Many food sellers were instructed to pack up and leave or risk fines or even arrests, and the first evening of the Virgen de Guadalupe fiesta along the East End Navigation corridor ended in tears and losses.
On December 11 and 12, there is a Catholic event that often draws a large number of sellers along the Navigation esplanade. Due to concerns about crowding, exhibitors were not permitted to set up shop in the crowded corridor this year.
Due to the prohibition, over a dozen vendors set up shop on Wednesday evening in the parking lot of Merida’s, a restaurant located a block away from the event site. Officials from the Houston Health Department continued to crack down on vendors, leaving about seven of them the following evening.
Confusion arose on the first night of the festival when Houston Health Department representatives showed up to request Temporary Food Permits from the vendors. This type of permit is only given to merchants who are temporarily setting up shop. Many possessed permits for other enterprises or other places instead of temporary food permits.
Teresa Mora sobbed as she remarked, “No nos dejan trabajar.”
She was unaware that her other permits were invalid at this site because her pupusas and elotes stall had just been closed.
In Spanish, Mora stated, “We have been obtaining permits to work here for about ten years.” For those of us who wish to comply with the city’s regulations, we seek their assistance.
Mora and her family, like many merchants, have depended on East End District organizers to aid them with such issues.
The East End District chose not to have the vendor market this year.
Every year, we receive permits, said Raquel Ramirez, a churro stand vendor. It took me three hours to complete the application, which is the first time we have done so for the city of Houston.
The eight-page application, which was only accessible in English on the city’s website as of Wednesday, took her three hours to complete and was rejected.
Some vendors, whether or not they had tickets, continued to sell to the increasing crowds of parishioners and tourists who waited in line to obtain their champurrado, tacos, elotes, and other items after Ramirez and others shuttered their stands on Wednesday.
According to Houston Health Department chief sanitarian Lucy Brown, before to this year’s festival, locals and business owners complained about illegal vendors obstructing sidewalks and right-of-ways in the past, which caused traffic jams.
She was told to ask anyone selling or giving away food to the public without a valid food dealer’s permission to stop and to leave the area.
“Unfortunately, they were cited for violating the city ordinance, chapter 20, which requires obtaining a valid food dealers permit prior to operating,” Brown said, adding that they would have received tickets if they hadn’t closed and left.
Due to the large number of people wandering around the parking lot, vendors said that health department authorities only gave them 30 minutes or less to take down their stalls and go, which was almost impossible.
Brown claimed that she didn’t give any directives regarding these due dates.
Confusion over permits
When health officials contacted the vendors, a number of them displayed other permissions, such as county or city permits, that permitted them to serve food in other places. According to Brown, permissions cannot be transferred, thus in this instance, they required a temporary authorization in order to operate there.
According to Rafael Acosta, owner of Merida’s restaurant, who has leased his parking lot to food, snack, clothes, and other vendors in the past, they even took Harris County permits last year. They appeared to have come here specifically to get rid of the people this year.
Depending on their requirements, some suppliers would take two or three seats, and Acosta charged roughly $700 each spot. He claimed that they were all asked to bring their valid permits, and he had faith that they would take care of it on their own. He also indicated that he had made the error of failing to verify that they actually had them.
He claimed that in other years, Acosta only needed to send out the same reminder, but he believed that the modifications this year unfairly singled out vendors who merely wanted to earn a living in an ethical way. Acosta stated that vendors were cautioned to obtain their permits on time, but as of Thursday, the company had no plans to give refunds.
Acosta has never had to sign the authorization form that is required as part of the Temporary Food Permit application from the property owner, event planner, or agent. This was handled by an organizer for vendors who had previously rented space along the esplanade.
“I never organize an event,” Acosta remarked. I just rent spaces, that’s all. The church is a part of the event.
Over the loud music, a group of five or six sanitarians fought to be heard. Even when some turned away consumers, they snapped photos of the vendors’ IDs and their stands. Although they didn’t yet have a precise tally, Brown acknowledged that tickets had been distributed.
A judge will ultimately decide how much the merchants will be charged for each violation, according to Porfirio Villarreal, public information officer and City Council liaison with the health department. These tickets carry fines of up to $2,000.
Regarding the penalty, Villarreal stated that this is per day. For this reason, we advise them to obtain a permit.
At least three citations were given to Juan Flores and his family on Wednesday night for operating a stall that sells seasonal hot beverages including ponche and champurrado. Flores was shocked and unsure of what to do when health inspectors arrived at his kiosk. If he picked up and went, his investment would be wasted. He was one of those who submitted permits for his other food business to city officials, but he was not granted an event permit.
Many families are impacted. Flores stated, “We’ve put what little we can into this, and it will be garbage.” Even if we have additional permits, they still want to shut us down.
Many merchants predicted that the perishable meals they bought for the two-day event would cost them thousands of dollars. Health officials gathered Flores once more on Thursday night and began questioning him. He claimed that although he didn’t receive another citation this time, he was unsure of what to anticipate next.
Se Ve Muy Triste
People in queue to enter the next service outside the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Wednesday night asked why things didn’t seem like they recalled.
You’re very depressed, right? Sonia Hernandez commented as she looked about and spoke to her neighbors in line.
According to the group of pious attendees who held onto flowers to present to La Virgen, they typically see lengthy queues outside the church when they arrive, which was around 8 p.m. They located locations close to the church’s entrance this year.
Uriel Valencia stated in Spanish that typically there would be a large number of people arriving in the streets.
Valencia, a church parishioner, is a former vendor at this event but stopped a few years ago, he said. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the modifications after learning about them from his coworkers this year.
Hernandez, Valencia and other attendees were quick to point out that the market and the food were also a big part of what they looked forward to every year.
We come here to experience our culture, to eat tacos, elotes, champurrado, and they are not letting people sell. I don t think that s right, Valencia said in Spanish. For us it s a piece of M xico.
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