Sriracha Plant Mulls Move, Providing Valuable Lesson to Government Meddlers

“I have had the bad luck to
move into a city with a government that acts like a local king.”
That’s what David Tran, founder of Huy Fong Foods and producer of
Sriracha hot sauce, said to the Los Angeles Times after
the Irwindale, California, City Council last week unanimously
declared his factory a “public nuisance” due to the alleged
smell.

Baylen Linnekin wrote in December about the
history of the factory’s issues and the regulatory
troubles Tran has faced in Californian. Back then Linnekin wondered
if the company might move out of California to escape its issues
with regulators and the meddling government. The possibility seems
more likely now.
From the Times:

Huy Fong Foods’ Executive Operations Officer Donna Lam said that
Alabama, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa,
Arizona, New Mexico and West Virginia have offered to host
factories. A cadre of local officials also have thrown their
support behind the hot sauce maker, including state Sen. Ed
Hernandez.

U.S. Rep. Tony Cardenas, whose district includes the San
Fernando Valley, joined the chorus of voices clamoring to host
Sriracha production on Wednesday.

It’s worth pointing out that Irwindale is a tiny, little
industrialized cog in the greater Los Angeles area, with a
population of less than 1,500. Yet 40,000 people are employed
there. It is a place where people work, not live. From the city’s own
demographic data, less than 1 percent of Irwindale’s land is
used for residential purposes. By contrast, 43 percent of land in
the city is used for industrial purposes and 31 percent of the land
is open space. Roads take up more space in Irwindale than
housing.

Yet, as of 2007, Irwindale boasted 134 city employees and its
own police force of 27. According to its stats in 2007, the little
town had a monthly
payroll of more than $777,000. Dennis Romero of LA
Weekly noted the
odd relationship between Tran’s company and Irwindale:

It is a strange tale. As Tran has told it, Irwindale actually
lobbied to get Huy Fong to move from its old digs in Rosemead to
Irwindale, which it did in 2010. But when Tran got a bad feeling
about initial odor complaints he decided to take preemptive
action.

He was essentially paying Irwindale for $250,000 a year for 10
years to use the factory. But he surprised City Hall by buying it
outright, depriving Irwindale of millions in future rent.

Most of the odor complaints have come from four nearby homes,
one of which is occupied by the relative of a city councilman. That
councilman, Hector Ortiz, recused himself from discussion and
voting on the matter because, he says, he owns property near the
plant.

At the same time, the city was looking to sell property it owns
next door to Huy Fong to a waste-management facility, which could
be ironic given the odors sometimes associated with those kinds of
facilities.

Romero also noted that two current council members and a former
council member face conflict-of-interest charges for using taxpayer
funds for a lavish trip to New York City.

Now that the discussion of the Sriracha plant moving is taking
on tones of actual possibility, Irwindale’s city attorney is acting
confused about Tran’s response:

Irwindale City Atty. Fred Galante said he was confused and
disappointed by Tran’s actions. Galante said Irwindale officials
just want an action plan to be submitted, and Tran has not proposed
any solutions for the city to reject.

“This seems very extreme,” Galante said. “It’s disappointing
given that [air quality officials] have explained that there are
readily available solutions.”

He seems to have forgotten the fact that
Irwindale is already suing Tran’s company. Maybe that’s the
origin of Tran’s lack of trust?