Voters in Orange this November will have the choice to allow for the sale, possession and use of safe fireworks in the city for Fourth of July.
Endorsers of Measure AA include Mayor Dan Slater and councilmembers Jon Dumitru and Denis Bilodeau. They argue allowing Orange nonprofit community groups to sell fireworks before the Fourth of July will help them raise needed money to support local activities and that tax revenue from sales will help the city fund education and law enforcement.
If the measure passes, the City Council will have the authority to set restrictions on who may sell fireworks and when and where they may be sold and discharged. And, the fire chief would have the authority to ban fireworks in what he deems high-risk fire areas.
Eleven cities in Orange County, including Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Villa Park — which neighbor Orange — allow the sale of state-regulated “safe and sane fireworks” before the July 4 holiday, which proponents say help community groups in those cities raise hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
A “no” vote on Measure AA would leave in place Orange’s existing fireworks ordinance, which permits only supervised public fireworks displays approved by the city.
No argument against the measure was submitted to the city clerk to be displayed on November’s ballot.
A simple majority of voters in support would pass the measure.
