BAY CITY, MI – It was about noon when Chris Runberg parked his car along the curb on South Chilson Street. When he got out, the sun shining brightly onto his plaid paperboy hat, round glasses and gray hooded sweatshirt, it wasn’t long before someone opened their front door to shout, “Hello.”
“Any news?” a woman asked Runberg, Bay City’s 7th ward city commissioner, through her storm door.
The resident, Wendi Garcia, walked onto her front porch, careful to close the door behind her. A dog stood up on its hind legs and whined through the window, wanting to join her outside.
She didn’t have to specify what news she was inquiring about. The evidence is all around.
Like most of her block, Garcia’s front yard is decorated for Halloween. Tiny tombstones, spooky figurines and larger, more haunting decorations adorn the lawn. Looking up, one can see lights draped above the sidewalk, perched on one side by wooden stands.
Runberg looked up at them, his reddish beard appearing more so in the sun, and turned to Garcia. He approached the woman’s house, careful to avoid stepping on any decorations or the tiny Consumers Energy flags marking the location of underground utilities, signs of a homeowner who did their due diligence and called Miss Dig before planting the décor into the soft summer landscape.
“The plans were submitted on Thursday. They were reviewed, allegedly, on Friday, and I haven’t heard anything back yet midday here on Monday,” Runberg told the woman, a slight smile forming across her face. “So, I’m hoping that means everything’s good to go.”
As Runberg stood outside chatting with Garcia, a couple in a pickup truck drove down the block, shouting cheers. Moments later, a next-door neighbor walked outside and yelled a greeting.
In recent days, Runberg has become a familiar face in the west side neighborhood, checking in and reporting back updates from Bay City Hall with regard to the residents’ annual tradition of decking out their front yards with lights and Halloween decorations. A tradition that, if not for Runberg’s help, may have come to an end.
“I’ll tell you this, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a politician or commissioner do as much as Chris has done,” Garcia said. “I’ve never seen it, and I’ve lived here my whole life. Never have I ever seen anybody stand up for his community like he has.”
Navigating permits, safety rules and community spirit
For the last several years, the residents of Chilson Street have been decorating their yards with elaborate Halloween displays. But along with the festive bats, mummies and tombstones were lights that stretched over the sidewalks into the city’s right of way and easement.
The tradition continued, drawing thousands of onlookers to the area each Halloween, according to residents. But this year, someone reported the displays to the city.
The displays violate rules about having wooden posts in the city’s right of way. There needed to be an encroachment permit from the city, and insurance was needed to ensure liability concerns could be avoided.
“It’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing,” Garcia said of the displays. “If you could sit out here at night, you’d see the people driving up and down (the street). It’s two-way traffic.
“Now, all of a sudden, it’s an issue? I mean, we didn’t know it was an issue to begin with, or we probably would have never done it,” she continued. “It’s not like we want to break the law. That’s clearly not our intention. Had we known, we probably would have done what we needed to do.”
City officials said they weren’t trying to prevent anyone from having fun. But once it was reported and brought to their attention, officials couldn’t just look the other way.
Enter Runberg, who, noticing the blockade forming between bureaucratic rules and the community’s desire to have a little fun, got involved as one part diplomat and another part enforcer.
He helped residents get the proper permits—encroachment permits that normally would’ve been $25 per household. Lake Billing Service covered most of that expense, Runberg said, and insurance for the displays was covered by the Midland Street Merchants.
Craig Kokaly was one of the few commissioners who raised some alarms about the setup. At a prior commission meeting, Kokaly, who represents the city’s 2nd Ward, said he drove down the block and thought he saw some concerns with the lumber being used for the displays among the acknowledged liability issues.
He said he was supportive of the tradition continuing but recognized the need for some safety measures to protect the city.
“I’ve always been supportive of it going forward,” Kokaly said. “But I’ve got to try to watch out for what’s best for the city as a whole. We’ve got to look out for that.”
Runberg invited Kokaly—a commissioner who has been vocal about lending a helping hand when possible—to the block once more to help draw up plans for the display that could be submitted to the city’s engineers.
“Basically, it’s not my ward, but it’s my city, and I’m going to try to lend whatever help I can,” Kokaly said. “I’m a firm believer that you can either complain about something or you can do something about it.
“We might not always agree on things, it might be different wards, but it’s the same city.”
Bay City Manager Dana Muscott said no official “OK” has been given by the city, adding that officials hired an outside agency to review the plans drawn up by Runberg and Kokaly.
Runberg said if repairs to the wooden structures in the right of ways and easements are required, the Bay City Home Depot store where he works during the day has volunteered to provide lumber.
He’s hoping things will go more smoothly next year.
“Going into next year, ideally, we’ll have taken lessons from this and we will use those lessons to inform us as we put together this block party permit and have a process going forward so we don’t have this type of headache again,” he said.
Excitement builds for Halloween
With Halloween about two weeks away, Garcia said she has been buying candy “like crazy.” She expects her block to be even more popular with trick-or-treaters this year because of the attention it has received.
“It’s going to be insane, so I’m just trying to buy as much candy as I can,” she said. “This is crazy how many people we get down here and they’re yelling as they drive out the windows.”
Garcia said she has family coming from Arizona to see the block, and block parties and trick-or-treating events are also scheduled to take place in the area.
In the meantime, Runberg said he’ll continue to advocate for the residents on Chilson and their Halloween displays.
“I just want to see this succeed,” he said. “These folks put a lot of hard work into it and they were able to do it for several years, and it’s just got to be really demoralizing, disheartening to have experienced the types of uphill battle they have since the city was informed of it.
“I’m in a position that can actually influence this, and so I should be using the influence I have to be able to help the community,” he continued. “There’s clearly a need, and if I have the ability and means to help facilitate that, it would be a dereliction of my duties to not do that.”
Bay City neighborhood may be able to keep its Halloween tradition alive with help from city commissioners
