An open letter to the mayor and members of the Tucker City Council:
I am writing as a Tucker resident who believes deeply in improving quality of life through evidence, facts, and thoughtful civic decision-making – not volume, not theatrics, and not being a squeaky wheel.
This email is a respectful but firm petition urging the City of Tucker to transition its taxpayer-funded, high-decibel July 4th fireworks display to a silent drone-based light and music celebration, hosted at Tucker Green, beginning with the next Independence Day.
Consistency matters: The city’s own precedent on noise harm
In recent years, the City of Tucker made a consequential decision regarding the proposed pickleball facility at Tucker Recreation Center. Despite the project’s clear benefits to community health, social cohesion, and the local economy, the city ultimately rejected it – after spending over $20,000 of taxpayer money on two separate sound remediation studies.
The stated rationale was protection: protection of residents, human health, and quality of life from potential noise impacts, based largely on unproven or inconclusive evidence. That precedent matters.
Because if speculative noise from pickleball was deemed sufficiently harmful to justify killing a community project, then the documented, validated, and extensively researched harms of high-decibel fireworks should make this decision an obvious one.
The validated harms of high-decibel fireworks
Unlike pickleball noise, the harms of fireworks are not hypothetical. They are supported by decades of research across medicine, veterinary science, environmental science, and public safety.
Humans – Fireworks routinely exceed 150–170 decibels, levels known to cause hearing damage. They exacerbate PTSD, anxiety disorders, and sensory processing conditions. Emergency room visits spike annually due to burns, eye injuries, and respiratory distress.
Pets – July 4th is one of the highest pet-loss days of the year. Dogs experience panic responses, including trembling, bolting, elevated cortisol, and self-injury.
A Tucker resident continues to post monthly on Nextdoor about her dog Jasper, who was lost during the City of Tucker fireworks display and has never been found.
Wildlife: Birds abandon nests; some die mid-flight from panic. Urban wildlife suffers disorientation, stress, and mortality. Fireworks disrupt ecosystems well beyond the duration of the event.
Environment: Fireworks release heavy metals such as strontium, barium, and copper. Particulate matter degrades air quality. Debris contaminates soil, streams, and stormwater systems.
Fireworks law ≠ fireworks funding
I fully recognize that the City of Tucker cannot supersede Georgia’s state fireworks law, which was changed after 2015 by a GOP-dominated legislature.
That law change has done nothing to enhance the quality of life for Georgia residents. The primary beneficiaries have been fireworks retailers and manufacturers (sales tax revenue) and political campaigns funded by the fireworks industry.
However, the City of Tucker absolutely retains authority over how taxpayer dollars are spent. You cannot ban fireworks statewide—but you can choose not to fund them.
A better alternative: Celebration without harm
Drone-based light and music shows provide stunning visual experiences, preserve patriotic celebration, are inclusive of children, seniors, veterans, pets, and wildlife, avoid injury, trauma, pollution, and fear.
Tucker Green is an ideal venue for a modern July 4th celebration featuring:
• a choreographed drone light display
• patriotic music
• a community-gathering atmosphere
• Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America” resonating – without explosions
This is not a loss of patriotism. It is an evolution of it.
I first raised this issue with the city in 2023, and at the time, it gained no traction. But this decision does not require another $20,000 study.
The evidence already exists. The precedent already exists. The authority already exists. All that is required is a majority vote of city council, leadership from the mayor, and commitment to evidence-based governance.
In closing, this petition is not about noise complaints. It is about facts, consistency, compassion, and leadership.
For Jasper.
For veterans.
For children.
For wildlife.
For Tucker’s future.
A young city has the opportunity to lead – and to become a model for others.
I respectfully urge the mayor and city council to vote to transition Tucker’s July 4th celebration to a silent drone light and music show, beginning this coming Independence Day.
Thank you for your time, your service, and your commitment to making Tucker a better place for everyone.