Writing

Stirring the Pot: Environmental Services' Crusade Against MEHKOs

Resistance to change is a hallmark of bureaucracy, but El Dorado County’s Environmental Services has taken this to new heights in its campaign against Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs). Their efforts to maintain the status quo are as unappetizing as the proverbial sausage-making process they seem determined to obscure.

For years, I’ve been an advocate for MEHKOs. Authorized by California legislators in 2018, the program allows counties to “opt-in” and permit small-scale home-based food businesses. The regulations are reasonable: amongst the many facets of the program, annual revenue is capped at $100,000; meal production is limited to what a family of four might consume daily; food must be prepared on the same day it’s sold; and operators must complete food safety certification. Twenty-two counties small and large, from Sierra to San Diego, have embraced MEHKOs. Data from these counties show negligible issues with foodborne illnesses or neighborhood disturbances. In fact, eating at a friend’s house (or your own) carries significantly more risk than dining on a MEHKO-prepared meal. Even El Dorado County’s own data that I obtained through a public records request confirms this.

Nonetheless, Environmental Services has launched an aggressive campaign against MEHKOs. They’ve lobbied both the City of South Lake Tahoe and the City of Placerville to oppose the program, citing hypothetical concerns like “lack of ventilation” or “potential parking issues.” These arguments are unsupported by evidence from other counties where such problems have not materialized. Internal documents reveal a troubling inconsistency: at one point, they supported MEHKOs when grant funding was available, yet shortly thereafter urged cities to oppose adoption.

This bureaucratic resistance creates absurd regulatory gaps. For instance, my private chef business (Tahoe Persian Kitchen) can legally prepare meals in a client’s home without a health permit. I can also cook for invited guests in my own kitchen. But if I charge for that same meal or deliver it elsewhere, it suddenly becomes illegal. My wife’s business (Tahoe Charcuterie Co.) faces similar contradictions: washing grapes at home is deemed unsafe, but doing so at a commissary kitchen or client’s house is perfectly fine. These rules are not just illogical—they’re stifling innovation and entrepreneurship. Twenty-seven people expressed interest in starting MEHKO’s when surveyed by the County last year; those are all potential entrepreneurs and potential future restaurateurs whose business (and tax revenue) is reduced or eliminated by current regulation.

Unfortunately, it appears Environmental Services’ lobbying has succeeded in delaying MEHKO adoption indefinitely. Armed with letters of opposition from local cities and their own relentless advocacy against the program, county Supervisors are unlikely to approve it anytime soon. Remember this next time your Supervisor campaigns on a pro-business, pro-small-government, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” message.

The most distressing aspect of the last few years of my advocacy is that the issue at hand has never been anything to do with public health. Other counties have adopted MEHKO regulation and they have not become hellscapes of noise, grease and disease. El Dorado County Environmental Services’ actions amount to nothing more than protectionism of a bureaucracy and a regulatory regime not based on evidence or reason. It’s simply resistance to change at any cost. That’s bad for small business, bad for innovation, bad for public health, and bad for economic opportunity - in my opinion, bureaucratic governance at its worst.

The biggest self-inflicted wound

The prognosis for El Dorado County and the City of South Lake Tahoe isn’t looking good. Sacramento’s unfunded seismic retrofit requirements for hospitals have forced Barton Health to make a bitter pill of a decision: relocate its main hospital to Nevada, while keeping some services on life support in California.

This move, while not a complete flatline for our local economy, still poses significant challenges for South Lake Tahoe. Barton isn’t just any employer; it’s the city’s largest and one of the few with well-paid professional jobs not tied to the tourism sector. This partial amputation will have notable economic side effects. The financial impact will be felt directly and indirectly – as these jobs move, payroll taxes will decrease and foot traffic from employees, patients and their families will cause side effects at local businesses near the Y. Many businesses on the West side of town cited a decline in foot traffic when Measure T was passed; that will be dwarfed by the loss of business this time around. I’d be surprised if the net present value of the economic losses isn’t significantly greater than the incremental cost of giving Barton the money to construct in California.

Barton’s dual-campus strategy, aiming to maintain outpatient services in South Lake Tahoe while building a new hospital in Stateline, Nevada, shows they’re not completely pulling the plug on our community. However, this compromise, necessitated by California’s shortsighted policies, still results in a net loss that’s hard to swallow.

What’s particularly nauseating is the deafening silence from our elected officials and unions. Our county, state, and federal politicians have done little to prevent this partial exodus, seemingly suffering from a severe case of political paralysis. The nurses’ union has been practically mute.

Here’s where the diagnosis gets even grimmer: over time, employees will be incentivized to move to Carson City or Gardnerville to work at the new location. The commute from these towns will be about the same as from Meyers or Christmas Valley but with the added bonus of lower taxes. The resulting brain drain and loss of well-paid, full-time residents from these communities will reverberate throughout the housing market and local businesses.

Dr. Clint Purvance, President & CEO of Barton Health, has tried to sugarcoat the pill, stating, “As we build in Nevada, Barton remains committed to California, and will continue to have robust services in both Stateline and South Lake Tahoe”. While this commitment is admirable, it doesn’t cure the economic ailments California’s policies have caused.

California has managed to shoot itself in the foot yet again, and just like virtually every town that borders Arizona or Nevada, the California side (in this case the City of South Lake Tahoe) is the one limping. In trying to ensure hospitals can withstand earthquakes, California has instead shaken the very foundation of our local economy. It’s a textbook case of the cure being worse than the disease. This self-inflicted wound will take more than a band-aid to heal. While we can appreciate Barton’s efforts to maintain services on both sides of the state line, we must also recognize that this compromise was forced by myopic policy.

The health of our cities depends not just on access to medical care, but also on the economic vitality that institutions like Barton bring. It’s time for California to take a more holistic approach to healthcare policy – one that considers not just seismic safety, but also the economic tremors that can result from unfunded mandates. Otherwise, we might find ourselves in need of more than just a second opinion – we’ll need a full-scale economic resuscitation. I call on newly elected State Representative Heather Hadwick, State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil and Congressman Kevin Kiley to take this issue head on. There’s still time to find the money or incentives to keep Barton’s hospital and their jobs in the City of South Lake Tahoe (or simply exempt Barton from the mandate). As is often the case, prevention is the best medicine, and much cheaper than treating disease.