A short history of the July 4 fireworks show

No doubt next month's July 4 city-sponsored fireworks show will again be Yorba Linda's most-watched event, with spectators crowding Veterans Park on Valley View Avenue and also viewing from backyards, front lawns and vehicles parked on nearby streets.

This year marks the 26^th anniversary of the popular gathering that years ago replaced thousands of block party and family celebrations featuring “safe and sane” fireworks sold by local non-profit organizations as fund-raising endeavors.

The City Council outlawed the sale and use of fireworks early in 1987, after a 1986 advisory vote in which residents cast 8,651 votes favoring a ban and 4,207 against.

At first, the show was financed from the city's General Fund budget, but as income tightened officials designated two sources to pay each year's expenses.

One is rent from the annual pumpkin patch and Christmas tree lot on city-owned property at the northeast corner of the Imperial Highway and Yorba Linda Boulevard intersection, which generated $15,000 last year.

The other is $23,350 earned yearly from a cell tower at Brush Canyon Park, with various corporate sponsorships and miscellaneous venue sales adding $9,565 to last year's total.

According to a report from Parks and Recreation Director Bill Calkins, the city expects to “maintain or exceed” those levels this year, raising $50,625 toward an anticipated cost of $53,600 for personnel, equipment, fireworks and entertainment.

If the ambitious timeline for Town Center redevelopment remains on track, property at the Imperial-Yorba Linda intersection won't be available to sell pumpkins and Christmas trees this year, so an alternate revenue source needs to be identified for 2015.

The show was nearly scrubbed in 2010 because of budget challenges, but a contract with fireworks supplier Pyro Spectaculars squeaked by on a 3-2 council vote, with Nancy Rikel, Mark Schwing and Jim Winder in favor and John Anderson and Jan Horton opposed.

The positive vote allowed a scaled-down event, eliminating 20 percent of the $60,000 cost of the previous year's celebration by trimming personnel and entertainment at the venue, which traditionally opens at 5 p.m.

Interestingly, five months after the much-debated 3-2 pro-fireworks vote, the same council adopted 5-0, without discussion, a 13.4 percent increase in members' “cafeteria plan” benefit, from $833 to $945 monthly.

A 2012 5-0 vote boosted the benefit to $1,095, currently placed in 401(k)-type accounts, part of monthly compensation that includes a $525 salary, $100 car and $36 phone allowances, dental and vision care and, as eligible, Public Employees' Retirement System contributions.

Advice to view this year's fireworks: you might need to get a little closer, since a county Fire Authority ruling last year reduced the height of the display due to safety regulations.