Politics & Government

Scaled Down July 4th Celebration A Go

Council vote unanimous, but members wary of a public that expects a bigger show.

The City Council voted unanimously to put on a scaled down July 4th celebration, but worried about multitudes of residents and out of town people who have no idea there is any trouble with putting on the same kind of show there was before.

With redevelopment funds eliminated by the state, the city faced the prospect of no celebration whatsoever without the help of the community and dedicated volunteers to raise community money.

Those volunteers, the Suisun City Community Services Foundation, distributed an estimated 20,000 donated fliers through local businesses, schools, city facilities and public events, according to a city staff report. They also created a website that gave donors the option to donate as little as $25 through PayPal.

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Can you donate? Click on the link.

The group also has an account at Chase Bank and has been featured in local media. It has organized events at local businesses like Athenian Grill, La Cabana, Dimitri's and will include wine tastings every first and third Thursday starting this Thursday at Harbor Square.

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In all the SCCSF raised $45,000 out of a $50,000 goal.

What would a scaled down July 4th event look like? According to the staff report:

"...daytime would be low-key with families encourage to bring a picnic down for the day along with their own simple enjoyments (i.e. kites, Frisbees, kayaking, etc.) As with the recent Earth Day, non-profit organizations could set up their own tents to promote their services. The emphasis would be on families and community."

The sponsored entertainment like the beer tent, music and the climax of the fireworks would start around 6 p.m. There would be food trucks for added food vendors, but because the event would be scaled down, there would be scaled down costs for police and public works employees.

One point of contention for the council was the expected masses of people who will show up hours before the 6 p.m. start time of the structured show.

"We're expecting them to come at 11 or noon," City Manager Suzanne Bragdon said. "There's just no structure for them until 6 p.m."

Police and city workers expect to be on hand to ward off any trouble.

Councilmembers Jane Day and Sam Derting were on the ad hoc committee working with the scaled down celebration idea, but the other three councilmembers were not. Much of the discussion showed irritation between the two groups for not having discussed their questions earlier.

"We have a phone and it works," Derting said at one point, in response to a statement that questions the ad hoc committee had already hashed over needed to be asked because the idea was just last night coming to the council.

But despite the rancor, the council pulled together and voted unanimously to put on the event.


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