fireworks trash 2018

A historical review of the boom-booms

We could start off from the 50s when the Connors boys, my sis, and I shot off bottle rockets from, yes, glass Coke bottles on the beach, and lit black snakes on the back roads of Seaview, but those days are long long gone. So let’s begin last week when trundling up from the sunny southwest, I had a couple nights’ respite with past Peninsula residents, Vicki Vanneman and Ginny Spurkland, who moved back to Vancouver, WA several years ago. It’s always wonderful to see good friends, or in this case family, and we spent some time just catching up with each other. People move for many different reasons, but in this case V and G’s decamping (as well as Ginny’s sis and her hubby Ron) was partially related to the limited medical care on the Peninsula. It’s on my mind too.

Yes, I know our Ocean Beach Hospital has improved; and there are many resources available at Columbia Memorial, too. But for any major body difficulty it’s a trip to Seattle or Portland to find a top-notch surgeon or any specialty medical provider. It’s just the nature of living in a small community. (I’ve deduced that you can’t have everything you want in one place.)

But I wonder what our community would look like if we focused on these kinds of essential services (medical care, affordable housing, education, keeping our trees) instead of wrangling about other lesser problems? Which — OK — let’s talk about fireworks. Again. (Back to our hospital in a moment…)

Vicki was one of the intrepid members of “Not a Ban, a Better Plan” which met every week (!) for two years beginning in 2015. (Bonnie Lou Cosby was the initial convener.) Among other things, they created, distributed, compiled, and shared data from two fireworks surveys and found that an overwhelming percentage of both citizens and business owners wanted either more restrictions on fireworks or a complete ban.

For the first time ever, NABABP brought together all the players — State Parks (they have jurisdiction over our beach), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Patrol, our sheriff and local police, fire chiefs, mayors of Long Beach and Ilwaco, county commissioners, and the public. The group recommended three days of fireworks sales and discharge, with a future step-down to one day. It was a compromise committee members wrangled over and decided they could live with. What happened? — Nada.

This reasonable compromise crafted after two years of discussion was shut down for lack of political will on the part of city officials in Long Beach. “We came so close — we gave it our best shot,” Vicki said. One change was that State Parks did mandate no overnight beach camping — a step in the right direction, but not nearly enough. Now, years later, State Parks would love to shut down fireworks for good, but they’d rather not do it without local support. (Yet.) I think they’ve been really patient with our misguided officials. It’s obvious to all how fireworks garbage negatively impacts the beach and ocean-based natural resources.

Special election rigged?

Now we have a chance to vote again, this time in a more official way as part of the special election ballot, due in the mail by April 25th; although the way the fireworks’ vote has been set up is highly questionable. (I say “rigged.”) Our county commissioners mandated that for the fireworks issue, 60% of register voters must participate and of those 60% must agree to the ban. I don’t know of any other special ballot measure that has been required to conform to those constraints.

First of all this is undemocratic: our country’s democracy is based on the principle that majority rules. 51% wins the day — period. A simple majority of voters should be sufficient to guide our officials to the right conclusion.

Secondly, our commissioners must have known exactly how to derail this vote. The average percentage of registered voters participating in any special election in Pacific County in roughly the last decade has only reached between 39-55% of registered voters. (Here’s the special election participation data over the years: April 2022, 55%; April 2021 51%; February 2020 46%; February 2021, 39%; 2019 43%; 2018 45%; 2017 45%.) See for yourself — election data here: co.pacific.wa.us/auditor/elections-past-results.htm.

Only in a presidential election has the percentage of registered voters topped out above 60%. And even if this current fireworks threshold is met, officials have stated clearly that the vote results are “advisory only.”

It looks like we are being jerked around again by timid officials who can’t put the good of the many over the whining of a few business people who want to reap the benefit of one week of chaos without mitigating the damage — physical, psychological, or environmental — to our community. Our astoundingly beautiful Peninsula has more than enough gemlike value to carry us through the seasons financially without whoring our beach to fireworks.

A short story

One anecdote for you. On my road trip south this year, I slipped through the snow, floods, and highway closures in a brief sunny window before all hell broke loose on the coast in February. On a gorgeous day right across from the magnificence of Mt. Shasta I pulled into the Weed, California rest stop and ended up talking to another couple giving their dog a break. It was typical road-warrior congeniality — “Where are you from? Where are you going?”

It turns out that these folks knew about our magical corner of the world. “Oh, we know the Long Beach Peninsula.” Yes! And what did they know about us? They did not mention our delicious seafood restaurants; our world class kite festival; the beauty and grandeur of Cape Disappointment or our beach; or the friendliness of our community. No, they said, “Oh yeah, that’s where you can still shoot off fireworks on the beach. And it’s such a mess afterwards!”

Yep, we are, I believe, the only community on the coast that continues to sacrifice the beauty of a long sandy beach for fireworks. Now, you may think that’s a good thing — that our fireworks complicity is legendary and goes before us; that it’s what we’re known for. But I sensed in their comment a goodly dose of “Can-you-believe-it?” A slight tone of “What’s wrong with you folks?…so that’s where the yahoos go for one weekend a year…?”

Please vote

But, despite it all, please vote! Included in this special election on fireworks is also a bond measure for our hospital. (See more details in last week’s Chinook Observer editorial.) We all know that medical care is the Peninsula’s Achilles’ heel. No one should complain about our healthcare situation and then deny funding. In this instance, the bond will add only 17 cents for every $1,000 of your property’s assessed value. For example, a home of median value — say $335,000 — would add only an additional $57 a year to your property taxes. It will cost you more than that to travel out of the area for a doctor appointment.

As stated, this bond will provide the authorities funds “to renovate, expand and equip Ocean Beach Hospital, Ilwaco and Ocean Park Clinics, acquire real estate, vehicles and equipment for remote care.” The $10 million general obligation bond will be a shot in the arm for some much needed local healthcare upgrades.

Let your voices be heard on these issues. As for me, I am adamantly voting to ban the boom of unregulated fireworks — me, my dog, my veteran neighbors and our local deer have all had it up to our eyebrows on this. (Yes, deer have eyebrows.) And I’m wholeheartedly in support of expanding access to and professionalizing our healthcare services. Here endeth today’s homily.

• • •

To whomever is stealing Ban the Boom signs: you must be awfully fearful of free speech and the process of democratic elections.