By Emilie St. John
INGLEWOOD – Inglewood voters are scheduled to take up the legality of fireworks after the Inglewood City Council overturned their desire earlier this year.
The Inglewood City Council unanimously approved amending the Inglewood Municipal Code to prohibit the sale of fireworks and restrict the use or display of fireworks to City-Sponsored events or public displays at certain venues during the Feb. 18 city council meeting.
Nonprofit organizations benefit from the sale of safe and sane fireworks and a subsequent petition was circulated after the council overturned voters’ wishes who voted on the matter in 2008 under Measure F.1
During the 2008 election, 58% of the voters rejected a ballot measure that would have prohibited the sale. According to the Inglewood City Charter, the city council can adopt an ordinance with four affirming votes.
“On March 10, 2025, the City Clerk’s Office received a Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition and other documents required by State law, proposing an initiative measure to establish an “Ordinance to Amend the Inglewood Fire Code to permit the sale and use of certain Fireworks within the City of Inglewood.”
“On July 31, 2025, the proponents submitted the petition for filing. Pursuant to Elections Code Section 9215, an initiative petition proposing an ordinance must be signed by at least 10 percent of the voters of the City. Currently, the total number of registered voters in the City of Inglewood is 64,416; therefore, the petition needs to have at least 6,441.6 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.”
The Inglewood City Clerk’s office conducted a random sample and face review of the petition under Elections Code Section 9210, and found that 9,513 signatures were obtained and therefore accepted the petition for filing on August 6, 2025.
According to the Los Angeles County Registrar and Recorder’s Office, they found 6,982 of the signatures submitted and sufficient, which included 540 more than necessary to qualify the measure for the June 2, 2026, ballot.
During the September 30 city council meeting, the City Council had the option of either adopting the petition outright or opting to place it on the ballot before voters. The city council unanimously voted to submit it to the voters.
This is the third petition to come before the City Council where they have had to decide to adopt or place before voters.
In 2022, the city council weighed in on the proposed Healthcare Workers Minimum Wage Ordinance (Measure HC)2 which they placed on the November 8, 2022 ballot which asked voters to raise the minimum wage for healthcare workers to $25 dollars an hour. 54% of the voters said yes, but portions of the ordinance were struck down in District Court after the California Hospital Association challenged it.
In 2015, the city council opted to not let Inglewood voters vote on the Champions Revitalization Initiative which approved modifying the Hollywood Park plan to include the nearly 80,000 seat NFL stadium.
- City of Inglewood Fireworks Prohibition, Measure F (February 2008) https://ballotpedia.org/City_of_Inglewood_Fireworks_Prohibition,_Measure_F_(February_2008) ↩︎
- Proposed Ordinance to Establish a Minimum Wage for Certain Employees Employed to Work at or by a Privately Owned Covered Healthcare Facility Located within the City of Inglewood https://ballotpedia.org/Inglewood_City,_California,_Measure_HC,_Healthcare_Workers_Minimum_Wage_Initiative_(November_2022) ↩︎
