NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — It's been months since National City announced it would lift the ‘No Cruising Ban Ordinance’ for a one day pilot event. It was a huge accomplishment for the lowriding community, but fast forward to today and the city's ban is still in place.
“Let’s deal with the ordinance because it’s a discriminatory ordinance. Does not need to be there, it's not even in effect no one has gotten tickets for it, it's not even being enforced,” said Jovita Arellano, the president of the United Lowriders Coalition.
National City adopted the law in 1992 after police and business owners claimed cruises along Highland Avenue only created traffic and attracted gang activity.
Since the pilot event, the police department has encouraged additional enforcement, but have charged thousands to the coalition in order to patrol.
Arellano, says the ordinance only promotes discriminatory policies against the lowriders, which is why the coalition has been at community events squashing the negative narrative that perceives them.
“Show them that cars, tell them what it takes to build a car and hopefully motivate them to stay in school and be able to get a career where you can afford it because it’s not cheap,” said Marissa Rosales, who is a member of the coalition.
National City’s leadership has paralyzed efforts to lift the city’s 30-year-old anti-cruising law by tying policy discussions to large cruising events.
However, Arellano and the coalition believes new leadership could come to an understanding and lift the ban.
“These are two separate issues, events, yes, they say if you have a lot of people, festivals or whatever you need a permit. We agreed to that. But the ordinance is a whole different issue,” said Arellano.
The coalition's efforts to advocate for an appeal has become an example for other counties in California. San Jose and Sacramento recently lifted their ban, but National City hasn't.
“It’s heartbreaking because I see, we started this two years ago and we were told that within a year that we could have this appeal,” said Rosales.
Despite the current halt, National City lowriders have hope for the next coming months.
WATCH RELATED: Low-rider community's fight to end cruising ban shifts into high gear (Aug. 2022).