Cade Barker’s story about the County Council’s “discussion” about fireworks is a perfect example of “squeaky wheel” politics, which is the first refuge of mediocre politicians. 40 or 50 people show up, representing otherwise worthy causes, and make a lot of noise. And the councilors forget that they represent thousands of people who don’t attend their meetings.
More to the point is a survey conducted by the Battle Ground City Council more than a year ago. It asked questions about virtually every aspect of life in the city, and has been cited by the Reflector. Hidden in that survey were two questions about fireworks. In one, the majority said they did not favor an outright ban. But in the other, a majority said they favored further restrictions on “safe and sane” fireworks. The City Council, another group of mediocre politicians, has ignored that aspect of the survey.
The fundamental philosophical issue with fireworks is whether it is right to make money, no matter how worthy your cause, on the back of the misery of others. Contrary to the comments by Councilor Little, not “everything [that] explodes or that goes in the air” is “fun and wonderfully patriotic” to many of us.
As an example, I live at the top of a hill. The people who set off mortars are below me. So the mortars explode at eye level with my house. Until well after the cut-off time.
Which brings me to a more important point.
The majority of explosions on the 4th have no displays and violate both state and federal law. These explosions have no time limits, and many of them rattle my windows. And they outnumber the regular fireworks by a lot. The well-known secret is that the police do not even try to enforce the law. So, because of the lackadaisical attitude of both the County and City leaders, it’s open season for many days before and after the 4th.
From my house, I can see all the way to Portland. After about 10;30, there are only about a half dozen displays in all of Battle Ground. So why doesn’t the city cut it off then, not at 12:00 or 1:00? As my butcher once said to me, “Some of us have to get up and go to work tomorrow. “
Last 4th, I stayed up well past my bedtime to make sure some drunken fool didn’t set fire to my house. There were 27 structure fires caused by fireworks in the County. I chased off two kids who were trying to throw lighted objects onto my neighbor’s roof. Yeah, lots of fun, Mr. Little.
The answer to all of these questions is that it is easier for County and City leaders to give in to the small number of people who make the noise, rather than to do the hard work of fine-tuning this issue. In other words, they’re lazy. And many of us suffer because of their laziness.
Rick Hauser
Battle Ground
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