The annual Fourth of July race began 19 years ago with no plan and no regard for safety: three young friends decided to celebrate America’s birthday by sprinting down a steep San Clemente street in their office chairs.
The unsanctioned derby has grown in popularity over nearly two decades, attracting 7,000 fans from across the county to residential streets last year. But some neighbors are tired of the shenanigans that come with the competition. They complained to the city that the games caused injuries and that spectators threw trash around the neighborhood and used their yards as public restrooms.
As a result, the city effectively canceled the game and took over Victoria Avenue and Rosa Avenue, two streets usually dedicated to Derby, for a more “family-friendly” celebration called the Star-Spangled Banner and the Slide.
“The game has become unsafe at times,” Samantha Wylie said of the derby at last month’s city council meeting.
She said firefighters were unable to respond to incidents near Derby without being hit by water balloons. Last year, someone was injured after being hit by a frozen water balloon.
Stars, Stripes & Slip ‘N Slides will feature a 300-foot-long inflatable water slide, obstacle course and smaller children’s slides. There will be a water balloon contest, pie eating contest, hula hoop contest, music, food trucks and a beer garden. The event is free to attend, but the city charges for wristbands for certain events.
“We’re still going to attract crowds that want to be there, but we’re going to have safety knobs in place that further protect the city and the homeowners and residents who live on that street,” Wylie said.
Office chair race enthusiasts accuse the city of taking away the freedoms that should mark the day.
Organizers say what started as a simple office chair competition has transformed over the years into a showcase of creativity and is the longest-running event of its kind in the world.
Over the years, the derby has attracted go-karts, tricycles, surfboards on wheels and even an inflatable horse attached to a piece of wood nailed to two skateboards that roll around. In 2019, a group of people demolished the street, relaxing on a leather loveseat on wheels. As part of the tradition, spectators throw water balloons at the racers as they speed by.
“This is too bad,” one person wrote in a post on city social media advertising the new event. Another complained that because people “ruined” the office chair competition, “we now have to pay for a city nanny.”
City Manager Andy Hall said residents told him the event, which has been held for a number of years, had grown “beyond the capacity of the area,” especially without restrooms and other facilities in the case of.
“There was a woman who said someone came into her home and asked to use her bathroom,” Hall said at a council meeting this month. “He was probably a little drunk.”
But the office chair race may not stop for long.
“There is word that some racers may go underground to compete in this year’s race,” organizers wrote on the group’s Facebook page.
