It’s been a rough summer in Fremont. No Civil War Days, no Festival of India parade, but at least my #1 favorite Tri-City area event is back this Sunday. I had a total blast covering the Niles Antique Faire last year, even though several people told me how all of the police officers and code enforcement officials were ruining it for everyone. I got an earful from a guy who got his unlicensed  Mexican food stand closed down and a 12-year-old who said he was made to shut down a lemonade stand. Several other folks said code enforcement officials were giving them a hard time about their garage sales.

So yesterday when I was writing a preview of this year’s event, which is in today’s paper, I tried to find out why all of a sudden the authorities became such sticklers for the rules. I failed.
Keith Elrod of Niles Main Street Association said his group didn’t ask for tougher enforcement.  Police spokesman Bill Veteran said police had to accompany code enforcement officials who received threats last year, but that they had no interest in shutting down lemonade stands. The fire department declared its innocence too.

One person who should be in the know said confidentially that the call for more enforcement came from Niles residents themselves. I didn’t put that in the story, because, well, I wasn’t convinced it was true. I would never underestimate the capacity for Niles people to disagree, and I could see people complaining about illegal parking. But an upswell of neighborhood disgust over unlicensed Mexican food stands, and dodgy lawn sales? Hard to fathom.

Anyway, one thing is clear. The code enforcement people will be out again this year. I’ll be back too, but only to shop and maybe to get some lemonade, if the kids are allowed to sell it.