The Vending Oversight Committee placed a motion to revoke the vending license of Jeffrey Okafo of Jin's Chicken and Fish Monday night.
The one-year revocation is a result of, according to committee members, Okafo's consistent violation of Madison City laws with regard to street use, health codes, parking and vending ordinance.
Okafo, owner of the food cart usually located on library mall, has been regularly vending with a suspended license. He was also ticketed for leaving his cart unattended for one to two weeks in January earlier this year.
Okafo's first violation in September 2008 involved vending without a license. Multiple charges have been made against Okafo since.
""This committee has suspended his license for a six-month period and a thirty-day period. One year is the least amount of time he should be suspended considering the amount of violations he has,"" said John Strange, assistant city attorney.
Okafo was also caught on a surveillance camera late January outside of the U-Haul store on West Washington Avenue committing a hit and run, damaging a vehicle.
Okafo said he did not realize he hit the vehicle.
""It's been a total frustration. We have sponsored ordinance amendments for over a decade to deal with the problems this vender is causing,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
Despite the yearlong suspension penalty that was issued, the committee said it feels that it will not resolve the issues raised by Okafo. Verveer suggested that the city attorneys should request an ordinance amendment be drafted by the Common Council.
""We need to tighten up our language in a lot of places because this is not going to go away. It's time; we cannot continue to exhaust all of this time with one vendor. It is not fair to everyone else who follows the rules,"" said Tori Pettaway, a committee member.
""Because of the lack of respect for laws of this city, the maximum penalty is more than appropriate here,"" said Verveer.
