Santa Fe's annual Plaza decorations this holiday season could include farolitos bearing an illuminated version of the city's 400th anniversary logo, under an idea working its way around City Hall.

Efforts are also under way to place some of the sand-filled paper bags on the White House lawn in Washington, D.C., in an attempt draw low-budget attention to the city's ongoing commemoration.

Dan Gerrity and Bill Dupuy, two radio news announcers with KSFR, presented a mock-up of the special farolito to city councilors last week as a way to keep the city's 400th anniversary momentum rolling.

"This is relatively inexpensive to produce, and the exploitive PR possibilities are endless," said Gerrity, who envisions getting national television news features on the farolitos. "There is nothing more charming than Santa Fe during the holiday season."

Homegrown, low-cost ideas might come to characterize the rest of the city's commemorative activities, given that little funding is available for the cause right now. The nonprofit board under contract to plan and execute anniversary events and programs for the city has already spent most of the public money it was allocated and is in the middle of a significant budget reduction plan.

Organizers with Santa Fe 400th Anniversary Inc. asked for another infusion of city cash last month but have slowed down the proposal, they said, in order to put together a lean and well-planned budget. An executive director and other staff were laid off, and two big contracts for lobbying and public relations were terminated.

The City Council is not expected to take up the funding issue again until December, and at that time the requested amount for the anniversary is likely to be lower than the $750,000 the planners asked for this fall, Mayor David Coss said.

In the meantime, he said, the anniversary farolitos would be a good touch, especially at the nation's capital. Coss mailed a letter under a city letterhead to President Barack Obama last week explaining the purpose and tradition.

"When displayed in large numbers, farolitos are not only beautiful but also very peaceful," he wrote, adding later, "We would be honored to see our 400th anniversary farolitos on display as part of the White House winter holiday decorations."

About 1,500 paper bags that will be used for Plaza farolitos for both Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve have already been ordered using annual funds budgeted for the Parks Division, said Director Fabian Chavez.

Now city Public Affairs Manager Carla Lopez is looking for a funding source for a possible contract for a few thousand dollars to pay for printing on the bags by students at Warehouse 21.

"We put up the farolitos anyway, but this would be a great job for Warehouse 21, a great partnership," Lopez said.

KSFR, the local public radio station, has already made its own, out-of-the-box 400th anniversary commemoration by hiring the New Mexico Men's Camerata to record a song, "Salute to Santa Fe," with lyrics by Gerrity and Dupuy.

In the mock-up of the anniversary farolito, the lyrics are printed on the back with a slight modification to get rid of a station promotion.

"Through conflict and toil these four hundred years, strong cultures have blended amid joy and tears," it reads. "They've blended together and here they did stay, to live as one people in Old Santa Fe."

Coss said he also hopes to find funding for Fine Art with Children and Teens to create art projects in honor of the 400th commemoration — with or without the nonprofit board. Other annual events in Santa Fe also will feature a 400th anniversary logo and theme in 2010 at no additional cost to the city or the nonprofit.

Whether the city adds more funds to the pot remains in question. Several councilors, including Ron Trujillo and Rosemary Romero, have said they want to funnel more cash to the project but also want to keep a tighter rein on how it will be spent. So far, a kick-off weekend festival called Viva Santa Fe and a visit by members of the Spanish royal family have been the most prominent events.

A program for schools, summer movie series and a New Year's Eve Gala in 2010 are among the ideas for the remaining 14 months in the two-year period the city designated as its official anniversary.

Maurice Bonal, president of the 400th anniversary group's nonprofit board, said a subcommittee is working over the next two weeks on a revised budget.

Bonal said he has not been approached about the farolito idea except in concept, and he noted that if the bags are to bear the official 400th logo, his board should be consulted.

"There is a copyright issue. Nobody can go out and just pirate it," he said. "They would have to have a licensing agreement for use of the official logo."

Bonal said his board has been trying to focus on things that were already planned and on how to get continued city monetary support.

"Everything is on the table," he said. "Our whole thing is to have some new events, too. That is the purpose of the 400th, but at the same time we will collaborate with those that are ongoing."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.