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Sao Paulo street vendors review new bill City Councillor Beto Custodio of the PT speaking at the Policy Dialogue hosted by CUT SP called for street vendors to make public submissions on the on the new bill 1017/1997. The bill was drafted in 1997 by Jose Eduardo Cardozo, former city councilor, after two commissions in 1991 and 1995 investigated violence, corruption and patronage in the Sao Paulo street vending sector. The commissions opened up public discussion with street vendors’ associations that fed into the bill. The Bill sat gathering dust for 10 years. The bill brings important innovations and includes several features that relate to a law passed in 1991(11.039/1991) that set up street vending bargaining forums, ie: a negotiation channel between the State and vendors’ representatives. Since 1991, the law has been slightly modified by mayors but the main principles and rules haven’t been changed. In terms of the law decentralised bargaining forums were introduced as a means by the state to bring government closer to citizens. The forums called Permanent Street Vendors’ Commission (Comissao Permanente de Ambulantes), in theory, are held monthly in each municipal district (subprefeitura). These commissions, should have two to five street vendors’ representatives; three to six; civil society and popular associations’ representatives; two and five State representatives, including police, public attorneys and city executive administration officials. Decentralisation means that each municipal district is in charge of implementation of its own street vending policy rules on trading places, merchandise and trading licenses. The executive administration is responsible for co-ordination of street vending rules. In reality, the Commissions do not guarantee representation of all associations, as non-licensed vendors’ associations are often not included. In the downtown area, for example, license-holder vendors represent only 10% of the entire number of existing street vendors. Commissions also are vulnerable to local political manipulation, such as from civil society and Police representatives, who oppose increased street vending. Unbalanced representation has turned the Commissions into illegitimate bargaining forums. The new bill 1017/1997 allows for the creation of a Street Vending Municipal Council, falling under the Executive administration, which would be in charge of local Commissions’ decision-making processes and for setting up urban planning and police control standards for the street vending occupation. Street Vending Municipal Councils would have guaranteed representation with democratically elected members (vendors, society and state). A formal structure for dealing with complaints by street vendors is made provision for. Any ordinary street vendor could bring a formal objection against arbitrary police or official procedure, without fear of intimidation or bias. |
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