Signature verification is underway for a petition to prevent Seaside's fireworks ban from taking effect.

The fireworks industry tried to persuade Seaside City Council against a fireworks ban before they passed an ordinance. They built the website seasidefireworks.org to auto-generate letters to council urging them not to ban fireworks. 

The council proceeded with an all-out fireworks ban anyway, on a vote of 3-2. 

But now the issue boomerangs back in the other direction. Voters who object to a city ordinance have the option to submit a referendum petition with valid signatures from at least 10 percent of registered voters within 30 days to precent an adopted ordinance from taking effect. 

In Seaside, where there are 14,124 registered voters, that means the minimum threshold is 1,412 signatures. 

Signature gatherers collected 2,431 signatures this week seeking to block the city's fireworks ban from taking effect. 

Next comes a signature verification process. 

"I have completed the prima facie review (a raw count of signatures and format validity) and have requested Monterey County Elections to commence their verification of signatures," Assistant City Manager Lesley Milton wrote in an email to councilmembers on Friday, Sept. 18. 

It's a faster way of overturning a city ordinance than by passing a referendum vote at the polls. First, to block an ordinance from taking effect requires fewer signatures—10 percent within 30 days of approval, versus 20 percent to get a referendum on the ballot—and if verified, the petition would take effect without going on the ballot. 

The petition was circulated by a new political committee that registered on Aug. 18, calling itself Citizens for a Safe Fourth of July, "a coalition of Seaside residents, nonprofits, and American Promotional Events, Inc. - West," the latter referring to fireworks manufacturer TNT Fireworks.