Ivan Padron didn't roll over when government officials tried to shut down his metal finishing operation.
Instead, Padron fought back against officials in the town of California City in California. This state has shown utter disdain for the finishing industry and lately had designed them a Public Enemy No. 1 regarding environmental issues.
Padron Metal Finishing started in 2020, and shortly after that, city officials told Padron his shop was not permitted because it was in the wrong zoning district. In 2022, city officials cut the powder off from his shop until he applied for a zone change, which they were already recommending against.
It would have been easy for Padron to throw up his hands, pack things up, and head elsewhere. But he didn't. He stayed and fought. And he won.
The California Air Resources Board Battle
We mention all this because, in the past year, California has gone a tad loco with the finishing industry, effectively putting a target on the industry's back and working diligently to put the industry out of business in the state. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) wanted to ban new facilities in 2023 and phase out existing hexavalent chrome facilities soon after. They used bogus statistics and data, which they admitted they had wrong because of faulty computations. Yet they persisted in passing rules to outlaw much of the industry, including those using hexavalent chromium in their processes.
Now, we feel horribly for the women and men who work in those shops in California and their owners who were affected by these sham rules; they may have their doors open today, but soon enough, manufacturers might think it’s not worth it to have their suppliers like finishers run out of town and may send their parts elsewhere. It’s a no-win situation for those finishers in California, but one thing seems apparent in what happened to them: they didn't fight hard enough.
The data was wrong, the numbers incorrect, and the argument by environmentalists — and government officials — was suspect at best, and yet no one went to the mat in the fight over these absurd rules. Yes, they attended meetings and pleaded their case, but it was doomed. A good lawyer would have probably helped them in their fight, but the finishers never took it to court. As goofy as California is these days, they may not have won, but they needed to try. That's what a good national association does, and that wasn't the case here. If you collect special dues to fight these kinds of things, when will you use those funds if not in this case? If not now, when?
"It Doesn't Make Any Sense"
Ivan Padron battled his way to victory in his small part of the world in California. He went before the city council and made his case; surprisingly, the elected officials didn't buy the argument from their paid staff. The city's mayor asked aloud why they were treating this metal finishing shop differently than other manufacturers who used chemicals.
"We didn't care about our citizens where we allowed the cannabis manufacturing facilities to go," the mayor said. "It doesn't make any sense; how are these any more dangerous than what's going on in there in the cannabis industry?”
Ultimately, Ivan Padron saw the city council vote 4-0 to let him open his metal finishing shop again. It cost him financially, but he didn't back down when bureaucrats tried to shut him down. Something can be learned from this; we hope so for the industry's sake. You can fight City Hall.
Tim Pennington is Editor-in-Chief of Finishing and Coating, and has covered the industry since 2010. He has traveled extensively throughout North America visiting shops and production facilities, and meeting those who work in the industry. Tim began his career in the newspaper industry, then wound itself between the sports field with the PGA Tour and marketing and communications firms, and finally back into the publishing world in the finishing and coating sector. If you want to reach Tim, just go 
