No fireworks in Wallingford budget — again

As published in the Record Journal on Thursday February 28, 2013

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz

WALLINGFORD - Citing another difficult budget year and financial uncertainty, Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. has opted not to include funding for the town’s annual July fireworks display in his proposed budget.

The town stopped including the fireworks show in the general government budget in 2009.

“The reason is because we have had very difficult budgets,” said Dickinson. With expenses increasing, he said he’d find it hard to explain “why we aren’t cutting things that are non-essential.”

“I have a hard time seeing fireworks as an essential,” he said.

Town Councilor Jason Zandri and a small group of supporters have kept the show alive since 2009 by raising funds on their own. While the general government budget has not been released,Dickinson informed Zandri during a phone call on Monday that the fireworks display would not be funded, Zandri said.

The show dates back to before the 1970s, Zandri said, and has become a tradition in town.

“Tradition gets lost over time,” Zandri said. “As soon as you stop a tradition, you lose it forever.”

Zandri, a Democrat, is challenging the longtime Republican mayor in this November’s election.

While Dickinson argues that budget issues are to blame for the lack of funding, Zandri says there is money available. He said the town is running a $1.7 million surplus and can afford the $26,656 needed for the fireworks.

Dickinson said that expenses need to be reduced and there are too many unknowns going into the spring, when the town’s budget will be put together. “I can’t be sure what’s going to happen this year,” he said. The town has reduced staff, so there is no justification in funding a non-essential event, Dickinson said.

Zandri said the mayor has also chosen not to fund municipal services for the event, which would include police, fire and public works overtime. The cost would be approximately $13,000, Zandri said.

Taking just 1 percent interest from the town’s $1.7 million surplus would generate $17,000, Zandri said, enough to fund municipal services for the event and more.

“The bottom line is the mayor simply doesn’t want this,” Zandri said.

Zandri has set a minimum fundraising goal of $30,000. The deadline to get that private funding to the town is May 31, he said, to allow time for scheduling and booking.

If funding is secured in time, the fireworks show will be held on July 6. Zandri said there is no rain date.

“You can’t justify a reason for not having this event,” Zandri said.

Will the R Band play at the town’s Fourth of July celebration?

At yesterday's Town Council meeting the 2012 - 2013 budget as amended by the Council was approved by a 6-3 vote. 

In it was a change to the Park and Recreation Department Budget.

The Park and Recreation Department requested funding and it was approved at the requested dollar amount by Mayor Dickinson.

By the time the budget discussions occurred, the Park and Recreation Department fine tuned their costs and a couple of items came in under budget so they brought the $6,000.00 saving to the Council to amend their budget.

Councilor Fishbein then made a motion to restore $5,000.00 of the $6,000.00 that they were requesting be removed. This was voted on by the nine councilors at the time (I do not remember how that vote went down specifically) and the motion was passed.

At last nights meeting Councilor Laffin made a motion to repeal that change. It failed 7-2 with only Councilor Cervoni supporting him.

What this means, provided Mayor Dickinson doesn't veto the budget, (and this was the ONLY change made to his original budget), is that the R Band will perform at the show at no additional cost to the Fund.

The town is expending no additional planned funds and they are still saving $1,000.00

The Fund's costs do not change as we never have been able to raise enough extra money to restore the R Band performance.

So at this point we are still working as before with raising the final $3,000.00 we need to reach our 2012 fundraising goal of $30,000.00

Wallingford’s Fireworks - Pie in the sky?

As published in the Record Journal, Friday April 13, 2012

Implicit in this editorial headline is that some things in life are culminations of things hoped for but which remain unrealized.

Alas and alack, in Wallingford’s case, funding for its annual Fourth of July fireworks remains orphaned from its rightful place as an integral part of municipal budgets. Were it not for assiduous private fund-raising efforts primarily by Town Councilors Craig Fishbein and Jason Zandri, the town’s night sky would remain dim at this designated time of national and local celebration.

In yesterday’s edition, we reported that Fishbein, a Republican, and Zandri, a Democrat, founded the nonprofit Wallingford Fireworks Fund in 2010 after the town dropped funding for the show from its budget.

As illustrated atop today’s page by editorial cartoonist Kevin Markowski, this bipartisan, town-spirited duo has butted heads with Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. during planning for this year’s nonpartisan celebration. To wit: Democratic Town Councilor John Sullivan observed, “We have two sides working toward a common goal. They need to sit down, communicate and work together.” (This should be accomplished sans rancor outside of council meetings.) The news account referred to above detailed legitimate questions of town support (including funding and oversight) for various functions throughout fiscal years. Whether intended or not, it’s easy for degrees of animosity or confusion to arise relative to what should be perfunctory, clearly delineated matters of town governance.

At the end of the day, however, we’d urge full restoration of fireworks funding. Donors to fireworks private funding are, presumably, Wallingford residents and taxpayers. As such, perhaps they’d be quite willing to pay a proportionately miniscule increase in taxes to accomplish the goad. On balance with the entirety of Wallingford’s annual budget, it’s a small investment in an overwhelmingly appreciated display of civic esprit de corps and national spirit. Make it fireworks in the sky. Save the pie for Thanksgiving.