San Bruno community weighs in on ballot measure that could ban fireworks

Even if councilmembers vote to approve a ballot measure and that ballot measure is then approved by voters, it will not go into effect until at least 2026. Fireworks sales have already been approved for 2025.

Vice Mayor Sandy Alvarez, who brought the topic up for discussion, said her reasons for asking voters to reconsider their legal fireworks ordinance, which was originally decided upon at the polls in 2005, is revenue based. The city is losing money on the program each year on police, fire and city services to ensure safety during the holiday, with $12,970 in revenue lost in 2025.

“Given that the city faces a loss every year, not to mention the safety, the cleanup and any extra expenditure from our staff’s salary, this is what gave me the reason to request this … so our residents once more can decide if we can continue the sale of our fireworks,” Alvarez said.

The sale of fireworks has been, and still is, a fundraising opportunity for city nonprofits. But a state law capping cost recovery efforts for firework enforcement at 7% of gross sales has posed questions about financial feasibility.

Community members whose organizations use the firework sales money to fund their operations each year came to the City Council meeting to advocate for the practice to continue.

Even if San Bruno bans legal fireworks — differentiated from illegal fireworks, which often leave the ground or explode and don’t have a fire marshal seal — the city will still incur significant public safety costs to deal with unregulated fireworks, Marriane Lindblom, San Bruno Police Association secretary, said.

Her organization donates the money made from their firework booth to a bevy of local causes, including schools, churches and music groups.

“If the booths aren't there, there’s no money coming out to offset those costs,” she said. “Whether we have safe and sane fireworks or the city doesn't allow it, there’s still going to be illegal fireworks.”

Steve Arden, representing the veterans’ association American Legion Post, said that the firework sales were integral to the organization’s ongoing success.

“If we had not had fireworks during the pandemic, you wouldn't have a post in San Bruno,” he said. “We need the fireworks. We need it every year. Put it on the ballot — it’s pretty much the same as getting rid of them.”

One San Bruno resident, who identified himself as Chris, was in favor of the city getting rid of the practice, suggesting that residents could find other ways to raise money that didn’t increase the risk of fire danger.

“When you open up the floodgates and sell the fire that is fireworks, then you continue and compound the illegal fireworks,” he said. “It’s a domino effect.”