Outside company offers to donate Christmas lights to Fairbanks
Published Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — City efforts to conserve energy have grabbed the attention of retailers from across the nation.
Philip Curtis, owner of HolidayLEDs, a Michigan-based holiday lighting company, issued a press release stating his company was to donate four cases of LED Christmas lights to an “Alaska town struggling to cut energy costs.”
Curtis had read about the efforts of the energy task force in two articles and was caught by surprise at the mention of cutting back on Christmas lights if electricity bills got so bad that the city could not afford them.
Curtis jumped at the chance to offer his services but has not received a response from the mayor’s office. Curtis posted a press release making note of his offer to the city.
“Christmas displays are such an important part of the Christmas celebration, and it would be a shame if the residents of Fairbanks had to eliminate this tradition,” Curtis said.
City officials are skeptical, however, that this perceived act of charity is really just an advertising ploy.
“The city of Fairbanks isn’t about to be the next poster child for a LED holiday lighting company,” Mayor Terry Strle said. “The city is in no way struggling to keep holiday lights on,” she said.
Mike Schmetzer, city engineer and public works director, heads the energy task force and says he’s seen this kind of business before, but doesn’t see the city as struggling.
“The city isn’t doing anything different than every resident in Interior Alaska,” he said. “We’re just trying to reduce these costs that everyone is experiencing at home,” he said.
The task force has been working with local energy consultants to find ways to cut costs.
Community Discussion
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Mayor Strle,
It's not like the company is demanding that we use the lights to make a 50 foot sign, saying "Thanks HolidayLED's for saving our Christmas."
They are offering an alternative to existing lights that use more energy.
As a former operator of a non-profit organization, you should know the difference between charity and subterfuge business marketing. You should know.
Mayor Strle should take the LCD lights and use them....
As the poster child of the HolidayLCD Company, she can emphasize how seriously Fairbanks has been affected by the current energy crisis.
Perhaps someone with intelligence and clout in either state or federal government will see the ads and finally commit to doing something...
Hey, maybe we can be designated a "real" disaster and get FEMA to pay our heating bills.
Mayor Strle is overreacting. This is an avenue where we may be a ble to save a few dollars in one area. We need to think about all of the options available to us.
We cannot even ratify a contract with the Firefighters because it costs the city too much money and now we have an avenue to cut costs a bit and we don't want to do it. Well, politics at work again. Why does this probably not surprise anybody anymore??
It would be completely ridiculous not to except the company’s donations. I am in total agreement with cyber_r_r. FEMA sounds like a good idea too. LMAO!
Good grief Mayor Strle, you sound as if you're taking this offer as a personal affront. Mr. Curtis read the editorial that quoted a city council member who DID say Christmas lights may have to go in the effort to cut back on energy costs; then he offered to help. Don't cut your nose off to spite your face, accept a helpful gift and drop the cynicism.
And by the way, being a poster child city for using LED's might not be a bad thing. I was certainly impressed to hear that Ann Arbor, MI had the foresight to address their energy consumption needs, and employ conservation efforts...before they were forced to.
GVEA=GRINCH
Give 'em to North Pole. If Strle wants to look a gift horse in the mouth, I'm sure we'll take them.
So what if they are used as advertising. Ever figure out how much free advertising this will mean for Fairbanks and winter tourism. Wait, could it be none of the good old boys will make any money off of it.
This is just another example of the mentality of local politicians that will be the down fall of the community. Hey Mayor, look at it this way you may have an opportunity to make national TV.
just politely decline the offer mayor strle. no explanation needed.
We were a little surprised by the Mayor's response. We offered to donate some free LED Christmas lights to the City--no strings attached. There was no request for a poster of any kind.
We frequently donate holiday lights to various organizations. We also donate money to environmental organizations. Last October we gave 5% of our October sales to breastcancer.org. Newspapers write articles about these types of things and the exposure certainly doesn't hurt our business; however, this fact does not render this type of activity some sort of "ploy." We are not trying to trick anyone here. They are just Christmas lights and they are absolutely free.
If there is someone else in the City besides the Mayor that has the authority to accept and use the lights for public use (community organization, etc.) we'd be happy to donate them to some other group in the community. No posters, no strings, no ploys...I promise.
holidayleds.com
Shoot, if the city has plenty of money not to save some when they can, I guess they don't need my property taxes either eh? As far as I'm concerned any money the city can save will potentially save me money. Why would our mayor turn down the opportunity to save money not to mention go a little green? If she is to proud to take some Christmas lights who's to say she won't be to proud to take free solar panels or free fuel. Its all a drop in the bucket and every little bit helps.
This is an offer that the city should gladly and gratefully accept.
