Free Enterprise, Hard Times, and the Rules

Brian the WLA Bikeguy has a tiny bike shop in a garage on a residential street, but right close to a commercial street. Brian's a vet, he's been through hard times, but the VA has helped him through alcohol rehabilitation and he's set up this bike shop. He's also got good carpentry skills and I hired him to replace my mom's side gate. So I've been seeing a lot of him the last five days. He's bright and and knows a lot about a lot of things. He catches all the references I make whether it's art, music, geography, or history and drops his own set of references.

These are hard economic times. In addition we're trying to reduce the amount of energy we use to become less dependent on the middle east and to reduce global climate change. LA has lots of traffic.

So Brian gets used bikes - through thrift shops, Craigslist, and people he knows. He fixes the bikes and sells them for a small profit. This has a number of advantages to the community.

1. He's not homeless and he's feeding himself.
2. He's providing a recycling service - taking old bikes that would otherwise end up as junk and putting them back on the market.
3. He's providing a low cost option in hard economic times. Not everyone can afford $300 - $3,000 bikes. Brian provides low cost bikes which give people a means of transportation. In Southern California, the weather is not an issue, so people could ride more if they could get inexpensive bikes.
4. If enough people ride bikes, there will eventually be a critical mass where they are taken seriously and infrastructure is adjusted to make bike riding safer, more convenient, and a reasonable alternative to the car for many trips. As that happens, even more people will ride bikes.

(I would add here that Brian has made it clear to me that he is very careful about where his bikes come from. Bike theft is, apparently, an issue in the LA area, and he assures me that while he can't be 100% sure, he does his very best to stay away from hot bikes. He keeps receipts for the bikes he buys. Maybe he should take pictures of the bikes and sellers too.)


But Brian's garage which he gets cheap through a relative, isn't zoned for a shop. And essentially, this is, de facto, an underground business that doesn't pay taxes at this point. While other bike shops could complain it's unfair competition, I strongly suspect rather than taking away their customers, he simply offering a supply to people who otherwise wouldn't buy a bike. And as I said before, the more people ride, the more other people will see it's doable and will buy bikes. So the total demand should increase.

Given that the feds thought things were hairy enough to pony up hundreds of millions to prop up banks and car companies during hard times, doesn't it make sense to note the extraordinary times and look the other way for situations like this? Or even have an official waiver until the economy gets on its feet? Or until the Brians of the world have a little more solid ground underfoot? If the big boys can get a break, how about the little guys?

Sometimes some rules which in isolation make sense, don't make sense when taken into context of all the issues facing a community. I suspect that what Brian's doing is in the overall balance of things, a net gain for the community.

I'm not the only one who thinks vets should get a break. From Thursday's LA Times:

For 16 years, Connell sparred with the state Board of Equalization over the interpretation of an 1872 statute exempting street peddlers who are disabled veterans from paying various taxes. This morning, he’ll celebrate his victory by giving away hot dogs and carving up sheet cakes decorated with the Stars and Stripes. Politicians who supported Connell’s cause will speechify on a platform set up at his Surf Dog stand, a cart commanding an ocean view that would be the envy of any five-star hotel.

“This was a real David-and Goliath struggle, and Bill never gave up,” said state Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Atwater), chairman of the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee. “It’s an emotional issue for him and it’s an emotional issue for all veterans.”

Denham sponsored a bill, inspired by Connell, allowing veterans with service-related disabilities not to pay sales taxes when peddling things such as T-shirts, tacos and incense on the street. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law earlier this month.

Brian's situation isn't exactly the same - but he's definitely a pedelar and arguably a peddlar.

One who offers merchandise (as fresh produce) for sale along the street or from door to door (from Merriam Webster online.)

The intent of the law is certainly the same - to help people, particularly disabled vets, to make a living in hard times.

Note: The cops have been by Brian's place a few times, so this post isn't blowing his cover. Instead of being shut down, he needs the police to work with whatever other agencies are out there to help Brian get to where they can accept what he's doing as in compliance.