Auburn votes to continue July 4 fireworks

The Auburn City Council voted Monday to be the contracting entity for this year's Fourth of July fireworks. The city raised funds and entered a contract for the fireworks in 2025 after the Auburn Chamber of Commerce opted to pull out of hosting the event. In addition to approving the contract, the council also advised city staff to find a nonprofit to take over the fireworks in 2026. Auburn City Manager Sean Rabé confirmed he was not able to find another organization to take over the event. "That didn't prove very fruitful," he said. "I was not able to find somebody to take it over and so, with the 250th anniversary of the country's founding this year, my proposal to council is to do the same thing we did last year." Rabé confirmed the city was able to raise about $18,000 and the out-of-pocket cost was around $3,500 for last year's fireworks. Rabé advised he is estimating this year's fireworks would cost $20,000 due to a 10-percent cost increase due to tariffs but would not have a definite number until the fireworks are done and the state fire marshal has completed inspections. Additionally, Rabé advised the city is looking at $6,000 in savings compared to last year due to the interim Gold Country Fairgrounds CEO offering the city a no-cost contract for the fireworks. Councilmember Sandy Amara asked if Rabé has received any promise of funding to come for this year's event. Rabé confirmed he has not. Amara shared she believed community events should be community-led, and the city's role should be to support community celebrations and "not become the producer of high-risk, high-liability events that divert our resources and, especially, our time, our staff time, our city manager's time away from our essential services." Amara added, "Since there's no community groups willing to take on this project after more than a year of notice, it shows to me a complete lack of commitment and support for the fireworks display on the fourth, and for all these reasons then I will be voting no and I'm going to throw my support and my energy and my finances, personally, behind the many other celebrations that we have that will occur in our city on the Fourth of July." Councilmember Alice Dowdin Calvillo confirmed she had no problem supporting the fireworks but would love to see a nonprofit take it over. "I'd love to see someone come up and adopt this, but if we don't have that, then I feel that it is certainly appropriate for us to provide this," Dowdin Calvillo said. "I'd much rather have people enjoy the public fireworks in a controlled setting than setting them off in their yards and their backyards and burning us all up." Vice Mayor Rachel Radell-Harris and Mayor Kelley Davis agreed they were in support of the fireworks to continue a longstanding tradition and protect the city from illegal fireworks. "It's a community event that's very important to a lot of our community and so I think that it's important we continue this," Radell-Harris stated. "We help bridge this gap until we get to the point where we have somebody else who's willing to take it on." Rabé noted the required insurance may be an issue for a nonprofit, so the city may want to look at a hybrid model where the fireworks are funded by another organization but the city remains the contracting entity in the future. The council approved sponsoring the fireworks in a 3-1 vote, with Amara providing the vote of dissent. Councilmember Mike Holmes was absent.