L.A. Libraries reopen today!

It might not be big news where y’all live, but today, Monday the 18th of July, the libraries of Los Angeles will throw their doors open to the public, on a Monday, for the first time in months! That’s rights, thanks to the overwhelming voter approval of Measure L, the libraries have had enough of their funding restored so that they’ll be able to be open and fully-staffed on Mondays again. Hooray!

Greta and I already have very comprehensive lists prepared of all the books and movies we’re gonna check out today. So, see ya in the stacks, amigos!

Revenge of the Taco Trucks!

Woke up to some amazingly good news this morning. It seems that the ludicrous Taco Truck law we have mentioned more than a few times in these pages was overturned yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court by taco-loving Judge Dennis Aichroth. Olé!!

Actually, not sure if Judge Aichroth enjoys some spicy street taco action or not, but whatever he eats, he knows a stupid, deeply flawed ordinance when he sees one. And more importantly, Aichroth knows what we and our amigos at  SaveOurTacoTrucks.org have been saying for months now: “Carne Asada is not a crime”. Damn straight!

Aichroth declared in his ruling that the law effectively banning taco trucks was “arbitrary”, “too ambiguous to be enforced” and best of all, that “this attempt to restrict the operation of catering trucks…is a pretext for creating a ‘naked restraint of trade’ and, as such, must be declared invalid”.

So, while Supervisor Gloria Molina — the self-loathing Latina behind this inane law — stews over her appeal options, the rest of us will be celebrating in the streets tonight with a round or two of delicious street tacos!

Que viva la Superior Court!

The Taco Truck war escalates!

Well, it’s official…the L.A. County Board of Supervisor’s war with our beloved taco trucks has claimed it’s first victim. And while the circumstances surrounding the citation are a bit odd — the chickenshit pendejo who called in the complaint used the name of the owner of the truck when he called! — the outcome is downright chilling.

The L.A. County Sheriff cited the owner of La Flor de Sahuayo, Alejandro Valdovino, with a misdemeanor violation of the new ordinance. That is the maximum penalty allowed by law, and if you ask me, that’s just plain loco!

So, to drum up support for the cause and encourage all of those taco-loving folks out there who have not yet signed the petition, to do so, our friends at saveourtacotrucks.com have started selling t-shirts! Yeah!

Emblazoned with the catchy: “Carne Asada is not a Crime” on the back and the words: “Salva Las Trocas” on the front, the shirts have apparently been selling like, well…taco truck tacos. So, get yourself a shirt at the website and sign the petition while you’re there, or better yet, cut out the middle man altogether and forward your thoughts directly to your County Supervisors at the links below.

And no, you don’t have to be from Los Angeles to bitch these folks out, you just have to love yourself some tasty street tacos!

Thanks to the movement’s rocking man of the hour, Aaron Sonderleiter, for forwarding me this information via e-mail and, as always, que viva las trocas!

District 1
Gloria Molina
(213) 974-4111
molina@bos.lacounty.gov

District 2
Yvone Burke
(213) 974-2222
seconddistrict@burke.lacounty.gov
This seat is still up for grabs after Tuesday’s election, so Burke may or may not get your e-mail…but, what the hell, send it anyway!

District 3
Zev Yaroslavsky
(213) 974-3333
zev@bos.lacounty.gov

District 4
Don Knabe
(213) 974-4444
don@lacbos.org

District 5
Michael D. Antonovich
(213) 974-5555
FifthDistrict@lacbos.org