The inevitable "Detroitization" of California continues

This is what happens when the Democrats completely control the state.

The Sriracha company, harassed by lawsuits from the city of Irwindale, considers moving to Texas.

  "When we heard Texas politicians making overtures toward the embattled Sriracha factory, we initially brushed them aside. This just sounded like Texas' way of making a point that California is more in love with its red tape than its red rooster sauce. Huy Fong Foods would never leave the Golden State where its chilies come from, right?

But it looks like the company is seriously consider some of those overtures. Today creator David Tran invited a Texas lawmaker to check out the factory, according to the Pasadena Star-News. Tran wrote to Texas state Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas:

“(I) would first like to cordially invite you to come visit (the) facility in Irwindale so you can observe firsthand our operations as well as to assess whether there is any potential issues that may affect your residences before the company considers moving to Texas."

It not just about Texas. Tran has gotten invites from all over the country: Alabama, Philadelphia, Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Arizona, New Mexico, West Virginia and Washington have all opened their arms to the trademark hot sauce."

What was the big deal, you might ask?  Well, it turns out that basically four households have filed smell complaints, and the City of Irwindale has gone nuclear in attacking the factory, declaring them a public nuisance, and then accusing them of breach of contract.

  "Things are heating up in the battle between the city of Irwindale and Sriracha. The City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday night that the smells coming from the hot sauce maker's factory is a "public nuisance."

And now Huy Fong Foods, the creator behind the beloved cock sauce, is expected to have 90 days to fix the stinky issue or city officials will go into the factory and fix it themselves,according to Pasadena Star News. However, the City Council will need to make another vote before enforcing the public nuisance declaration.

This 4-0 vote had moved forward despite the fact that Huy Fong Foods and its attorney John Tate told city officials that they would have an action plan in 10 days, according to the L.A. Times. They had also been working with the South Coast Air Management District (AQMD) on its filtration system early on when the complaints first started and had hoped to fix the problems by June 1, reported CBS Sacramento.

“We’re disappointed,” Tate told Pasadena Star News. “We had been led to believe we were providing the city what it wanted.”

Tate added that the judgment seemed hurried and "a bit heavy handed" since they only found 12 residents in the entire city who complained about the factory. CBS Sacramento reported that the complaints were mostly filed from four households in a population of 1,400 residents in the industrial city."

And why, you might ask, would the City of Irwindale do that, after luring the factory to their town for the jobs and the taxes?  Tran thinks he irritated them by paying off the loan the city gave him early.

Needless to say, when you are trying to run a business, especially one that requires manufacturing, inventory management, advertising and sales, the last thing that you need to worry about is a battle with the local government.  This entire dispute smacks of the third world, where you must pay off the local boss in order to stay in business.  

If Sriracha moves to Texas, or some other state, then the blame will all be on the stupid and corrupt politicians in the City of Irwindale.  Further, who will do business with Irwindale in the future, now that their petty little power trip with this company is so public?  Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

It is also instructive to see how many other states besides Texas are jumping forward to try to lure Sriracha.  If Tran is crafty, he can play them off against each other and cut a great deal that could make the move away from California as cheap as possible. The other states must see that gaining a company like this would be an invaluable propaganda coup, allowing them to show other potential target companies that they are serious about getting and keeping industry in their jurisdictions.  

All in all, this is just one more example of the rank stupidity of our political "leaders" here in California.  While this particular dispute is local, the broader state is suffering from the reputation that it is quite hostile to business, and compared to other states, the California business environment does not compare well.  The regulations, the taxes, the legal environment, the high cost of everything - it all is simply too much for companies that have enough trouble just surviving in the highly competitive world market.

It's a shame that a state like California, with all it's natural advantages, could slide so inevitably into Detroit, which was also once was one of the richest cities in the country.  

Good bye, Sriracha!  We sane residents of California wish you well in your new home, and we will continue to buy your tasty sauce, until the day comes when we too can escape the increasingly hellish People's Republic.