SOUNDING OFF:Follow the lead of cities that don’t sell fireworks

With his post-Independence Day diatribe (“Find a fireworks fix or stop whining,” July 10), columnist and self-anointed mother-to-us-all Steve Smith guaranteed himself at least an honorable mention in the “Most Obnoxious Columnists Hall of Fame.”

The opening sentence of his rant was, “I should have kept my big mouth shut.” He’s correct, and he should have stopped right there. But no, he had to continue scolding those of us who think the fireworks blasting off on Fourth of July (and on several days before and after) each year in Costa Mesa are a catastrophe waiting to happen.

He chides “online reader” Terry Shaw — whom he failed to identify as a current Parks and Recreation commissioner — for not offering alternatives to the fundraising that the sale of safe and sane fireworks represents. Well, I just read Shaw’s comment and he did, in fact, offer alternatives. He stated, “I could tolerate fireworks if it were contained to specific venues where the public would purchase and use the fireworks on site. I would also support a show of some type.”

The least Smith could do would be to present the facts accurately.

In his in-your-face rant, Smith poses four questions, the first of which asked how the funds raised by selling fireworks would be replaced. As has been stated repeatedly over the years during this debate, only a few cities sell fireworks. The other Orange County cities have faced this issue and, somehow, managed to fund youth sports programs without them.

Why don’t we just ask some of them? A municipal fireworks extravaganza comes to mind as one alternative, held at OCC or the Fairgrounds, for example. Charge for attendance and funnel the funds back to the youth groups the same way we allocate field use — based on the number of Costa Mesa kids involved.

Or, put it to a vote of the people. Eliminate the sale of safe and sane fireworks and replace that revenue with a voter-approved increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax. A half-point increase in that tax, the lowest in Orange County, by far, would generate a half million dollars annually, which could be divvied up with an allocation formula. Combine it with the above-mentioned extravaganza, which would attract tourists to view it, and people would give up their fireworks. Give the residents of Costa Mesa an alternative to safe and sane fireworks, just as other municipalities do.

His second question tried to equate fireworks with drunken driving, which is simply a feeble parry to the argument about the dangers of fireworks and irrelevant to this discussion.

His third was a challenge to find a solution to illegal fireworks instead of cutting off the sale of safe and sane products. Well, Steve, old buddy, if it was easy, the public safety folks would already have done it.

His fourth question asked why Newport Beach schools are allowed to sell fireworks in Costa Mesa each year. Gee, Steve, could it be because Costa Mesa kids attend Newport Beach schools? Duh! We don’t need another example of “us vs. them” in this debate. Referring to them as “parasites” in the public press is certainly not going to improve relationships already bruised by some ham-handed local politicians.

With this column, Smith has demonstrated, once again, why two columns a week for so many years was such a bad idea. In fact, one a week seems like too much right now. When I want to be scolded, I’ll watch Dr. Phil.