I think that the LED lights are the future, especially when all the people that invested in the curly flourescent bulbs start having to dispose of them, and the mercury that they contain. Every time that I hear of what a homeowner should do to dispose of a broken one, I have to laugh.
The city using LED holiday lights sounds like a win-win to me.
Of course, we wouldn't want Christmas to be commercialized, now, would we?
Come on Mayor answer the man's question. Thanks holidayleds for the offer. Don't view the people of Fairbanks or the North Star Borough in the same "light" as the Mayor of Fairbanks.
Mayor Strle...
You should be ashamed of your reaction to this company trying to help out the city. There has been plenty of talk about cutting the city Christmas lights to save money and now you are denying it. Give me a break, take the donation and save the city money!
You have it straight from the horses mouth we will not be a "poster child", is that politically correct by the way Mrs. mayor?
Oh and Mike Schmetzer... "we're just trying to reduce these cost that everyone is experiecing at home"... HELLOOOO wake up we are all cutting cost by switch to a more efficient light source. Which means that the city switching to LED Christmas light would be doing the same as the locals!!!
Good Post Non_lemming and fbkreader...
I guess the city doesn't need my property tax money either!!! ha
Mayor Strle... it should be interesting to se how you will react to some of the city people's post, if you are not to busy rejecting other money saving ideas!!!
Good comment, Woodman.
Thank you for the kind offer, Mr. Curtis. I'd suggest giving those lights to Joel's Place http://www.joelsplacealaska.org/
or Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
And please accept my apologies on behalf of our thoughtless leader - she probably has so much more on her mind than how to be polite... like harassing Fairbanks' homeless folks. . .
As usual, Mayor Strle is quick on the abrasive comment gun. Let's see: she's afraid a donation might make the city look bad so she makes rude remarks about the donator. Not a very bright way to be diplomatic and build goodwill. . . Please don't judge the community by the leader.
ALASKANS: VOTE OUT **ALL** INCUMBENTS IN THE NEXT ELECTION CYCLES.
And the list of reasons to dislike our Mayor continues to grow and grow and grow...
Holidayleds...please contact the mayor of North Pole City Council. I am sure he would be GLAD to accept them for our fair city...where the spirit of Christmas lives, year 'round!! If they don't want them I know of a church that would gladly accept them in North Pole.
Thanks for the offer!!
The mayor is taking a personal affront to this offer. He is like the man who let his children starve rather than accept "charity" in any form. Do you think accepting a "donation" makes it seem like you are unable to manage the City correctly and have failed at your job? ACCEPT THE LIGHTS AND MOVE ON.
Give the Mayor a break, she just hasn't learned the lesson. A gift from a private company does not mean one that goes into a politician's pocket.
I agree, thank you sir for your kind offer. Hopefully there will be an organization in this community that will accept your offer and put the lights on display for the public to enjoy.
As for you Mrs. Mayor, in my book you will be know as "The grinch that stole Christmas."
Take the lights....as long as they aren't blue. The blue ones give me the willies.
take the lights-if not then reduce my property tax. mayor is in white tennis shoes prolly doing more PR pics somewhere.
600! And this one's for you, newsreader...I hope you run with it(weak as it is).
Why are all you folks referring to "Christmas" lights, anyway?
Imout.
It seems we always *say* we want to attract more visitors here. Winter tourism needs all the help it can get. "Come see our energy efficient Christmas Lights in Fairbanks." Mayor, perhaps it's time you get off your high horse. You were elected by the people of Fairbanks. I hope you listen to them. The White House has gone LED on its Christmas trees. Perhaps if we, as a City follow suit, it would be a *good* thing during this energy crisis here in Fairbanks.
imusuallyright - what are you talking about 600 make no sense to me..newsreader what is imusuallyright taking about?
ahhh christmas lights as in the big snowflakes and the tree lights that they hang/put up around christmas time... would you prefer holiday lights?
Hey does anybody remember who we were supposed to email if our street lights were on during the day?
Just take the lights.
If they want to have some association with a town in Alaska: good
'We' always want to trade our association with Alaska to businesses and organizations when there's money to be made off it; why aren't we willing to trade when there's money to be saved - and public money, no less?
Terry, it's ok to change your mind. Public outcry is saying, "Take the lights." Take 'em. A good PR move for you. You can't lose.
Please accept my apologies on behalf of the mayor. Her comments were rude at best. In these times of high gas and electric prices, it was extremely nice of the folks at HolidayLEDS to offer our city the lights. I am sure they are aware of the darkness our city experiences during the long winter months and only thought it would be a nice thing to do. If Exxon offered to fill the city fuel tanks for her, would she refuse that on the same basis? Highly unlikely. The new Boys and Girls Club would also probably enjoy the holidayleds.
