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Menlo Park’s traditional holiday tree lights, notably absent so far this year, will make a comeback for 2020 after all.
More than a week into December, the Menlo Park City Council decided 3-1, with Councilwoman Betsy Nash opposed and Cecilia Taylor absent, to approve spending $40,000 to add holiday tree lights at Fremont Park and the Onetta Harris Community Center.
Fremont Park is located at the intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue and University Drive in downtown Menlo Park and the Onetta Harris Community Center is located at 100 Terminal Ave. in Menlo Park.
Council members held a special open meeting Dec. 9 after a closed session to discuss the matter further after it became clear there may not be a majority of support during a preliminary conversation on the matter the previous evening.
The decision reverses a council decision earlier this year, when budget cuts were being made, when members opted to eliminate funding for holiday lights.
Council members Ray Mueller and Catherine Carlton most favored installing the holiday lights. Mueller said he’d heard from community members who were “looking for some holiday cheer” and that this is a hard time for many community residents who may live alone, feel isolated from family members far away, or be older and living with elevated and long-term fears that they may catch COVID-19. Lighting the trees, he explained, may offer cheer to people needing a mental health boost.
“I think that this is one of those times where we make an investment in basically quality of life and sanity,” Carlton said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing to do and a great tradition to keep going.”
Nash opposed installing the lights because of the costs, and expressed reservations that the lights could encourage people to gather unsafely.
“This is a really difficult season, and we may need this money next year,” she said. “I see this is a prolonged economic downturn. We don’t know what is ahead.”
“My support is a bit strained,” Combs said, before voting to approve spending for the lights. The previous night, he noted that he understood the concerns about the cost, but added that, as a parent of small kids, his family has to visit another city to see a large holiday tree lit up.
The council also discussed another site where tree lights have traditionally been set up, at the corner of Ravenswood Avenue and El Camino Real, but that site was more expensive. Also, Mueller said, the Fremont Park location could help draw people to downtown businesses.
The lights will be up Sunday, Dec. 13, and remain up into the new year. People are advised to practice COVID-19 safety by wearing masks and maintaining distance from other households when they visit.
Holiday tree lights certainly are consistent with the season, and will add to the already existing lights installed recently by the Public Works Department along the sidewalk area near Santa Cruz Avenue. We might ask ourselves however, what message will this convey to those community members that are 1) homeless, 2) out of work, 3) having little to no food on the table, 4) are unable to seek medical attention and 5) unable to seek mental health services when $40,000 for approx. 4 weeks of holidays lights on a park tree are severing the balance of the community under a “stay at home” order? What budget is the $40,000 coming out of, including the cost of printing and postage to mail postcards to the entire community? What is the City now unable or no longer able to do without the availability of these scarce funds? Why was there NO staff report for this agenda item? Life is full of choices. It’s a package deal. The holiday lights will likely help some while at the same time deprive others. I admire Betsy Nash for speaking up.
I know lots of neighbors who are very happy the tree is going to be lit and I agree with them. Investing money in lifting people spirits city wide is a great thing.