Council nixes ballot measures

Costa Mesa residents won’t settle the ongoing dispute over fireworks sales at the ballot box next year, the City Council decided late Tuesday.

They also won’t vote on a 2% boost in the hotel bed tax, after the council rejected both ballot proposals in a 3-2 vote, with Councilwomen Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley dissenting.

“I understand people’s concerns,” Mayor Allan Mansoor said, but, “I support fireworks. I like fireworks.”

Dixon, who made the proposals, said she didn’t have a preference on the fireworks issue, but she thought voters should be allowed to decide, especially after the council in July considered a ballot measure on a directly elected mayor. That measure, proposed by Mansoor, failed.

“Of all the issues that come in front of us in public comments, fireworks is probably there more than anything,” Dixon said. “I feel that it’s time that we give the community a voice in this, and they decide whether they continue or not.”

Taking a public vote on those measures in February, as Dixon originally suggested, would have cost the city about $100,000.

Costa Mesa is one of five cities in Orange County that allow the sale of “safe-and-sane” fireworks. Some residents have asked for a fireworks ban for years, and they turned out Tuesday for the right to vote on it.

“We’re saying it’s OK for people from all over Orange County to come to Costa Mesa to buy fireworks and set up shop in Costa Mesa parks” to set them off, former councilwoman Sandra Genis said. “My suggestion is, put this on the ballot. At least let people have their say.”

But others urged the council to keep a valuable fundraiser that some people enjoy.

“We have a relentless vocal minority that addresses this body on a regular basis,” resident Bruce Krochman said. “A huge number of Costa Mesans enjoy fireworks and are voting with their dollars to keep them in our city.”