'It's Toxic': Mayor Calls for Audit of City Department After Alleged Vendor Harassment

Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said the city must fix a "toxic" Community and Economic Development Department after an internal report and public backlash over alleged harassment of immigrant street vendors.

The mayor's remarks followed a Los Angeles Times report last week about a city-commissioned investigation alleging two Riverside code enforcement supervisors spent years harassing mostly immigrant vendors, including entering homes without warrants, chasing vendors, seizing property and engaging in fights.

Lock Dawson called for a third-party audit of the department during Tuesday's City Council meeting, saying the city's code enforcement system had been dysfunctional for more than a decade.

"We've had…two directors terminated in five years there, multiple other terminations, recurring anonymous complaints and letters, employees out on stress leave, long-running conflict, documented malfeasance that's resulted in dismissals. These all point to a very dysfunctional department," she said. "It's been going on for over a decade. It's toxic."

According to the report cited by the Times, the supervisors Mark Ilagan and Mark Hernandez may have committed multiple violations of state and local law — including allegations of theft, robbery, kidnapping, unlawful entry, impersonating a peace officer and — for Ilagan — battery.

The report also said senior managers failed to act on repeated internal warnings and may have retaliated against a whistleblower. It also described the affected vendors as people who were disproportionately Latino or Asian, may have been undocumented and often were reluctant to report mistreatment.

The two individuals named in the report no longer work for the city.

Ward 6 resident Maria Monroe told the council the news was "heartbreaking."

"I have bought food from these vendors throughout my life and like so many others, they're simply trying to make an honest living and create better opportunities for their families. These allegations are concerning because they raise serious questions about how members of our communities are being treated," she said.

Cassidy Bennett, an attorney at Public Counsel, urged the city to suspend code enforcement operations on street vendors, return seized property, refund fines and fees and issue a public apology.

"Sidewalk vendors are small business owners and workers who contribute to their local economy and provide affordable goods and food for their communities. They are often already struggling with the rising costs of housing, food, and transportation, and many are currently struggling with increased immigration enforcement as well. So to know that they were also suffering from these criminal allegations from their own city is really sad to hear," said Bennett.

Council member Clarissa Cervantes said the issue was personal, noting her family's history of selling fruit roadside, and said the city should route the matter to the Economic Development Committee to review vendor fines, fees and code of conduct rules.

"I just want to share as a granddaughter and daughter of those that have picked and sold fruits before on the side of the road, it hurts me and it's very personal," she said. "I was very proud for us to have — back in 2022 — co-championed to pass a street vendor ordinance that really did work to uplift, protect our street vendors and our community factoring in our brick-and-mortar and we were very intentional with that ordinance and we now need to assure that that ordinance is being sought through and implemented properly."

At the end of the meeting, Cervantes asked for the Economic Development Committee to review its street vendor ordinance, as well as past fines and fees issued to street vendors, in the coming weeks.