Anyhow, thanks Mr. Curtis, for thinking of us during these hard times. It appears the majority of our readers think you are doing the right thing!
This was in the ADN yesterday, I was kind of curious when it would show up here.
If I am correct, these lights being offered will take less energy to burn? The city was looking at cutting "holiday" lights, but now isn't? What IS the city really looking at cutting/changing?
This is a very generous offer from this company & it will even save some cash, which is great. I say why not? I personally love the lights in winter, they give that extra sparkle to the snow & ice fog. I really hope our mayor calms down, bites her tongue & says, "that would be lovely, thank you".
Come on Mrs. Mayor whatcha gonna do now?
I agree with Akprincess72... calm down, bite your tongue and say "that would be lovely, thank you".
You used #600 on this? Wow - I'd have thought you'd save it for something actually important! *grin*
And, yes, that was her point - to be PC we should be referring to "Holiday Lights" not "Christmas Lights", but in this case, I feel no inclination to run with this one.
I love Christmas - it's a time of magic for children, with Santa Claus coming down the chimney and all. It's a time for taking joy in giving. You won't find any manger scenes in my home, but you will find stockings hanging on the mantle, usually more than one tree, and LOTS of lights -- this year will be no exception (although I may look into getting some of these LEDlights myself this year!).
All of the "traditionally Christian" holidays were stolen from the pagans anyhow - I just take comfort in that fact and celebrate accordingly ;)
I'm on your side, Ms. Mayor, but I'm afraid this one issue is going to haunt you for some time. It's possibly a lose-lose situation for you at this point. It might be worth investing in some damage control now.
Lots of good opinions coming out in this thread, both pro and con.
I’ll throw my two cents in:
Pro: Accept the lights, and word will reach Juneau. This will reinforce to our state legislature that our economy up here is really hurting from energy costs, and it might help embarrass Juneau into coming up with solutions that much more quickly. Myself, as far as help from Juneau is concerned, I’m hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. It seems like the only sane option.
Con: Don’t accept the lights. While they use substantially less electricity, they still use electricity. And as much as Christmas, holiday, whatever lighting cheers me and others during our cold, dark winters . . . if it came down to a choice between festive lights and street lighting, I’d rather have the street lights, for safety reasons.
Neither: Figure out a *cheap* way that city residents can vote on this issue. Simple majority wins.
How about an online poll?? it wouldn't be 100% foolproof, but it would be *cheap*.
So it's OK to play the "struggling city" card when city officials whine to us locals. But when the national spotlight comes on, it's “The city is in no way struggling to keep holiday lights on.”
I would much rather see the city spend money to add more Christmas lights that waste it on cutting down all the trees at one of the few homeless shelters the city has seen to provide.
Now we know what she has been up to, only a $800,000 law suit against her and the police chief. No wonder she wasn't in a Christmas mood.
cooberblues, I thought about an online poll, too. How to ensure that only city residents have a vote - since they'd be the ones footing the bill? How to ensure that 1 person only gets one vote, not 100?
alaskanflower, I see the ambiguity, too. In one dnm article, the city's trying to think of ways to bend over backwards to save energy $$$. Then a day or two later, an article about the city being able to afford xmas lights just fine, thank you very much.
A consistent message would be real nice.
Well, we certainly didn't anticipate that our offer would create so much controversy but it is really refreshing to see so many people taking an interest in their community. But let's not be too hard on the Mayor. I'm sure we've all said things that if quoted in the newspaper wouldn't sound so great.
Honestly, the principle factor in our decision to make this offer was that we have enjoyed a substantial amount of business from the residents from Alaska and we always try to support the energy-conservation efforts of our customers' communities. I hope that the Mayor or someone else will accept the offer--its still open.
However, if no one from the City wants to accept the offer we still would like to donate the lights to the community. We've received several emails from readers of this article suggesting organizations that would accept the lights (and there seem to be a few recommendations in these comments.) I like the idea above about having an online poll or vote. So, if the City doesn't accept the offer soon we'll conduct an online poll and donate the lights to an organization in your community chosen by popular vote.
I'll post something on this site, notify the paper, and post something on our site (www.holidayleds.com) about the poll in the next few days (if the offer isn't accepted) for anyone that is interested.
Seems like we can find all the Christmas lights we need 13 miles southeast of Fairbanks.
holidayleds...
You seem like a great company! Thanks for the offer an online pole on your website would be fantastic!
Hopefully the Mayor will loose some sleep on this and decide to do the right thing and accept the lights you have so generously offered to the city.
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