
My experience of the District has been one of diverse ,
harmonious positivity. That experience, common perhaps to
many District shoppers , has built up loyalty, not only to
District merchants , but to the city as a whole . It is an
accomplishment the businesses of the District should be
proud of. I hope the City Council will value and fight to
uphold this accomplishment. It is a fight every member of
the District should join.
This is not a time for craven buck-passing. I hope the
Council will not squander the positivity, loyalty and
goodwill the District has cultivated in its customers and
for its city .
Legitimizing public space for COWH stands will degrade
the diverse and harmonious character of Tustin' s shopping
malls , housing developments , and city streets , wherever
they are present.
I hope Tustin' s street vendor ordinance will be
formulated to foster and protect hate-free shopping
zones . And, if City government has the courage and vision
for it, I hope you can safeguard a hate-free environment
for the city as a whole .