Exclusive | Karen Bass pulls funds for iconic Valley July 4th parade leaving community devastated

Mayor Karen Bass is being slammed as un-American for a last-minute decision to pull funding for a Valley neighborhood group who wanted to close their main street for a 4th of July Parade marking America’s 250th birthday.The Sunland-Tujunga Fourth of July Parade, the longest-running Independence Day parade in the San Fernando Valley, has been canceled after organizers say the city withdrew support and left them facing at least $20,000 in traffic control and street closure costs.“The mayor’s office jerked us around for so long,” said Lydia Grant, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council.“It’s devastating.

We’ve been doing this parade for over 50 years.”Organizers announced Monday that it was ”with great sadness” that they’ve be unable to host the parade.The event, hosted annually by the Sunland-Tujunga-Shadow Hills Rotary Club and the Neighborhood Council, is the centerpiece of the community’s Independence Day celebration.The parade was set to draw marching bands, equestrian groups, vintage cars, local organizations, elected officials and homemade floats.Grant said she was especially surprised because Mayor Bass told the group her office would help with the event, as the office had done for decades.“I was very shocked because the mayor herself said to contact her staff to get it done,” Grant said.

“Then they started ignoring us.This has never happened before.”According to Grant, organizers were initially told costs would be around $15,000, but the final estimate exceeded $20,000. She said the delays left organizers with no realistic opportunity to fundraise or secure sponsors before the July 4 event.“They delayed so long that we didn’t have time to schedule or fundraise,” Grant said.

“Then the DOT gave us the bill.”The cancellation hits particularly hard in a community that has already watched several long-standing events disappear over the years because of rising costs.“We’ve ended up losing most of our f...