Manassas bans illegal immigrants as peddlers
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By Kipp Hanley
Published: May 2, 2008
The city of Manassas adopted an ordinance this week that has painted the peddler picture crystal clear: People who are there illegally can't do it.
Last summer, several residents brought questions to council concerning the legal status of peddlers and the health
requirements they must follow. After nearly a year of deliberating on a new ordinance, council approved a measure Wednesday that allows peddling on city streets while upgrading the requirements to do so.
Peddlers will now have to have photo permits on them at all times and must be properly insured for the use of any vehicle, whether a truck, van or push cart. The city will also perform state and local criminal background checks before issuing a permit.
Before the ordinance was passed, city code stated that it was unlawful to peddle or hawk goods, wares or merchan-dise on any public streets or sidewalks. However, as of late last summer, the city had issued permits to 14 different peddlers and never bothered to address the issue until hearing a rash of complaints from citizens.
Originally, the city wanted to adopt provisions in the ordinance that specifically referred to checking the legal status of anyone wanting to peddle goods in the city. However, after seeking outside legal counsel on the matter, the city decided its current standards of practice and existing provisions in the ordinance more than made up for any new wording that may have been constitutionally problematic.
"The language that was removed is not needed for me to continue to deny a permit to anyone not legally present in the United States and we will continue to check status," said Commissioner of the Revenue John Grzejka in a recent e-mail. "The research of federal law indicated that I must deny a commercial license to any one not legally in the United States, so the language removed is not necessary in the ordinance."
Prior to the new ordinance, the city had issued six peddler permits (two ice cream trucks, one food vendor and three produce peddlers) and three solicitor permits. Those nine vendors will be called back in for a re-issuance of the permit with a photo, said Grzejka.
Grzejka said about a dozen peddlers haven't come back to renew their permits from last year but expects most of them, especially the food vendors, will do so as the weather warms up.
Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738 or .
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( raywilliams ) on May 07, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Chris, good to see you have 20/20 vision looking into the past. The problem is we are dealing with the here and now. We are all passionate about our opinions, as we should be, but unless all sides work together towards a blend of ideas, then only one program will emerge as the “chosen one”. You seem to feel that is the Resolution and are willing to go forth in battle armed only with that. Again, okay by me. The rest of us will be working towards Plan B when it is clear the Resolution has not solved all the problems faced by PWC residents. You have stated you have problems with immigrants in your neighborhood and your parents neighborhood you wish to be resolved. I don’t and don’t expect them to trickle into my community so I don’t share your deep passion about the issue. I’ll defer to those affected by the problems and let them decide the best course of action. This does not mean I’ll stop offering my thoughts, just that I’ll be spending time in my pool now that summer’s here.
Posted by ( zcxnissan ) on May 06, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Ray and Kgotthardt the battle has only begun we have decades of illegals to wind back. Should have been taken care of decades ago. It would not have become the “National Nightmare” it is now. Chris Cummings
Posted by ( raywilliams ) on May 06, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Come on, doright… we all waited for the ice cream man when we were kids. Maybe Mom wouldn’t buy us a bar, but we got excited every time we heard the bell ring. That said, NO ONE should have a business license without a company bank account, state license, county license, insurance AND a documented payroll process instead of paying in cash or the construction favorite, the 1099 form. We would stop a lot of the under the table companies if the IRS cracked down on companies that pay by personal check then issue a 1099 form for a year’s worth of wages. Easiest way to skirt an illegal social security number. Even kids with summer jobs get a true W-2 form.
Posted by ( black monty ) on May 06, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I need a Job? so im giong to my local 7-11 parklot and see how many companys want to hire me. you well see?I be lock up for tresspassing. see how many people stand up for me.I was born in this state in 1962. will you give me JOb Im hard worker to
Posted by ( dotherightthing ) on May 06, 2008 at 12:27 pm
This (deny acccess)should be the status quo for any service. We should not have to create laws to deny services to any illegal. It should be standard practice that they do not get services.
For me the peddler issue is more of a nuisance issue. We just don’t need peddlers in this town unless they are at a public event. With a 7/11 or fast food business on every block what is the point other than give someone yet another way to make money. We don’t need it.
Posted by ( cobra ) on May 06, 2008 at 11:32 am
We ran them out of our neighborhood in Manassas. The guy that came to our neighborhood could not speak a word of English and he looked like he just crawled out from under a rock with dirty cloth’s and body odor. We told him to go to Kgotthardt’s neighborhood. They don’t need to check Americans Kgotthardt as we have a history of following the law unlike your illegal alien friends.
Posted by ( raywilliams ) on May 05, 2008 at 6:18 pm
So, kgot, the plan is to continue to shout Resolution and say goodbye to a few thousand of the 30 to 50 thousand here in PWC, blame the Democrats and toe the hard line stance. Well by golly, that otta fix ‘em good! Let them play in their sand box because the illegals don’t affect me.
Posted by ( zcxnissan ) on May 05, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Kgotthardt plain and simple, law and order, if you are illegal you have no right to a job, a drivers’ license, and certainly are not a legal resident and should have no access to state tuition rates at colleges and this should pertain to their children as well. Although without legal residence that makes that decision real easy. With a Democrat Governor who is weak on illegal immigration it is very hard to enforce “Federal Laws”. Chris Cummings
Posted by ( raywilliams ) on May 05, 2008 at 3:24 pm
kgot, here’s the deal. The Resolution folks think the battle is over because the housing economy has driven immigrant construction workers to areas where there is work. This is like Mission Accomplished. What they don’t get is when the economy comes back, the jobs come back and the people come back. Then, like Mission Accomplished, 5 years from now we’re still scratching our heads trying to figure out a workable plan. I’ve tossed out a hundred practical ideas out that in some form would work to solve the problems we face and all I get is bombarded with chants of Resolution, Resolution, Resolution. The Resolution is like honking your horn in traffic. It makes noise but nothing real happens.
Posted by ( jtime ) on May 05, 2008 at 10:32 am
Once again, it is great to see any govt. body do just the little things to make citizens save. Now if we could just get a county or state wide ban in place.