Well, to recap, it looks like the Town of Gilford decided to engage in Crony Capitalism (worst cast) or (stupidly) became the butt for some established company somebody using the Town to become the “barrier to entry” for them and making it rather impossible for competitors to enter the food industry marketplace in town.
…Long story short, it would cost her $2500 for a biz license in order to operate here in town. Now think about that – how many burger (or tacos or wraps or food bowls or….) would she have to sling before even being able to pay for that license. And her other costs? Not the town’s issue. Actually, the town has MADE it their issue. Rent-seeking.
…So since I had a camera running (per my normal standard operating procedure; I should brought the one with the better shotgun mic), I asked Scott Dunn why the fee was so much (around 3:20 and you have to listen carefully). Simple, was the answer (and said with a bit of scorn):
“The people who pay taxes here.”
As if this new 26 year old entrepreneur ISN’T paying taxes. These kinds of trucks aren’t rolling down the road free from Government vigorish and the fee of $2500 per year is a lot of tacos just to pay the Town for what is basically a three month season (although that is the yearly cost).
So, I called the Town’s Office of Selectmen and Town Administrator. Angela directed me to John Ayers who is the head of the Planning / Land Use Department. Left him a voice mail (turned out he was out sick when he called me back, two days later, yesterday). By that time, I had already called back the department and Sandra answered the phone AND gave me all of the information that I needed.
The P/LU only handles the paperwork – they aren’t responsible for setting the fee schedule of this Chapter 27 regulation: An Ordinance Regulating Outdoor Vendors and Transient Sales. I won’t bother to list it inline here as you can read it below. The operative question, really, is when was this set and who was responsible for approving it – and setting the fee.
After all, Scott Dunn, the Gilford Town Administrator, sarcastically let us know that its purpose was to protect the established restaurants in town against what I would call “disruptive force” to their model (like the Internet has become to what used to be rather staid marketplaces – torn them apart, ruined their biz model, or just plain put industries out of business completely). If you can’t compete, you deserve to lose. If you have to resort to using Government to prevent that competition, in my eyes, you also deserve to lose market share as well.
What Sandra was also able to tell me was
When: 9/26/2012
Who: Board of Selectmen: Kevin Hayes, John O’Brien, and Gus Benevides
Oh yeah, and Scott Dunn was the Town Administrator as well (hired back in 2008). The answer given above is not the first time he’s pushed the boundaries (here, here).
Gus Benevides is also spotlighted – he is still on the Selectboard so it should be interesting to see what the history will be (heh!).
Chapter 27:
Gilford NH Chapter_27_-_Vendor_Ordinance.9-26-2012_1357763585To be continued…
