No $$ for the Trail of Lights....but enough for "First Night"? (Austin: theater, cost) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

mimimomx3 · 10-01-2010, 02:48 PM

Austin TX arts: Theater, dance, ballet, opera, art galleries, museums | Austin360.com

This seems totally, terribly ufair.

austinnerd · 10-01-2010, 03:11 PM

Well the article says that last years "First Night" cost $250K whereas the city had originally set aside $375K for the TOL so if the city had to choose I think it makes sense to choose the cheaper one unless someone can prove why the additional $125K is better spent on TOL. That's also assuming that the city budgets $250K for this years, there's only a vague statement about

"While we certainly can’t promise something on the scope or scale that our partners have done in the past"

Don't know if that means they are planning on scaling down further from the $250K, or if "the past" refers to previous "First Nights" that have cost more than the $250K that last years cost (I assume at least a bit of the former or why else would one make any comment at all if you were going to achieve similar goals as last years)?

So a sucky decision to have to make, and I know for me personally, I've never been to a "First Night" but have been to a bunch of TOL so I'll certainly miss the latter and if I had my druthers, would prefer to see it stay while the other goes. That said, I don't know that it's necessarily "unfair" if the numbers just don't add up in it's favor.

atxcio · 10-01-2010, 03:23 PM

First Night is a certain ex-mayor's wife's pet project. No influential person has championed the Trail of Lights cause, unfortunately.

FueledByBlueBell · 10-01-2010, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atxcio

First Night is a certain ex-mayor's wife's pet project. No influential person has championed the Trail of Lights cause, unfortunately.

I was thinking the same thing. What a disappointment.

BentBow · 10-01-2010, 08:51 PM

Yet, with two dedicated police helicopters, the Police chief wants 3 more? Whoa there spending our money, guy! There won't be any left for the trail of lights.

mimimomx3 · 10-01-2010, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FueledByBlueBell

I was thinking the same thing. What a disappointment.

Is she still involved with this??

May I add that First Night only serves the community for- one night? Trail of Lights was for five or six. TOL really brought all parts of Austin and surrounding areas together. What a shame.

centralaustinite · 10-02-2010, 08:19 AM

Yes, I don't think that certain ex- is involved any more> Better that she was, they would probably have the money on their own. We'll miss the Trail but at least the Zilker tree will still be there. We enjoyed First Night the one time we went, but not sure if we will go again.

Dr.Mom · 10-02-2010, 11:35 AM

Typically in other cities when cuts of this kind are made public a corporation or "high net worth" individual/family will step in to foot part or all of the bill. In the past we've discussed how Austin is lacking in this area. Obviously I know that times are tough and this is a lot of $$$, but it would be nice to see someone in the community step up and at least offer partial funding with a challenge to others to match it.

Melissa78703 · 10-02-2010, 03:17 PM

"Unfair?" No, I don't think that it's unfair; it's simply necessary.

I would rather my city not spend money that it doesn't have, especially if it's for entertainment. And, to be honest, I'm not sure that First Night is even necessary. Sure, these are great things for our community, I won't argue that. But if the city can't afford it, it can't afford it.

The economy is brutal. While it's sad about the TOL, there will probably come a time when this can feasibly be done again in the near or far future. In the meantime, while the entire nation recovers, I'm not about to complain about something that's relatively insignificant. I would rather the existing money go to services that are absolutely needed.

HappyTexan · 10-02-2010, 04:14 PM

The city hasn't funded it before. The non profit that did canceled it so the city picked it up.

First Night Austin scaled back - Austin Business Journal
"First Night Austin, the nonprofit that organizes the New Year’s Eve event by the same name, has canceled this year’s event after it was unable to meet its sponsorship goals. As a result, the city of Austin is stepping in to produce a small-scale New Year’s event."