July 4 safety discussed

Reaction to an Orange County Grand Jury report calling for a three-year moratorium on the sale of “safe and sane” fireworks in Costa Mesa for the Fourth of July has been lukewarm with elected officials saying they would not hear or endorse the proposal — at least for this year.

Five Orange County cities, including Costa Mesa, permit the regulated use and sale of “sane and safe” fireworks endorsed by the state Fire Marshall, which has led to some friction between the cities and their neighbors.

Some officials say the cities resemble a “war zone” on the Fourth of July, and that even the use of legal fireworks contributes to the holiday’s chaotic atmosphere and a significant increase in the use of their illegal counterparts.

Sports teams and extracurricular groups, however, sell the items as part of their annual fundraising drives, leading some city officials to be wary of banning the practice outright.

Mayor Eric Bever, who reviewed a rough draft of the report prior to its final publication, said he would favor a “local control” approach to fireworks regulation, noting the city has its own internal task force to improve fireworks safety.

“I know the state, feds, county and everyone else wants to mandate everything, but I think that the local people should have as much control as possible in regards to their destiny,” he said. “We’re working toward finding ways of managing fireworks more efficiently, and we’ve had our task force out in the field on the Fourth of July in the last three years. I think people are getting the idea that they won’t get away with illegal fireworks anymore.”

“There seems to be a lot of attention paid to the fact that it’s a fundraising mechanism, but it’s also an American tradition,” he added. “Certainly there are people who are disrupted by illegal fireworks — I count myself among them — but I don’t think that killing off an American tradition is the way to solve that problem.”

Councilwoman Wendy Leece said the city can become a “war zone” on the holiday and that she sympathized with the city’s fire and police departments during their heightened patrols on the Fourth of July.

Yet, she also said that personal responsibility and citizens working together would be the only force that would enhance safety, and that any moratorium should be implemented with local groups in mind.

“Putting a moratorium on our fireworks sales this year would be a hardship for organizations which depend on this money for their programs,” she said. “However, if things are worse this year in our city, I will support some type of a moratorium for next year.”

Costa Mesa resident and mother Linda Schwandt said that she frequently participates and donates to fundraisers supporting local youth, and said she would feel bad if the proposed moratorium hindered their activities.

But, assuming they are given ample time to reorganize their efforts, she thought it may be worth a shot.

“I think that would be pretty fair,” she said. “Let the numbers speak for themselves.”

The City Council will provide direction to staff in regards to a list of suggestions generated by city staff during its scheduled May 6 meeting, though Bever said it would be unlikely the city would take up any formal discussion of the grand jury’s recommendations.

Attempts to reach a representative of the Orange County Grand Jury were unsuccessful.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at [email protected].