'Food Truck Friday' Scores Big, Atoning for Past Green Cove 'Outrage'
City Became Famous After Police Shut Down Effort To Feed Hurricane Crews for Free

Food Truck Friday was a roaring success yesterday. Green Cove Springs has a lot of parking, but you would have had difficulty finding a spot anywhere near Spring Park. Perfect spring weather, nearly 20 trucks and the Boogie Freaks on stage—no wonder FTF has become the city’s signature event.
It’s difficult to imagine that only seven years ago, Green Cove earned nationwide notoriety for hating on food trucks, or specifically one food truck. Hurricane Irma had struck the day before and the city was a mess. The power was out, and there were downed trees all over the place.
One man with a food truck—Triple J Barbecue—decided to set up in downtown to feed first responders and utility crews—for free. Residents unable to cook without electricity lined up, happy to buy some hot pulled pork. Here are portions of the story I wrote, headlined Power Outage Outrage, which was published by the Clay Today newspaper on September 17, 2017:
Jack Roundtree had barely set up his food truck in at the old Rich’s restaurant in Green Cove Springs. His customers, robbed of electricity by Hurricane Irma, were just lining up for lunches of hot barbecue, when two police cruisers pulled into the parking lot.
The officers told Roundtree to pack up and leave. City manager’s orders, they said. Roundtree didn’t have a permit, and he couldn’t get one if he wanted to…
“Anybody in a utility vehicle we would feed for free. If they came in a utility vehicle, they were going to eat,” Roundtree said…
Had Roundtree decided to press his case at City Hall, he would have been greeted with a sign that read: “Due to Hurricane Irma, City Hall offices and services will re-open on Thursday.”
Yeah, a guy giving free hot meals to workers sent down from Alabama to clear our streets and restore power was shut down by the city of Green Cove Springs. Kinda makes your blood boil, right?
The owner of a now-defunct downtown restaurant had complained about Triple J, even though his restaurant wasn’t even open, let alone providing free food.
My story was picked up by the libertarian press and broadcast to the world. It went viral. Libertarian political philosophy holds that government is an ass in the best of times, and the City of Green Cove had just given them a worst-case scenario.
The Institute for Justice, Reason magazine, The Daily Caller, Investor’s Business Daily The American Enterprise Institute, the Free Thought Project and even the American Military News picked up the story. You might say that the incident put Green Cove on the map.
In an interview with Reason, the city doubled down on dumb:
Green Cove Springs Mayor Mitch Timberlake this morning says he did not consider Roundtree's gesture “a Good Samaritan situation.” Had the operators of the food truck come to city officials and asked for permission, Timberlake says, officials would have been happy to direct the food truck to where utility workers were in need of food.
"That didn't happen," he said.
A local restaurant complained to city officials about the rogue food truck set up along U.S. Route 17 near downtown, Timberlake said. The city licenses food trucks only a few days per year for festivals or celebrations, like Memorial Day, the mayor says.
"He is a commercial food truck operator, and he knows the local ordinances for food truck operation and had a responsibility to reach to the city to get a permit for what he wanted to do," Timberlake says. "We don't prohibit food trucks. There are times and places where we welcome them."
The aftermath of a devastating hurricane is not one of those times. Timberlake spoke of the "tremendous debris" in the wake of the storm, and 90 percent of the city was without power. More than 100 trees were down across the city and extensive property damage to homes along the St. Johns River, which flows past the city. Half of the city was still without power Wednesday when the Triple J's food truck got the boot.
With all of those challenges, it was remarkable city officials and police could maintain their focus on rules protecting unsuspecting hurricane victims from a hot meal on wheels. And quite a feat for a restaurateur to look past the devastating damage to track down city officials (city hall was closed; they were operating from an emergency management shelter) and rat out one lousy food truck.
Today we like to use the word “trigger.” Timberlake’s lame defense incensed enough libertarian types that the phones started ringing at city hall. The callers were not friendly.
Green Cove City Councilor Ed Gaw gets full credit for turning that sow’s ear into the silk purse that is Food Truck Friday today. He organized the first series in 2018, not long after the incident. I remember teasing Gaw by observing that FTF had been the city’s way of atoning for its Hurricane Irma sins. I don’t remember his entire reply, but I’m pretty sure it included the word “bullshit.”