Although it’s still months away, Lompoc officials are debating whether to cancel the city’s Fourth of July event this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Without a clear end date for local and statewide stay-at-home orders, city officials are concerned it may not be possible to hold an event that people can attend in person. Even if the order is lifted, Councilmember Gilda Cordova said she’s wary of the city hosting an event that people are afraid to attend.
“We may not get ticket sales even if we had it … because people would be too afraid to come out or because they may have been laid off and not be able to pay for tickets,” Cordova said during the April 21 City Council meeting.
During the meeting, city Recreation Manager Mario Guerrero presented the council with three possible locations where the city could host the event. The options include Ryon Park near the middle of town, River Park on the east side, and a private agricultural property to the west of the city. Normally the city holds the event at Huyck Stadium, but recent renovations remove it from the list of options.
If the stay-at-home order is still in place at the time, the city couldn’t host an in-person event, Guerrero said. However, the residents who live near those locations would probably be able to see the show from home and other residents could drive close to the event and watch from inside their vehicles.
Councilmember Victor Vega wasn’t a fan of those options.
“I would hate to just have a drive-by fireworks show because I don’t know who we’re appeasing,” Vega said.
The event’s location isn’t the only issue the city needs to address to have the show. Funding is also an issue.
According to a staff report, the city’s Fourth of July events usually cost about $30,000 to run. About half of this funding comes from a percentage of “safe and sane” fireworks sold at booths within the city from the previous year, while the rest comes from a combination of ticket sales and sponsorships. But if the event isn’t in-person there’s no revenue from ticket sales, and with many businesses closed due to the virus, Vega said it’s unlikely donors will contribute funding to the event.
But Councilmember Jim Mosby disagrees. He said he’s heard from residents who want to see the event move forward and that they’d be willing to help contribute to make it happen.
“Remember what Fourth of July is and one of the reasons why we have the ‘bombs bursting in air,’” Mosby said. “I think this is an important time for us to continue to say, ‘We are alive.’”
Ultimately the council decided that if the city doesn’t have the necessary funding by June 1, then the event would be postponed to next year. Additionally, the council directed city staff to speak with the city and county fire departments about where would be the safest location to hold the event and return as soon as possible with their input.
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 7, 2020.