How Much?

When times are good, no one cares:

• Like most other city departments, the Mayor's Office of Special Events decided the city must cut down, so to speak, to a smaller tree -- in this case, about 54 feet tall and donated by a family in Palos Heights.

  The tree in the past was 88 feet tall but was "actually comprised of 113 smaller trees -- it tended to be a bit of a costly venture," said Cindy Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the special events office.

  Costly and time-consuming for the city's Christmas elves.

  "The budget last year was in the $300,000 range. It took two, three or four weeks to build," said Megan McDonald, the office's chief executive. "We've cut our costs by more than half. Likewise, it will take two, three, four days to build out. There will be no ornaments ... they're too heavy now that we're only using one tree. For now, we'll just go with the big, bold, beautiful lights."

Gee, for a "green" mayor, Shortshanks sure was a bit environmentally irresponsible cutting down 113 trees to make a single "tree." And $300,000? Wow. Iron Workers, Electricians, Streets, probably a couple of Cranes, the obligatory "no-shows" for Tony Soprano and company. Thanks goodness they are keeping it down to $150,000 this year.