COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

Claremont Mayor Ellen Taylor speaks to residents at the 4th of July Speakers Corner in Memorial Park during the city’s Independence Day celebration.

Councilmember criticized for chasing off Girl Scouts

Some local parents are irate with Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Taylor after the councilmember threatened to call the police on them for what she believed was “an unsafe situation.”

The danger: 6 girls between the ages of 8 and 10 from Sumner Elementary were selling Girl Scout cookies on the sidewalk outside of her office.

The incident occurred on Friday afternoon at the corner of Indian Hill Boulevard and Second Street, where Ms. Taylor manages the law office of Taylor, Simonson & Winter. As the business day was winding down, the troupe pulled into the law office’s designated parking lot around 3 p.m. in order to unload the girls and cookies.

The 2 supervising parents, Pam Garvin and Maya West, were immediately asked by a staff member at Ms. Taylor’s office to vacate the lot if they did not have business with the law office. After unloading the cookies, the women moved their cars onto a neighboring street.

The girls then set up a display on the sidewalk at the corner of Indian Hill Boulevard and Second Street, which they felt was a high visibility location. Their customers were mostly pedestrians walking by, although some vehicles entered the parking lot to buy the cookies, Ms. Garvin said.

After about an hour, Ms. Taylor approached Ms. West to ask them to cease operations, arguing that the situation was dangerous with heavy traffic at the intersection.

“There was just an accident there the day before,” Ms. Taylor said. “I was worried about the girl’s safety and that drivers were getting distracted.”

When Ms. Garvin, the troupe leader, returned from taking some of the girls to the bathroom, she met privately with Ms. Taylor to discuss her concerns.

Ms. Taylor first asked if the group had a permit from the city to operate at the location, announced that she was the deputy Mayor of Claremont and threatened to call the police if the Girl Scouts did not cease operations, Ms. Garvin said. She also expressed her feelings that the location was not safe.

“My 2 girls were there,” Ms. Garvin said. “I was standing right there with them the whole time. There is no way that I was going to put any of these girls in harms way.”

Nonprofit groups are required to get permits from the city for selling goods on public rights-of-way, said Candice Ponce, accounting assistant with the city. But Girl Scouts are regularly seen outside of grocery stores or Starbucks selling cookies, and officials often look the other way, given the nature and mission of the Girl Scouts.

Ms. Garvin said they had permission to set up at the location from the owners of a neighboring business, Susa, but had not received prior permission from Taylor, Simonson & Winter.

Ms. Taylor did in fact call the police in order to get advice about what should be done. Claremont Police Lieutenant Jon Traber agreed that heavy traffic at the location and the time of day was a cause for concern and offered to send a patrol officer, Ms. Taylor said.

Not wanting a confrontation with police, the women decided to leave the location, taking with them their girls, cookies and a sour taste in their mouths. By the time the officer arrived, the Girl Scout troop was gone.

“If she came out with a smile on her face instead of threatening us and threatening to call the police, we would have been more understanding,” Ms. West said. “We are trying to empower young women to become leaders and business people, and I think she offered a negative impression of what that should be.”

—Tony Krickl