Anaheim : Council Will Reconsider Vote on Fireworks Ban

Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood will try again this morning to persuade fellow City Council members to approve a ballot measure so voters can decide whether to ban the sale and use of fireworks in the city. Until now, Councilman Ben Bay has been Kaywood’s sole supporter.

Bay last November commissioned a survey that found 70% of responding voters favored such a ballot choice, Kaywood said.

She said she has been campaigning for the ballot question since about 1978, after hearing from people who said they were too fearful of the dangers of fireworks to leave their houses on the Fourth of July.

She said she is not necessarily urging a ban. “I want to put it on the ballot and let the people decide. I’ m hoping their (fellow council members’) good judgment and their ability to let the people vote on a controversial issue will prevail,” she said.

Disneyland’s nightly fireworks show would not be outlawed, she explained. “That’s entirely separate. It’s done by professionals. Nobody has complained about that. Professional displays are fine, everybody likes them and you don’t have the accident factor,” she said.

The next ballot opportunity for such a measure would be concurrent with the June, 1986, primary, she said.