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A Halifax councillor has spent $25,000 of the municipality’s money on a talking Christmas tree.
Brad Johns, councillor for Middle/Upper Sackville-Beaver Bank-Lucasville, is eagerly awaiting his new tree as it’s shipped from the States. He says it will help Sackville compete with neighbouring districts.
“Spryfield’s got the Santa parade, downtown has their tree lighting. What can we do in Sackville that’s a little unique?” Johns says, about his inspiration for buying an 18-foot tall silicone tree.
It’s meant to evoke memories of Woody, the beloved Mic Mac Mall monstrosity that shoppers sacrificed their money to every year.
Johns’ Californian tree will cost $25,000 ($18,000 US, plus shipping and handling), and comes from a designer who also produces work for Universal Studios.
“We shopped around to get the best quality tree at the best price.”
The tree “says whatever you want it to,” and is programmable by computer. Johns envisions schoolchildren will watch it perform a 15-minute “skit,” for free, and then afterwards donations will be collected for the local food bank. This year, it will be set up in Acadia Hall on Sackville Drive. The facility is letting Johns erect his puppet for free, which means forgoing revenue they would have collected from Christmas party rentals. Johns says to compensate, in future years the tree will look for corporate sponsorship.
The $25,000 cost comes from Johns’ discretionary fund. Every councillor gets $94,000 a year in district capital funds to put towards large-scale capital developments and infrastructure. Normally, that includes parks, playgrounds, maintenance for common areas. Johns doesn’t find spending nearly a quarter his district’s money on a Christmas tree to be excessive.
“It’s not a Christmas tree,” he says. “It’s an animatronic, talking Christmas tree.”
The councillor estimates any food bank donations the tree helps gather will be double its $2,500 per year cost (given its estimated ten-year “lifespan”).
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This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2014.
Oh Dear Lord, I thought that Lovecraftian hell-log was gone for good.
This is like a 1960’s film from the Hammer studios but without Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to defy the superstitious villagers and bring this horror to a fiery end.
this is my rep what kind of a purchase is that i want a revote!
This is a gross mismanagement of funds. Johns is an embarrassment.
Brad John’s gets a woody? That’s horribly inappropriate for any publication.
http://time.com/3525271/parisian-sex-toy-c…
↑↑↑ I may have to attribute that link to Ivan (did you originally post this story?)…
Wasn’t me, Mr. M. I’m thinking GDM or TTFN.
Great for a larf, though >: )
No fucking way.
” Brad John gets a woody” A haha haha haha awesome sense of humor to this article!
That thing is scary as hell. Look at its eyes. It just stares into your soul…
I get the spirit of this, but Woody at Mic Mall actually employed someone for the Christmas season.
And although we’re not known for our talking Christmas tree production in Nova Scotia, surely there was some way this $25,000 could have been spent locally.
Yet another reason why i can’t wait to move away from Sackville.
I’m leaving the entire county as soon as I get things in place.
Lmao ! He should of got some bobble head dolls made up 2 lol
This amounts to less than $1 per Sackville resident and will potentially bring smiles to faces of the children, as well as the food bank donations. Our tax dollars have been spent on more wasteful and frivolous things previously. Instead of complaining about it – support it’s purpose.
I agree, Sackville needs a “gimmick” to bring in shoppers this time of year, but corporate sponsors should have been sought out for the purchase rather than using taxpayers funds. Perhaps HRM could be ONE of the sponsors.
“This amounts to less than $1 per Sackville resident and will potentially bring smiles to faces of the children, as well as the food bank donations.”
I heard you could spend $25,000 on food for the needy. Not in Suckville I guess.
Wow ! Decision making at its absolute worst. Maybe next year Sackville can purchase a Dancing Pumpkin and a Singing Lobster. Where do we get these councillors ?
People want to move away because of this? What’s stopping you? Maybe you need to live some place not as fortunate as here and see what it’s really like to have it bad. Negativity will always keep you down.
I’m surprised it only took 19 posts for someone to raise the “In Somalia they’re lucky to see a tree at all, far less an animatronic talking one” argument.
I’m not leaving because of this one thing. I’m leaving because of many ‘one things’ about how this place is ‘governed’.
In a time when every penny is pinched and people are unable to afford the necessities of life this is ludicrous. Perhaps money could have been used to do something special for our war vets.