Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

It's that time of the year when people all across this nation get into the Christmas decoration spirit. The light and figurines are put in place, and the only thing left is for darkness to descend. The lights seem to put everyone in a festive mood, as kids, young and old, marvel at the beauty of the lights. There is also the "competition" of who can put up the most dazzling Christmas display that will bring the crowds in night after night. Then there are also the cities and towns that put on their display, even if it's the same display people see year after year. It appears that Monroe has abandoned its annual Christmas display at city hall, and as of press time, the front grounds are bare. What happened? It would seem that the heads at city hall decided to send sections of their display to the recreational centers around the city. Perhaps that was a great idea, done in the Christmas spirit. The only thing that seemed out of sync was that no one who works at the recreational centers was allegedly not informed of such a move. This reporter went around the city looking at some of the community centers, and sure enough, there were sections of the city hall displayed on-site at the front of each building. Several employees said that they "were surprised" to see city workers pull in the parking lots and tell them that they were about to set up the Christmas display. As noted earlier, each center received a section. Each section does not cover a wide area of the community centers. Workers at several of the centers said that city hall doesn't normally send them any decorations, especially those that are used on city property. The workers usually decorate the entrance of the community center. The bulk of the decorations went to the southside, as it wasn't a "take it or not" situation, basically tying the hands of those who work there. A supervisor could make no prior decision before leadership at city hall decided to send out the decorations. Sources say that decorations are very old, and if the city wasn't going to use the decorations in front of city hall, it might have made more sense to let the community centers continue to do as they had done in the past. There are probably some smaller municipalities that would have jumped at the opportunity to have a display as big as the one city hall used to display. Is this nitpicking? Some may say yes, while others will say no. One thing that's certain is that the employees had no input, as they are the people who represent the city, making each community center available for the public and meeting their needs. Maybe things could have been handled better. After all, a city or any community is only as good as the people who work for it.

Photo Christmas Decorations