NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- New Orleans officials will re-issue permits to vendors who want to sell food and Mardi Gras trinkets after a near riot last weekend.
Mayor Ray Nagin's administration plans to issue the permits for the upcoming Mardi Gras season through a random lottery rather than the old first-come, first-serve process, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Wednesday. The lottery will be open only to those vendors who applied last Saturday.
City officials have also called for an investigation into complaints procedures were not followed in handing out the first permits, which have been thrown out. One vendor told the Times-Picayune he had to pay bribes.
Other veteran vendors said charges of corruption were baseless complaints by those who were angry because they showed up too late to get the good locations.
"When there's a concert and you know it's going to sell out, you get there early," said vendor Brandon Hines of Slidell. "There's always going to be somebody complaining."
