CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Fountain Valley veterans group wins right to sell fireworks in Huntington Beach

Orange County Register (CA) - 4/27/2015

April 25--A veterans group was awarded the lucrative opportunity to sell fireworks in Huntington Beach even though it doesn't meet the criteria to participate in the drawing.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9557, a registered Fountain Valley nonprofit organization with monthly meetings in Westminster, was the first name pulled in the dramatic drawing at Monday night's council meeting, giving that group the right to operate one of 15 fireworks stands on the first four days of July. Fireworks stands can mean as much as $50,000 to $75,000 for the nonprofit groups that operate them.

Fireworks have become big fundraising business in Orange County as 10 cities -- Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Stanton, Villa Park and Westminster -- have recently lifted bans. La Habra is considering lifting its longtime ban.

For a group like VFW 9557, which listed income of just more than $32,000 in 2013, fireworks sales can make for a very good year.

The Huntington Beach rules, written by City Attorney Michael Gates, say that only groups whose meeting places are "principal and permanent" in Huntington Beach will be eligible to sell fireworks in the city. VFW 9557 filled out the application properly -- listing its meeting place in Westminster and is a nonprofit name as Veterans of Foreign Wars Fountain Valley. In 2013, VFW 9557 was reconfigured to include members from Huntington Beach, Westminster, Fountain Valley and Midway City.

The VFW 9557 application was flagged by City Clerk Joan Flynn, who marked it "not in HB." But City Manager Fred Wilson allowed the group into the contest despite the rules.

"They weren't specifically in Huntington Beach, but they met the other criteria, so we allowed them in," Wilson said. "We had to make judgment calls. They are a service organization that helps Huntington Beach. I feel good about the decision."

Huntington Beach Public Information Officer Julie Toledo said VFW 9557 has "contributed and participated in numerous events and activities on behalf of our city. Huntington Beach is proud of our local veterans as they have served our city, and our country, for decades."

The former VFW Post 11548, based in Huntington Beach, had been very active in Huntington Beach patriotic events for years. The new VFW 9557 has many of the same members as that long-established group. The lottery rules require that 20 members be Huntington Beach residents, employees or business owners.

VFW 9557 listed 88 members as Huntington Beach residents, but they did not provide street addresses, which the rules require. The Register checked several names on the VFW members list and found obituaries for four of them.

El Viento, a nonprofit group that raises money for economically disadvantaged children in the Oak View community of Huntington Beach, was chosen as the first alternate in the fireworks drawing. El Viento would be allowed to operate a fireworks stand if any of the winners were disqualified or dropped out.

Twelve other groups were disqualified from the contest because they did not meet the entry criteria, Flynn said. Eighty-four entries were approved in three categories: civic organization, youth sports and high schools.

Patriots and Paws, a nonprofit that matches veterans with companion animals, was denied, Flynn said, because the group could show it had helped only six veterans in Huntington Beach. The Edison Aquatic Complex was denied because its members don't meet in Huntington Beach, Flynn said. Fountain Valley High School was denied because it isn't in Huntington Beach, Flynn said.

John Douhit, the quartermaster for VFW 9557, was asked Friday if his group is a Huntington Beach organization. "It is, in a way," he said. He referred all other questions to VFW 9557 commander Richard Hollenbeck, who did not respond to interview requests on Friday.

Fireworks were banned in Huntington Beach in 1987. In 2012, the City Council approved a two-year trial period that allowed "Safe and Sane" fireworks to be sold in Huntington Beach. The sellers were picked by lottery. In 2014, at the end of the two-year trial, voters approved the sale of fireworks in Huntington Beach.

This is the first year the city manager was in charge of the lottery. In 2012 and 2013, the city established a Fourth of July committee that oversaw the lottery.

City Manager Wilson said he expects changes to be made to the ordinance next year.

"The criteria could use a little tightening," he said.

Contact the writer: ksharon@ocregister.com

___

(c)2015 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.)

Visit The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) at www.ocregister.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.