No fireworks display spells trouble

Scott Jaeggi

Thanks for all of Danette Goulet’s Editor’s Notebook columns in the

Independent. I find myself in agreement with most, if not all of her

writings. This week’s column (July 3, 2003) sparked my fire and

caused me to write. We also left Huntington Beach for another

destination (Lake Havasu, Ariz.) to celebrate the Fourth of July.

We saw a great fireworks show that lasted about 20 minutes and it

was free to anyone who was fortunate enough to have vision. Oh yes

“vision,” which is something that is lacking here in Huntington Beach

government.

When we returned home on Sunday, July 6, I looked around our

neighborhood streets and it looked like a war zone. Thousands, if not

millions of pieces of papers from firecrackers littered the streets

from gutter to gutter. On my truck, which I left parked outside, was

two burned-out bottle rockets and the remnants of another burned-out

device on my hood. I can’t help but ask, where was the Huntington

Beach Police Department?

I had called them prior to the Fourth to report illegal fireworks

being ignited adjacent to our home. This occurred almost every night

from 10 p.m. to midnight for a week prior to the Fourth. When I

finally got irritated enough to call the police, I was chewed out by

a dispatcher for calling 911 to report illegal bottle rockets and

other flying-type devices falling on neighbors rooftops.

My concern was a rooftop fire since several of our neighbors have

wood shake roofs. She told me to use 411 next time. Of course I told

her to just do her job and send a black-and-white. As far as I could

tell she won the battle, the fireworks continued and a police unit

was never spotted cruising our neighborhood. I decided not to

follow-up with her boss since I didn’t need the aggravation of

dealing with the “code of silence” that exists in the Police

Department. Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-police, however I

believe there is a code of silence and an attitude problem that

exists in the Huntington Beach Police Department as well as many

other police departments.

It is unfortunate that as a resident you must leave to see an

organized and legal fireworks show. Maybe someday the city will have

the show again. Maybe it will be next year for the 100th anniversary.

Maybe the police will figure out a way to control the illegal

fireworks problem that exists in huge proportion here. Maybe the

fines collected will help to balance next year’s budget.

* SCOTT JAEGGI is a Huntington Beach resident. To contribute to

“Sounding Off” e-mail us at [email protected] or fax us at (714)

965-7174.