It's obvious that Havre de Grace has reached a critical juncture in the history of its storied tradition of celebrating our great nation's independence.The longtime committee retired en masse. A new committee is forming to carry on the tradition. And the city's elected officials blather on.The new committee doesn't know it yet, but it will soon face the same hurdles the outgoing committee faced – the counterproductive meddling of city officials.The city's increasing obstructionism, in part, led much of the outgoing committee to realize it was no longer worth giving their hearts, souls and time to putting on the Fourth of July celebration in Havre de Grace.Giving is the key word since all of the effort that has gone into putting on the Fourth of July celebrations has been on a volunteer basis. No one has been paid to make the parade, fireworks and carnival happen.But those who do get paid, whether it's a pittance or not – the mayor, the city council and the police chief – have certainly been willing to not only criticize the results of those volunteer efforts, but also to hinder, rather than help, their efforts.The carping between the city and the former volunteers is nothing new. Much of it over the years we've dismissed simply as how things get done.In recent years, however, the discord has been more grating. As the two sides did their best to keep happy faces on in public, there were fundamental differences of opinions.The biggest fundamental disagreement is whose celebration is it? The volunteers are convinced it's theirs. City leaders think that if it happens in Havre de Grace, it has to be under their authority.Members of the Meadowvale Elementary School Patriot Program make their way along the parade route during the July 3 Independence Day parade in Havre de Grace.The reality is things like the Fourth of July celebration, the Candlelight Tour, the Halloween and Christmas Parades, the Decoy Festival, and so on belong to everyone.They belong to the community, not to the volunteers who organize them, nor to the city leaders.That hasn't kept the mayor, the city council and the police chief from acting as judge, jury and executioner in the case of city leaders vs. Havre de Grace Fourth of July.The mayor predicted there would be trouble during the this past celebration.Havre de Grace City Councilman Dave Glenn said he could never forgive himself, if he didn't do something to prevent something bad from happening at future events. Councilwoman Monica Worrell has made it clear she's going to do whatever she can to keep trouble away from Havre de Grace, especially during its Independence Day celebration. It's no secret that City Councilman Steve Gamatoria doesn't like what he has seen after the fireworks and carnival shut down.Police Chief Teresa Walter said there's never been so many people in Havre de Grace as there were for this summer's fireworks.Hyperbole, rhetoric and simple babbling are the cornerstones of politics, and there's been plenty of each thrown around about the Fourth of July celebration, mostly aimed at the carnival.The mayor has vowed that when it comes to trouble associated with the carnival and the fireworks "one thing I can promise you, this won't happen next year." If only he could deliver on that same promise at the school where he teaches, but he can't make a whole school go away as easily as he can make a carnival or fireworks or just about anything else he doesn't like go away in Havre de Grace.Here's the problem: Havre de Grace has a terrific Fourth of July celebration and a wonderful community for it. It's also expensive to produce and the biggest fundraiser is a carnival that can be problematic. While the need for a carnival has not changed, the times have, and not for the better.While all of the horrific events that have been happening around our country and the world, it's prudent for the city leaders to take a hard look at how best to proceed with future Independence Day celebrations.What's not prudent is for some of those city leaders to make the bold pronouncements they've been making before there's been any analysis of what's happened or discussion about what's best for the future.With all due respect to the mayor, some of the city council members and the police chief, there are plenty of really smart people in the Havre de Grace community who can help them make informed decisions about what comes next.It would be wise for the city leaders to talk less and listen more as this whole community gets the chance to weigh in on its biggest annual event.