Savannah leaders push “home field advantage” ordinance for city vendors at St. Patrick’s Day festival

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - At massive celebrations like the one for St. Patrick’s Day, there’s one thing that keeps both residents and visitors hungry for more vendors.

This year, city council discussed giving Savannah vendors a home field advantage in their yearly lottery system.

This lottery system involves picking which vendors are allowed downtown during Saint Patrick’s and where they’ll be located.

Before, it’s been Chatham county vendors that have been given the first look, but Savannah mayor Van Johnson says they have so many more vendors than in the past, that it’s time they put the city first.

“If you’re paying our business license, and you’re a Savannah business, then it should be a home field advantage, we’re doing this,” said Johnson. “I know you get it, I’m sure you get it, but somebody on the team is not getting it and we should not have our businesses be frustrated year in and year in, this should be something in our purview but obviously it’s not working so do we codify an ordinance so then it becomes mandatory rather than permissive.”

That was him recommending an ordinance be placed to make sure this continues in the future, and city manager Jay Melder responded by saying he’d look to craft one to pass soon.

The aldermen around the table all agreed about the idea.