It’s a little nauseating how frequently people whine about how the City can not do X,Y, and Z because of budget constraints. Obviously, we do not have a limitless well to draw from, but it takes very little creativity to see where the city can trim fat in order to fund better projects and services.
Here’s a tip for all the politicians who might have just no idea of where to start cutting back:
Look for examples of clear waste. This photo was taken yesterday in Bushnell Park in the late afternoon. It was hours from sunset and not remotely overcast, yet the lights were on in the park. How much money is wasted just by leaving the lights on?
mrceder
This is unfortunately nothing new. I noticed the same occurrence of lights being on in Bushnell park during midday a few weeks ago. Shameful really.
coldpaws
I don’t know the situation in Hartford, but I learned a while ago that for my hometown (Portland, OR) municipal electricity like this is purchased at a fixed rate from the power company, negotiated every few years.
I learned this because a local start-up had some new improvement for timed-lights technology, but when they investigated the city to talk about street and parking lot lighting they learned the city had no incentive to spend money to reduce electricity use, as the fee would be the same regardless.
If that’s the case here, well…I’m not saying it’s a good system.
Luis
Thanks for the post Kerri…will look into it. It’s always confusing who to goto when it’s a Bushnell park thing, Friends of Bushnell or the City. But you don’t have to go too far to see the very example of what you’re talking about. For the past year I have been turning purple inquiring about the field lights at Pope Parks little baseball stadium. I’ve driven by as late as 1am and one would think that Kevin Costner was making a sequel in Hartford, CT to Field of Dreams. So, I don’t flinch when I propose a massive cut to the utility line item and I get told that they can’t afford the cuts…yeah, right. So, please keep pointing out these examples…it adds more and more ammunition for budget time.