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Children will carol, lights will be lit, holiday spirit will abound in Burlingame during the city’s annual tree lighting at City Hall which will return to a Friday evening this December despite initial concerns about cost. 

A community holiday celebration has become tradition in Burlingame. Financial hardships led the city to take the annual celebration out of its budget years ago. On Tuesday, the council decided the tradition must live on with a spectacular showing starting at 6 p.m. on a Friday in December. Paying for the event will be aided through a solicitation effort that includes e-mails and placing donation boxes in downtown stores. 

“There’s such an atmosphere,” Vice Mayor Cathy Baylock said about the event. “If there was snow, it’d be perfect.” 

The sentiment was shared with city officials and residents alike. With the actual cost ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 and downtown businesses having about $7,000 to put toward the cost, how to pay for the event became an issue. A combination of soliciting donations while looking for volunteers to cut down costs was agreed upon. 

Traditionally held on Friday evenings, the event was moved to Sunday in recent years. It requires a number of streets be shut down, which costs the city money to enforce. There are also extra employees on hand to direct traffic. 

Police Chief Jack Van Etten noted overtime costs were lower on Fridays, when there would traditionally be more employees working anyway. Keeping it on Friday would cut his overtime costs, which is 2006 were $2,610 for the event, according to a Jan. 31, 2007 memo. 

Another cost to the city was the decoration of the tree, which was estimated at $5,000 in staff time. Mayor Ann Keighran asked if employees were allowed to volunteer to do the decoration. The idea was turned down by City Attorney Gus Guinan who explained employees must be paid for work they would normally do, but employees could volunteer to do a job that is not traditionally theirs. For example, a public works employee who might help with tree maintenance could not work on the tree but a librarian or police officer could. 

Instead, Councilman Jerry Deal offered to round up friends and colleagues who could volunteer to take on the job, freeing the city of the costs. Councilwoman Rosalie O’Mahony favored the idea but was unsure how likely such a scenario was. 

A discussion over which tree — one at City Hall or Burlingame Avenue — should be featured was short-lived, with the council opting for a larger showing at City Hall. Baylock did suggest considering a tree at the library, which has lights outside and a stage-like front that could all add to the celebration. Although her idea was well received, others thought it was too late to research a new location.  

At the same meeting, the council unanimously approved street closures allowing for three outdoor movies on Saturdays later this month. 

In July, the Council approved allowing an outdoor movie showing in August after the farmers’ market. The success led merchants to request approval to show three more: “Iron Man,” “King Kong” and “Elf.” The movies will play from 7:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. for free where the farmers’ market is held, basically Capuchino Avenue at Broadway and north about 100 feet.

Another concern before the council was the posting of home phone numbers and addresses of appointed and elected officials on the city Web site. The city has posted such information for some time, causing one commissioner to raise the concern. City Attorney Gus Guinan realized such contract information could not be posted unless written permission was given, which the city never obtained. Last night, the council directed staff to get written permission from elected and appointed officials allowing them the option of which information should be shared. 

In the meantime, the personal information was removed from the city’s Web site. 

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.