CAMARILLO : Citizens Fail to Step Forth for the Fourth

Only one Camarillo resident showed up Thursday at a public forum held to garner community support and financial backing for the city’s annual Fourth of July celebration, organizers said.

Rod Franz, the director of the Camarillo Pageant Assn., which sponsors the yearly event, said he believes residents are not taking seriously the threat that the Independence Day celebration will be canceled this year because of a lack of funds.

“I don’t think they realize it’s a real thing yet,” Franz said. “Three months before the Fourth of July, they’re not worried.”

The meeting at 7 p.m. at the Camarillo Community Center was attended by one city official, three representatives from the pageant association, four staff from the Pleasant Valley Recreation & Park District, but only one resident offering to volunteer for the event, Franz said.

He said the pageant association and park district, which organize the celebration, have only about three weeks left before deciding whether they must cancel the event.