Area residents have until April 15 to come up with $15,000 or an annual tradition in Los Alamitos may be cancelled.
The Annual Fourth of July Spectacular which draws crowds in excess of 25,000 yearly is being considered for cancellation unless the venture can become a cost neutral event for the city. At Monday night’s city council meeting, the first discussion of possibly canceling the event for this year was discussed.
Recreation and Community Services Director Angie Avery said the city, along with the City of Cypress have been losing between $10,000 and $20,000 a year the past two years because of event expenditures, including police, public works and recreation staffing.
Last year, the city lost approximately $9,600.
The council authorized staff to work with Cypress and Joint Forces Training Base officials to balance the budget. A proposal to charge $5 for vehicles and $1 for pedestrians was vetoed by the JFTB, stating federal statues stating no fees can be charged to enter the facility itself.
Staff asked the base if donations could be asked for outside the entrance to the base but that was turned down as well.
The city estimates to lose approximately $14,930 this year if the event is held, because of the event being held on a Sunday and public works employees being paid doubletime on Sundays.
JFTB spokesperson Laura Herzog said the base would support whatever decision the council made and said base officials can’t commit to any further support.
Former council member Alice Jempsa said many people she talked to thought the monies used for the event could be spent on trimming trees and fixing streets and sidewalks.
The city is looking at a nearly $600,000 mid-year deficit as well.
Council member Gerri Mejia said since the city no longer allows fireworks to be used in the city by private citizens, taking the Spectacular away would make for a very quiet Fourth of July.
“I’d hate to see it go away without doing everything we could to preserve it,” Mejia said. “We’re talking about a celebration of our independence. Now we’re talking about taking some of that away.”
Mayor Marilynn Poe also questioned what effect canceling the event would have on illegal fireworks.
“If we cancel the event, with the amount of block parties that go on throughout the city, it may be more expensive for the police to patrol than it would have been to have the event,” Poe said.
Council member Troy Edgar asked what would having the event say to city staff, who have taken a 10-percent pay cut. “What message do we want to send to our staff 365 days a year?” Edgar asked.
Staff was then asked to pick a drop dead date of which the event could still go on.
“We haven’t given the community a chance to respond to this,” Edgar said. “Perhaps we can get some donations or corporate sponsors.”
Contact Los Alamitos City Hall at (562) 431-3538 for more information.
