I had to laugh, then cry, at this promotional poster for the Winter Wonderland at Falls Park, saying it is ‘FREE’. Hardly, it was estimated by the SF Parks department that the labor and decorations cost about $50,000 in 2008, that does not include electricity. The display is even bigger this year, so that $50,000 number is probably way off this year. While I think it is a great idea, I think it could be done differently. Other cities do similiar displays but they have businesses volunteer the expense and labor and use it as an opportunity for teambuilding around Christmas. Workers and their families of the businesses that donate volunteer their time to set up the display then the city foots the bill of the electricity. I think in the time of a recession it is a poor message we are sending by spending $50,000 of taxpayer money on Christmas lights when people are losing their jobs and eating at the Banquet. When you watch the director of the Gloryhouse beg to the council for a measley $8,000 to keep ex-cons out of jail (something that actually helps the community) you wonder where the city’s priorities are? And who approves this stuff? I’m just saying.
I get a kick out of these public transfers of wealth to the utilities. The lights ought to be on timers, turning on at sunset and off by 930pm. Eventually the lights should be self-powered solar; it’s good enough for highway signs, stream flow meters, livestock watering tanks, etc.
A thorough, complete accounting of the “free” display would be interesting; but it would never see the light of day.
Falls Park is hooked to municipal power, so they are not paying Xcel for the electricity, I’m more concerned about the cost of decorations.
Just the same, “municipal power’s not free”.
I know, but at least we are not being overcharged.
To me it seems like after the lighting at Falls Park started the attendance at the Heartland House lights at Yankton Trail Park went down. This was a fundraiser for Heartland House. All in all the lights at Yankton Trail Park have been off for the last year or two. The lights at Yankton Trail Park were donated by various businesses and volunteers from those businesses worked there during the evening hours. Every year that I went out there, I saw the manager of our apartment complex working at some location in the display. This is another prime example of the city overspending for non-necessities. I wonder which city employee has the time to sit and look through catalogs for decorations.
Gee, that is a tough one . . .
Lovely picture of Falls Park. Does anyone have any pull in getting the Falls Park web cam fixed. It hasn’t worked in weeks.
They had added a Phillips street web cam, I even liked that.
http://www.siouxfalls.org/Information/webcam_falls.aspx
I’ll not forgive the city for bowing out from county participation relative to homeless projects. The Salvation Army was eager to build a shelter here and the city ran them off. City leadership wants tax dollars associated with rigged developer contractor bidding not citizen sympathy. This is abuse of power relative to both energy consumption and HOME RULE.
PG- They don’t have money to help homeless people they got X-mas lights to buy.
Then buy the regular lights and not the energy saving kind. They burn warm and the homeless can find somewhere close-in so they don’t freeze to death.
They should of decorated burn barrels.
It’d be weird to live in that apartment the Philips Ave web cam is trained on.