At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the City Council Chambers, the Carpinteria City Council will discuss and decide whether to pursue a fireworks show this Fourth of July on our city beach at the end of Linden Avenue.

If you are in support of this idea, please attend the meeting and contact each member of the City Council as soon as possible to let them know you support a July 4 fireworks show in Carpinteria this year.

E-mail Mayor Gregg Carty at greggcarty@ci.carpinteria.ca.us, Vice Mayor Al Clark at alclark@ci.carpinteria.ca.us, Councilmember Brad Stein at bradstein@ci.carpinteria.ca.us and Councilmember Kathleen Reddington at kathleenreddington@ci.carpinteria.ca.us.

There are several reasons I support bringing this American tradition back to Carpinteria.

First and foremost, such an event would be an appropriate way to celebrate the birthday of the greatest nation on Earth. Fireworks on the Fourth of July is about as American as apple pie.

Second, if the city, working in cooperation with our local Chamber of Commerce, were to sponsor a safe, professional and responsible fireworks display, it would significantly reduce the amount of illegal fireworks being set off on that day, according to the fire department. Indeed, last July 4, once the sun went down, literally thousands of residents and tourists congregated on the beach at the end of Ash Avenue to watch dozens of amateurs set off rather elaborate fireworks — potentially causing serious harm to children, adults and property.

Third, Carpinteria is a great destination for all families to relax on the holiday. Our beaches are the cleanest and safest on the Central Coast. Providing a fireworks display will keep thousands of people from getting in their cars and traveling on our freeway, possibly after drinking large amounts of alcohol, and driving to Santa Barbara — endangering their own lives and the lives of others.

Finally, last year in Santa Barbara, several gang incidents occurred, making the celebration a less-than-safe experience for local families.

Let me be clear, obviously no city can prevent with 100 percent precision these types of horrible situations, but I believe that Carpinteria has the law enforcement resources to help prevent such a tragedy in our town.

For those reasons and many others, I am committed to doing what I can to pull this off for 2009. Some of my colleagues on the City Council are of the opinion that the best we can hope for is a show in 2010. Perhaps that is the case. In the meantime, I am moving full steam ahead and will do all that I can to bring back this most American of holiday traditions for the families of Carpinteria.

Councilmember Joe Armendariz
Carpinteria