The following memo was distributed by the City of Oakley Wednesday afternoon after the City of Oakley received several fireworks complaints over the last several days.
Oakley Mayor Kevin Romick has asked residents for solutions going forward as they plan upcoming events.
Here is a copy of his memo:
All types of fireworks are illegal in Oakley and, like most communities across the State, we are finding it difficult to put any substantial dent in stopping them. Oakley is not unique in the deluge of fireworks. My oldest daughter sat on a hilltop in Martinez, Monday night, with a view from Richmond to Pittsburg and across the straits to Benicia and was utterly amazed with the onslaught of illegal fireworks. In a conversation with ECCFPD Chief Hugh Henderson, he mentioned the economy is truly on the mend, pointing at the amount and the level of sophistication of this years displays.
We did receive numerous complaints and information from some residents, the challenge is covering over 16 square miles of the City. Officers were zigzagging across the City, not arriving in time to actually see someone lighting a firework, which would lead to a citation. However, know that we did confiscate fireworks.
We need your help. While still fresh on your mind, please assist us as we prepare an action plan for both New Year’s Eve and next year’s 4th of July season. If you know of the exact address and/or persons involved in setting off fireworks, please email this information to the Oakley Police Department at: [email protected]. You can remain anonymous.
With this information we will plan face-to-face visits to remind these residents of the prohibitions and fines associated with possessing and discharging fireworks. With your assistance, this will be a critical component of our action plan, as will other elements that utilize volunteers and additional personnel to better tackle this issue.
Any suggestions for our action plan are welcomed and appreciated. Those can be sent to me at [email protected]. THANK YOU !!!
Mayor Kevin Romick
7 comments
Easy, City ordinances with big fat fines.
What a joke. If Oakley police would write tickets, residents would get the clue instead of burning down property and vegetation. Until the city becomes tough on fireworks, no one cares because they know Oakley police can’t fine them or arrest them because they have to see it.
If people report the addresses, maybe put an undercover cop on each street next year.
How in the world are you all proposing new laws as a solution? Fines? Tickets? They can’t catch anybody because everybody was doing it. This is already against the law. Oh, and to all the new gun control law proponents, take a gander at how the prohibition on drugs and fireworks is going.
Here’s a crazy idea. Repeal the stupid laws on fireworks. Obviously people are going to do it, it is unenforceable, and the 4th of July is all about freedom. More kids are killed by swimming pools in a week than are killed by fireworks in a year.
Seriously? Your idea is stupid, bordering on insane. There are too many morons shooting this crap off these days. There are yards that consist of high weeds and other flammable things, not to mention open fields.
We had idiots on the end of our street that were tossing lit M-80’s into the roadway. They didn’t seem to mind that cars were driving by. It could have been really awful if they’d actually succeeded in getting one to go off under a car. Who knows if that’s what they intended, it could easily have been what they got. That’s not to mention 3 nights of our dogs being scared half to death.
Anything the city can do to decrease this stuff is fine with me.
Allow me to walk back the second sentence in my reply a bit…Let me go with “Not a great idea” instead. My apologies. My response read a lot harsher than I had intended.
Kevin Romick is so out of touch with the public just like the rest of the city council. I can recall Oakley saying it would be tough on fireworks. Well, they were not. People want action not lip service. It comes down to lack of leadership by the City Manager and this council not raising awareness before hand. Send out a reminder in the water bill, send out community emails, you can do a lot of things but Romick’s suggestion is not one of them.
Phule….your response was just fine. We had the exact same thing in Antioch. It sounded like mortars going off inside my house. Five full days off it. Yes I called the police. lol
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