Future fireworks events may be up for discussion, but the Port of Long Beach will be a sponsor of Big Bang on the Bay again this year.
Harbor commissioners voted Monday to spend $3,500 to support the event, as they did in 2022. It’s the second recent victory for the organizer of Long Beach’s main public fireworks show, which in April saw a judge dismiss a lawsuit alleging the event had been illegally polluting Alamitos Bay.
In February, Commission President Sharon Weissman proposed that the port stop sponsoring the show because of the impact fireworks can have on pets and people as well as the environment, but a committee of the commission didn’t act on her suggestion.
Reiterating her concerns Monday, Weissman said she has no beef with this specific event.
“My argument is with any event that includes fireworks when we know that there are other forms of entertainment, such as drone light shows, lasers, which can provide a really spectacular view for our community,” she said.
“We call ourselves ‘the green port’ and now is the opportunity to say do we believe that and do we want to live behind what we say.”
But she didn’t persuade her colleagues, who said they were fine with supporting the event this year but would hope to see it move in a more environmentally friendly direction in the future.
Having a big public show “certainly substitutes for a lot of people who will go out in the underground organizations and buy fireworks and shoot them off at home,” Commissioner Frank Colonna said.
“I’d rather have a consolidated program for now and then in the future, come up with a better decision in terms of what we can support.”
Commissioners voted 4 to 1 to be an event sponsor.