From Harry Potter and pirates to Candyland and coffins, Palo Alto city departments and employees were decked out in Halloween ghoulishness Monday (Oct. 31) for the city’s first-ever Halloween contest.
City Manager James Keene sported a pirate costume, complete with hook hand, eye patch and multiple cutlasses; City Attorney Molly Stump dressed as the queen bee in the haunted beehive on City Hall’s 8th floor.
Mayor Sid Espinosa arrived at the Harry Potter-themed Children’s Library dressed as Waldo and Councilman Greg Scharff accompanied him as the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.
The revenue-collections department on city hall’s first floor was chock full of velvet-lined coffins and bottles of pickled eyeballs and other delicacies. “Broom parking permits $13,” a sign read.
The city manager and clerk’s offices were decorated in a pirate theme, while human resources played on one’s sweet tooth with its over-sized dangling candies.
Espinosa announced the winner — a tie between the city attorney’s beehive and the Planning Department’s “Son of Man” painting by Surrealist painter Rene Magritte.
“No taxpayer dollars were spent,” Espinosa said.
> “No taxpayer dollars were spent,” Espinosa said.
And during this period, just how much work was done for the taxpayers, who were paying the salary, benefits, and all the overhead of City Hall, and its staff?
Seems very appropriate that someone who has decimated City staff, frozen wages for years(while getting a raise himself), reduced staff pay by increasing deductions, gets hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation above his salary, and surrounded himself with $100k staff dressed up like a pirate.
Oh please everyone – give them a break! All they want to do is have a little cheer amongst themselves on Halloween – I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that and I am sure work was progressing along like every other day.
a city manager who can dress up and celebrate Day of The Dead yet when Christmas comes, no hint of Christmas is allowed for fear of offending someone? Besides, what an appropriate outfit for the city manager……..someone who likes to rob others – city employees and palo alto citizens alike. Great subliminal message James. We got it, or at least some of us got it. Touche! PS those were managers in the pics. The REAL worker bees were out doing the real work!