Selfless as their actions may have been, last year was the last straw for the last two standing members of a nearly defunct committee once dedicated to coordinating and raising money for the explosive event.
“It was a very frustrating experience,” said Ysselstein, who single-handedly managed the fireworks budget the past three years, over lunch in Princeton on Friday. “The personal liability was a new thing.”
|
|
Fireworks organizers stressed about raising money in time have fretted openly nearly every year since 2002. In 2006, the San Mateo County Harbor District denied a launch permit in the wake of two years of suspicions and accusations surrounding the accounting practices of former show coordinator Richard Frustere.
Frustere was president and CEO of Light Up the Sky, one of several nonprofit groups that partnered with the fireworks committee. All have come and gone.
Enthusiasm for the Coastside display — the kind that can be measured in dollars and cents — has since waned. The numbers of donations, dollars raised, participating businesses and show coordinators have taken the same dive. Meanwhile, the cost to run a show has been growing.
In the 1990s, a crowd-pleasing show cost about $10,000 all told, according to Mary Sheridan, former chair of the Coastside Fireworks Fundraising Committee. In the years since, the price has more than doubled. Last year, Coastsiders were treated to the least expensive show they could purchase. It rang in at more than $24,000. A good show can cost upward of $40,000, Ysselstein said.
By and large, the increasing price is due to law enforcement agencies charging the committee to keep officers on overtime during the show. Half Moon Bay tacked on a fee this year. Police Chief Don O’Keefe said it would likely amount to an additional $3,000 to employ five Half Moon Bay Police officers.
The down economy and high price of a show creates a “double whammy,” said Cameron Palmer, who owns Cameron’s Restaurant and Inn and has been a staunch supporter of the fireworks show for two decades. He said he hasn’t been solicited for money this year and is under the impression a show isn’t happening.
Sheridan thinks going a year without the show might be just the kind of shot in the arm Coastsiders need to renew their devotion to organizing an event.
“If history repeats itself that’s what would happen,” Sheridan said. “But, at this point, even if someone puts up some money with enough people to start it, you’re almost out of time.”
w