Cloverdale fireworks ban trailing in latest Sonoma County election update

A proposed ban on the sale and use of safe and sane fireworks in Cloverdale is now trailing by two percentage points, a reversal of an early margin that had the measure ahead by as much as 10 points in initial Election Day returns.

Updated results posted Friday afternoon by the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters showed Measure K with 49% of the vote in favor of the ban to 51% opposed.

The margin is slim, just 65 votes out of 3,175 cast, but it had flipped from the previous update on Tuesday, when the ban was leading by 36 votes.

The 60% turnout so far in Cloverdale — the city has 5,371 registered voters — is on par with results countywide. Registrar of Voters Deva Proto has projected final turnout of 66%.

Proto on Friday said 17,000 ballots remain uncounted. It’s likely only a small fraction of those votes are in Cloverdale, leaving Measure K supporters with dwindling odds of overcoming the heavier bloc of last-minute no votes.

The measure needs a 50% majority to pass.

This week, registrar’s office is counting mail ballots dropped off before voting ended on Election Day or received through the mail by Tuesday with a postmark no later than Nov. 8.

If approved, the ordinance would ban July 4 firework sales and private use in the city within 10 days after certification of the election. Cloverdale would be the last local government in the county to enact such a prohibition.

Vice Mayor Gus Wolter, who voted with the four-member council majority in May to place the ban on the ballot, said “whichever way it goes, I’m glad the people got their say. I know some of my colleagues on the council feel we are elected to make those tough decisions, but I think when it’s that close the people should decide.”

He said the issue has been controversial within the community, and the seesaw results reflect that.

Those opposed to banning fireworks point to the good local nonprofits such as the Lions Club can do with the proceeds from sales. The club pays for the annual Cloverdale fireworks show and funds scholarships and other worthy causes.

Those in favor of the ban want to eliminate the risk of fire posed by fireworks, even the legal safe and sane kind.

Mayor Todd Lands, the lone vote on the council against placing the proposed ban on the ballot, said he didn’t want to comment until the final tally is in.

Wolter, who said he “goes back and forth” on whether the ban is a good idea, said “the worst fires are caused by the illegal” fireworks.

“I think we’ve had only one small fire with the safe and sane ones,” he said.

On the other hand, he said if the ban goes forward, the Lions Club “is a resourceful group,” and predicted the city could contribute toward the cost of the public fireworks show. He also predicted there would be a recount if the vote continues to be as close as it is.

The next update from the county elections office is set to come on Tuesday.

The City Council is expected to certify the results at its Dec. 14 meeting, according to Mike Maloney, Cloverdale city clerk. Placing the measure on the ballot is expected to cost the city an estimated $52,000.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.