Parade route change is all washed up

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Fearing the wrong kind of fireworks would be set off,

a divided City Council struck down a proposal to change the Fourth of

July parade route.

Rejected by a 4-3 vote Monday, the plan called for the parade to start on

Pacific Coast Highway, part of which would have been closed off, before

traveling past the Downtown bars where drunks have clashed with police in

the past. The parade traditionally runs along residential streets.

“It’s going to be chaos down there,” Councilman Tom Harman said of the

proposed route.

Patrons with too many beers and not enough common sense may throw objects

at parade participants, especially at bars with second-floor patios, he

said.

At the back of everyone’s mind at the meeting were the near-riots that

erupted during past Independence Day celebrations. As recently as 1994,

wild youth roamed the streets, torching couches, busting windows and

piling on top of cars. The city’s image took a pounding, Councilman Dave

Sullivan said.

“It became a place where people decided to get drunk and cause trouble,”

Sullivan said.

In addition to keeping a lid on excessive partying, Huntington Beach

Police Chief Ron Lowenberg worried that he wouldn’t have enough officers

to control the parade watchers, the beachgoers and the traffic on the

highway during one of the busiest days of the year.

“Clearly, I wouldn’t want something to embarrass the city,” he said.

But Mayor Dave Garofalo, joined by council members Pam Julien and Peter

Green, said such fears were exaggerated.

“In a perfect world, we would live in a police state,” he said

sarcastically.

Big ticket sponsors such as Tommy Hilfiger, Chevrolet and Chevron --

paying from $50,000 to $90,000 a pop -- pushed for starting the parade

along Pacific Coast Highway, said Ron Hagan, the city’s director of

community services. The live-television broadcast would pick up their

logos displayed along the beach, linking these companies with the “Surf

City lifestyle,” he said.

The city’s reputation would also get a boost, Councilman Peter Green

said.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to market Huntington Beach as a

destination,” he said.

But the police chief’s concerns carried the day.

“I just think the risk is too great,” Lowenberg said.