Multnomah County health inspectors: Lemonade stands without licenses are lemons

What is it with adults’ heavy-handed and shortsighted response to the traditional children’s lemonade stand this summer?

First, Terry Savage of the Chicago Sun-Times channeled her inner Michael Savage in her column and berated some young girls who were giving away free lemonade. And now Multnomah County, Oregon has taken the “killing a fly by using a bazooka” approach to seven year old Julie Murphy’s lemonade stand.

Julie had become enamored of the idea of having a stand after watching an episode of cartoon pig Olivia running one, said her mother, Maria Fife. The two live in Oregon City, but Fife knew her daughter would get few customers if she set up her stand at home.

Plus, Fife had just attended Last Thursday along Portland's Northeast Alberta Street for the first time and loved the friendly feel and the diversity of the grass-roots event. She put the two things together and promised to take her daughter in July.

The girl worked on a sign, coloring in the letters and decorating it with a drawing of a person saying "Yummy." She made a list of supplies.

Then, with gallons of bottled water and packets of Kool-Aid, they drove up last Thursday with a friend and her daughter. They loaded a wheelbarrow that Julie steered to the corner of Northeast 26th and Alberta and settled into a space between a painter and a couple who sold handmade bags and kids' clothing.

And, like a responsible vendor would, they followed best practices for preparing a beverage to be sold to and consumed by thirty fairgoers.

Julie was careful about making the lemonade, cleaning her hands with hand sanitizer, using a scoop for the bagged ice and keeping everything covered when it wasn't in use, Fife said.

But unfortunately, that wasn't good enough.

After 20 minutes, a "lady with a clipboard" came over and asked for their license. When Fife explained they didn't have one, the woman told them they would need to leave or possibly face a $500 fine.

And where was the medical quality assurance inspector when Lucy was doling out “psychiatric help” to Charlie Brown and company for five cents?

Of course, Multnomah County is following the letter of Oregon State law, which requires a $120 temporary restaurant license be issued. We all recognize the benefit of public health laws that ensure our food and beverages are handled in a safe, sanitary manner before we consume them.

Perhaps I have sympathy for Julie Murphy’s situation since I have three kids that aren’t that much younger than her (and I once had my own harassment-free lemonade stand), but don’t inspectors in Multnomah County have anything better to do than pick on seven year olds who are learning about entrepreneurship, money management, and gaining valuable social skills?

The article noted that a friend and daughter were with the young Miss Murphy. What if Julie had given a cut of the profits to her friend? Would that make the friend an employee? And would Julie then be responsible for payroll taxes and worker’s comp should the employee trip over the lemonade supplies and break her ankle?

It's easy to see how this could get out of hand.

Regardless of whether the inspector was doing her job or not, surely the county could handle these situations better. Government has enough enemies clamoring for its demise without making more.

And the sad thing is, this is going to end up as fodder for the right wing's contention that government exists to regulate private enterprise to death.

Oregon and Multnomah County should consider creating an exemption for a child’s lemonade stand, and make available on their website age appropriate information on the importance of the public health laws, rather than throwing a cup of cold lemonade in the face of youthful creativity and entrepreneurship.

As any parent knows, when we support our children and encourage their creative endeavors, the sky is the limit.

POSTSCRIPT (Andrew): This reminds me of the City of Redmond's baseless crusade against Blazing Bagels owner Dennis Ballen, a Redmond baker who was told he couldn't hire somebody to stand out on Redmond Way and direct motorists to his retail store with a sign. The City really blundered with that case (which it ultimately lost), just as Multnomah County is making a mistake by defending its treatment of Julie Murphy. For government to be effective, it has to protect our freedoms, not interfere when we choose to exercise them.