EDITORIAL: Food (trucks) for thought

After trying to pass a city ordinance while students were on vacation, U. officials are holding meetings to garner community input. It was only after students and food vendors raised their voices in dissent to the proposal that the ordinance was stalled until this fall. Now with a concerted effort by the University and City Council members to address the issue, students, faculty, staff and members of the Penn community need to voice their concerns. The proposal hasn't changed much since officials approached the public with it this past May -- after students had left campus for vacation. The plan calls for the development of four on-campus plazas that will hold most of the street food vendors. These plazas will also include electrical hookups, proper sewage and water lines for a $1 fee. Administrators should never have released the plan without providing information to the public. As it stands more details should be released such as where administrators plan to have the "fresh air food plazas." Input from students, vendors, faculty and staff is key if an amenable plan is to be developed. But now that the opportunity is there to present differing views, the community needs to take advantage of it. We encourage all members of the Penn community to attend the meeting planned with City Council President John Street and West Philadelphia Councilwoman Janie Blackwell to discuss the proposed city ordinance. Ask questions, since this is your opportunity to let your opinions be heard on the status of food vendors on campus. This meeting -- which was postponed but will be held this fall -- as well as the informational brochures that are being sent to students should have happened last spring if officials wanted to move on the ordinance over the summer. Instead, administrators found themselves with a public relations catastrophe on their hands. Hopefully, the administrators will listen to the concerns discussed and address the appropriately. While it is still the same ordinance, maybe this time around, officials -- with the help of the community -- can do it better.