Swap meet shut down by fire to re-open

Santo Tomas Swap Meet will re-open for business once again, six months after a fire shut it down. Calexico residents are happy.

John Renison , resident, said, ” There’s hundreds of families that maybe they’re on social security, maybe they don’t have an income stream; they have chosen that kind of work. So, we need to work together with them. ”

Vendors and residents alike complained about the apparent lack of action on behalf of the city to find a solution in order to re-open the business.

Swap meet vendor Pedro Ortiz said, ” The thing is we weren’t told the details. We now know that there’s an agreement but everything has been done confidentially between them. ”

“It’s been six months and that’s unacceptable in my opinion,” Renison added.

Vendors said they were concerned about the council understanding their plight.

” None of them have come really to our work place to show themselves, to see our problems. Only when they were campaigning, they came around, not now. Not one of them has come around, ” Ortiz said.

City council voted unanimously to approve a temporary agreement which allows the swap meet and nearly 200 vendors to do business in some areas with covered stalls. It allowed for them to store their merchandise in those areas.

“Something we the vendors have always asked for is to be able to leave our merchandise at this place, not have to load and unload every day,” Ortiz said.

The agreement includes a list of safety issues which must be fixed no later than beginning of next year. A part of the property will continue fenced in until further notice.

“So, it’s my expectation and the hope of many Calexico residents that this gets resolved quickly,” Renison said.

Residents said the economic impact brought on by the swap meet business is important locally. But safety, comes first.

“We’ve got to make sure we cross the t’s and dot the i’s,” Renison said.