I am sad to see the Venice Chamber of Commerce violate it’s free market beliefs for fear of open market competition. The Abbot Kinney Merchants Committee of the Venice Chamber of Commerce successfully lobbied the city DOT to post no parking signs along Abbot Kinney for the First Friday Art Walk to keep out food trucks.
The Venice Chamber of Commerce claims that it has these no parking signs for “safety reasons”, when there realistically is no safety concerns at work- it’s just that the restaurants that charge far too high of prices now have competitors that are more efficient and provide better tasting food. Instead of competing in the open free market, they have decided to use the government to try to attack their four-wheeled foes.
If small businesses themselves are turning away from free market principles, who will defend them?
The same dog that the Venice Chamber of Commerce has turned on the food trucks can be turned just as easily back upon them- all it takes is a bigger company with better lobbyists to shut them down too.