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KIDS THESE DAYS:Find a fireworks fix or stop whining

I should have kept my big mouth shut.

Just when I was celebrating the fact that the fireworks nannies were all but extinguished this year, out they came.

One example was a comment posted on the Pilot’s website in response to my column last week.

An online reader identified as Terry Shaw wrote, “No, we haven’t given up and, yes, I would love to see alcohol banned.” But Shaw never addressed another challenge I presented, that is, to find an alternate source for the huge sums of money raked in by local schools for their youth programs.

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The short story here is that the fireworks money is the bulk of their annual budgets.

That some people have illegal fireworks is nothing new to this 22-year Costa Mesa resident or to anyone who has lived through a single Independence Day.

Fireworks critics are good at lobbing bottle rockets but not very good at offering solutions or addressing more serious problems

So, I’ll ask my questions again. First, if we ban fireworks, where will these sports programs get their money? Please don’t suggest more candy sales or corporate donors as these are already being worked hard. I’m certain that if one more parent is hit up for one more fundraiser, there will be rioting.

Here’s my second question: There are many activities that produce more accidents and injuries than do fireworks a few days a year. Some of the other activities are deadly. Among them are alcohol abuse and driving a car. The cost to the city is enormous and makes the cost of managing fireworks look like a pittance. If we’re going to make the streets safe for residents for a few days in July, why shouldn’t we make them safe all year by banning alcohol?

My third question: The challenge each year is not with the legal fireworks, the so-called “safe and sane” variety, it is with the illegal ones; the type that shoot up in the sky and have the potential to harm property. Instead of cutting off athletic programs because you can’t distinguish one from the other, how about proposing something that will help rid the city of the illegal variety?

This one I’ll answer: You can’t do it because that would solve the problem. Then you’d have one less thing to complain about.

So, I’ll do it for you. Instead of punishing thousands of kids in the city and instead of telling the vast majority of law-abiding citizens that they can’t enjoy a tradition as old as the nation, why not recommend that the city start an illegal fireworks hotline each year? Neighbors who see illegal fireworks being used on their block can call in and anonymously report their use.

Don’t like that idea? Come up with one of your own. Otherwise, stop whining.

And my fourth and last question: Why does the city of Costa Mesa allow Newport Beach schools to sell fireworks each year? I even heard this year that Edison High School had a fireworks booth, though that has not been confirmed.

The problem I have with the Newport schools selling fireworks each year is that they are parasites. Sure, it’s OK for Costa Mesa to have to gear up the fire and police departments for a few days each year (again, as opposed to year-round for alcohol abuse), but where are the Newport Beach voices when the fireworks nannies want to put an end to the fun — and the money?

In all my years of fighting this fight, I don’t recall reading one Newport Beach letter to this newspaper supporting the use of fireworks here.

So, Newport Beach schools, you are being put on notice: If you want to reap the benefits of Costa Mesa’s fireworks, we need to hear from you right now. Otherwise, go find a booth in Stanton.

Those are my questions for the nannies. And until fireworks supporters provide some solid answers instead of their usual whining, do the rest of us a favor each year and take a vacation during the first week of July.


  • STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to [email protected].
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