Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Green Trumps Red, White and Blue





From the website of the folks who run the event:

Due to the continuing litigation by the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF) and its lead attorney, Marco Gonzalez, the Lake Murray July 4th Music Fest and Fireworks Committee has regretfully decided to not hold the fireworks display over Lake Murray this year. This difficult decision was made after careful consideration of the liability exposure which the event would produce and the possibility of litigation directly involving the Committee.

Prior to this decision, we spoke with Deputy City Attorney Glenn Spitzer, who is handling the defense of the City of San Diego in the four lawsuits filed by CERF. He advised us that Suit #1, in which CERF prevailed, has been appealed by the City. Suit #2 has been stayed, pending a decision by the Appellate Court in Suit #1. Suit #3 and #4 have been joined and are scheduled for Trial on Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 2 PM in SD Superior Court Dept. 67. These deal with challenges to the Special Events Permitting Process and the lack of an Environmental Impact Report requirement.

Given this information, the Committee chose the prudent option of not proceeding with the event this year. We will consider the possibility of holding the event in 2013, if the courts rule in favor of the City and it becomes feasible to do so. If it is, we hope the community will provide early financial support for this historical event and help to keep it a free, fun, family event in our local park.

Feel free to stop by the CERF website and let them know what you think. 

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