I know the purpose of bureaucracy is to serve bureaucracy, but this? I know this is not the first time I’ve heard of a story similar to this, but it does not get old. Shouldn’t the purpose of bureaucracy be to serve the people, and not the other way around?
Some excerpts:
“Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.”
"I understand the reason behind what they're doing and it's a neighborhood event, and they're trying to generate revenue," said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. "But we still need to put the public's health first."
“After 20 minutes, a "lady with a clipboard" came over and asked for their license. When Fife explained they didn't have one, the woman told them they would need to leave or possibly face a $500 fine.”
Does bottled water and Kool-Aid present a public health danger?
UPDATE: Oregon officials reverse decision, say kids don't need license to run lemonade stand.
"Realizing the error of their ways, county officials have now issued an apology, meaning the little girl's horribly unsafe lemonade can be unleashed upon the world once more."
In his decision, Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen said that while county health department workers were "following the rule book" when they stopped the girl and her mom from selling lemonade, he asked them to use "professional discretion."
"A lemonade stand is a classic, iconic American kid thing to do," he said. "I don't want to be in the business of shutting that down."
It is nice to see happy endings :o)
(UPDATE LINK) http://consumerist.com/2010/08/update-officials-say-little-kids-dont-need-health-dept-license-to-run-lemonade-stand.html
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