We can keep the Winter Wonderland while saving tax money
l3wis 
Here we go again, yet another story about the beauty and expense of Falls Park, WW light display;
“With all the people in this city who need a meal, why do they spend all that money on the lights?” Monger asked.
While Larry has a good point, I have often suggested we can have the nice light display AND it wouldn’t cost the city much more then an electric bill;
As for the display itself, 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. They do have sponsors, but city employees do all the set-up. In fact, mostly public works department workers from the forestry division begin assembling the display starting October 1st. Which I find ironic in itself. One time when I questioned the city about project TRIM and why the city’s forestry department just didn’t trim trees that residences couldn’t reach in the boulevard, they replied, “We don’t have enough staff or enough time.†But taking almost two months to put up Christmas lights, plenty of time for. Just imagine how many trees could be trimmed in that same time period?
Once again, the city proves it’s priorities towards citizens and the law.
I also find this ironic, since the city is always bragging about public/private partnerships, yet have no idea what the display actually costs us and seems to have NO interest in making it more economical while possibly making it better.
Hopefully the new mayor will take on the challenge of opening the light display up to local businesses.