RI Town Official Warns of "People Showing Up From Providence" for Food Truck Events

RI Town Official Warns of "People Showing Up From Providence" for Food Truck Events

A Rhode Island town official warned fellow town residents of “people showing up from Providence” during a debate on how to regulate food truck events. This week, the Charlestown Town Council took up whether to have the town regulate food trucks, or have “PVD Food Truck Events” — which runs events all across the state — obtain a permit to organize events in the town. 

At the meeting, Kevin Gallup, a former police officer and the director of the Charlestown Emergency Management Agency, warned about having food trucks in from Providence, and specifically Providence residents. 

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“I’m not sure everyone realizes…I’m a retired police officer in this town,” said Gallup during the Town Council discussion Monday night. “Things morph. If you start off with food trucks for movie night, then it’s, ‘Why can’t we do food trucks like Richmond does?’”

While Gallup said he thought PVD Food Truck Events coming to Charleston “sounded reasonable,” he then added a caveat — which was that Charleston residents “might not appreciate” having people from Providence come to the town for events. 

“I think adding some food trucks to movie night sounds reasonable to me, because not everybody’s going to go and watch a kids movie. They might want to go with their children and do something else while they’re there in the park,” said Gallup. 

“If we’re going to have people showing up from Providence and hanging out that we don’t know…along with our children…some people aren’t going to appreciate that and I can tell you that for a fact,” he added. “So you’re going to need that police detail. Sorry the world needs to be this way, but these things need to be thought out.”

The video of the Town Council Meeting was live-streamed on Facebook — and Gallup’s comments drew a response. 

“Providence = people of color,” wrote Silvermoon Mars LaRose. “Is that what we’re saying but trying to pretend it’s not what we’re saying?”

PVD Food Trucks Owner Eric Weiner responded to Gallup’s comments following the council meeting. 

“In general people like to go to events in their backyard, which is why we do these events all over the state,” said Weiner. “But people also like to go experience different neighborhoods and communities.”

“At no location in any place — including Providence — have we ever had a problem,” said Weiner. 

Gallup did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. 

 

Latest RI NIMBYism

In 2021, GoLocal reported that following a large-scale brawl on Narragansett Town Beach — before it officially opened — one resident called for a limit to RIPTA busses being able to come to the beach — and to “check non-residents for weapons."

GoLocal obtained a copy of a message sent by Jane Warren — wife of Narragansett recreation board chair Tom Warren — to neighbors, after a fight between beach-goers and law-enforcement authorities at Narragansett Town Beach on Sunday had one Rhode Island mom who witnessed the melee call it the “worst thing she’d ever seen.”

Warren wrote: 

Limit the number of RIPTA busses that stop at our beach. Council President Jesse Pugh recently established the Narragansett Coastal Access Improvement Committee. One item on their agenda of this month was to discuss RIPTA  beach routes and encouragement of routes to our beach.

All nonresidents should be required to enter through the South Pavilion so that their belongings may be inspected to ensure that weapons are not allowed on the beach."