Steven Cuevas
May 12, 2008
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A bill aimed at preventing registered sex offenders from operating ice cream trucks has stalled in the State Assembly. But similar ordinances in the Inland Empire are moving ahead fast. KPCC's Steven Cuevas has the story.

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Steven Cuevas: In Riverside County last year, a handful of protestors drove out an ice cream truck vendor from the city of Perris after discovering he'd been convicted of molesting his own children. That prompted the county to work on rules governing ice cream trucks. In neighboring San Bernardino County, a proposed ordinance would require criminal background checks. Registered sex offenders, drug dealers, burglars, and other offenders convicted of crimes within the past five years would be banned.

David Zook: What our ordinance would do is prohibit a registered sex offender from being able to obtain a business license to operate.

Cuevas: David Zook is spokesman for county supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. He says the proposed ordinance mirrors a similar effort by Yucca Valley Assemblyman Paul Cook. That bill stalled in the state legislature.

Zook: What Supervisor Mitzelfelt chose to do was to voluntarily comply with the intent of that legislation, whether or not it became a law, and it looks now like it's not going to.

Cuevas: About 250 registered ice cream truck vendors work the streets of unincorporated San Bernardino County. None have been linked to crimes against their young customers.