Mayor Hopes to Save Fireworks

By Oliver Lukacs
Staff Writer

May 7 -- Mayor Richard Bloom hopes to rekindle the Independence Day fireworks cancelled last week by Santa Monica College, which worried that the celebration would send the wrong message during a budget crisis.

Bloom, who placed an item on next Tuesday’s City Council agenda to “urge the community to save ‘Celebrate America,’” argues that by canceling Santa Monica’s biggest community event, the college is “not choosing the right vehicle to send the message.

“Canceling it, to me, would be more of a penalty to the community than a message,” said Bloom. In fact, the mayor believes that the event -- which has been held every year since 1982 -- could be used “to spread the word about the budget crisis.”

“It’s a focal point of the year and an important summertime event for Santa Monica in particular,” Bloom said. “It’s something people really look forward to from the college. It’s one of the things they do for the community that is in keeping with a community college… I think the community will be really upset when the word spreads.”

Bloom’s move comes one week after the college -- which has hosted “Celebrate America” for 12 years with the help of City funds and corporate donations -- announced it would cancel an event that drew more than 20,000 people last year to the school’s football field for food, fun, and fireworks.

“We cannot, in good conscience, sponsor this event this year,” said Herbert Roney, who chairs the SMC Board of Trustees, which recently voted to eliminate 10 programs and lay off 26 teachers and administrators, and is considering eliminating the jobs of at least 50 classified staff.

The college’s decision, however, was more of a symbolic gesture than a fiscal necessity, said SMC spokesman Bruce Smith. The college – which faces a $15 million budget shortfall -- foots only a “couple thousand” of the $50,000 tab, with nearly half coming from the City and the rest from other donations, Smith said.

“Even though the money we spend is not really significant,” Smith said, “we feel very strongly that this is not the year to put on such a big celebration.”

But Bloom, who said the patriotic event has been a City tradition as long as he can remember, disagreed. The mayor hopes his colleagues on the council will request that “the City urgently communicate with Santa Monica College to find a way to restore this important event enjoyed by thousands of local residents.”

Bloom said the he will ask the council to explore community outreach, as well as dipping into the City’s discretionary funds -- which stands just under $116,000 -- to raise the money necessary to keep the rockets glaring.

“If it’s true we are canceling the event because of a couple thousand dollars, then we should find a couple of thousand dollars,” said Bloom. “I really want to solve this in the spirit of community and in the spirit of patriotism.

“I didn’t put it on the agenda to engender a controversy,” said Bloom, who has been a critic of the college. “I put it on to keep a really important community event alive.”

Asked if SMC would reconsider hosting the event with the City’s help, Smith said, “We have to hear what the specific proposal is before we respond.”

The free event -- which features food booths, live music and an impressive fireworks show synchronized to a patriotic medley -- has been hosted at SMC since 1991.