Rohnert Park community members collect signatures in hope of keeping Fourth of July firework tradition alive

Opponents of a ban on the sale and use of fireworks in Rohnert Park say they have enough signatures to put the ordinance on hold until voters can weigh in, weeks after the City Council banned pyrotechnics in the interest of preventing wildfires.

Activists and leaders of nonprofits that fundraise off the sale of fireworks say they have gathered 3,857 signatures of registered Rohnert Park voters, surpassing the threshold of 2,552 signatures needed within 30 days to set the ordinance aside until voters can weigh in.

A petition with the signatures was submitted to the city clerk Tuesday. The petition invokes a state law that allows signature gatherers to force a referendum on a vote taken by a city council if enough signatures are gathered within 30 days of an ordinance’s passage. In Sonoma County, the same process was used to successfully overturn a rent control measure passed by the Santa Rosa City Council in 2016.

“This issue is about so much more than just fireworks,” April Garcia, a supporter of the petition, said in a news release. “This is about the right of Rohnert Park voters being able to have a say in what happens in their community.”

The petition follows last month’s 3-2 vote to ban the sale and use of fireworks within city limits.

The majority of Sonoma County’s cities, including Santa Rosa and Petaluma, already have similar bans in place. Sebastopol’s City Council is expected to finalize a permanent ban in a May 18 vote, leaving Cloverdale as the only Sonoma County city to allow the sale and use of fireworks.

In March, the same 3-2 majority declined to put the issue directly before voters itself, saying the cost of a special election to decide the issue would hamper the city’s ability to help nonprofits cover revenue they would lose if the ban went forward.

City officials could not say Wednesday what such an election would cost, or when it might be held. It was unclear whether fireworks sales would go forward this Fourth of July, which will coincide with a period of historic drought and an early start to wildfire season.

The City Council’s newest members — Mayor Gerard Giudice, Vice Mayor Jackie Elward and City Councilmember Willy Linares — have supported the ban, while longer tenured council members Susan Hollingsworth-Adams and Pam Stafford have opposed it.

Among the three supporting the ban, Vice Mayor Jackie Elward said that she voted for what she believed was best for the city.

“Many elderly people and those who have lost homes to the fires called me expressing their concerns about the ban, and so I voted for what I believed our city needed,” Elward said.

On Tuesday, Elward expressed that although she supports the ban, she understands that community members have the right to voice their opinion.

“We can’t stop them from exercising their right,” Elward told The Press Democrat on Tuesday. “We’ll see what happens next.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mya Constantino at 707-521-5220 or mya.constantino@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @searchingformya.