Watsonville city council to discuss safe and sane firework sales

The future of safe and sane fireworks sales in Watsonville is on the line. City Council is set to discuss the money earned from the sales and the issues the city has had in the past.

Watsonville has been the only local jurisdiction in Santa Cruz County to allow the sale of safe and sane fireworks for some time. Now Central Coast Assemblyman Luis Alejo said that the mayor of Watsonville may want a ban on those safe and sane fireworks sales. News Channel 5 hasn’t been able to get ahold of the mayor yet but it’s enough to have nonprofits we talked to worried.

“That would be so catastrophic to a lot of the organizations,” said Watsonville wrestling coach Gary Garcia.

Garcia works with the Watsonville High wrestling team and said after district budget cuts in 2009, this fireworks fundraiser is the only way they can fund the equipment, like dumbells, wrestling mats and even cleaning supplies.

Last year alone the Watsonville wrestling team raised about $4,000 to buy new wrestling warm-ups, something coaches say they haven’t been able to do in over 10 years.”

Assemblyman Alejo has written a letter of support to keep the safe and sane fireworks sales in the city. Garcia says Alejo also benefited from fireworks fundraising as he wrestled at Watsonville High years ago.

“We want to try and keep kids busy and off the streets, so it’s also important for her to realize that, in addition to the revenue that they would lose,” said Garcia.

The fire department gets a cut of the profits from the fireworks sales. Last year, that was over $30,000.

Fire Chief Pablo Barreto said some of that money goes to education, and enforcement.

“To show the community what we’re doing with the 7 percent surgcharge, how the citation program works and that citations are being issued to residents of the city,” said Barreto.

Chief Barreto said the money does help, but as a fire chief he has to take on three priorities; fire prevention, public safety and the safety of firefighters.

Those are all things to be weighed by city leaders before July 4th, as nonprofits anxiously wait to see if their biggest fundraiser will still be there.

The council will meet Tuesday night and we hear a large number of people should show up.