Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Residents fill City Hall to take sides in a dispute between a diner owner and the police chief.
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 9, 2002
INVERNESS -- The meeting room at Inverness City Hall was so packed Tuesday night, townspeople literally tripped over one another trying to reach the lectern.
Disgruntled residents stood shoulder to shoulder against the walls, and those who couldn't fit inside the tiny room spilled into the hallway. Who knew a dispute between the city's police chief and a diner owner over a lost order for two hamburgers could draw such a crowd?
Reva Nelson, a local business owner, surveyed the audience with disgust.
"I just can't believe all of this is because of a hamburger being ordered," she said. "Doesn't Inverness have anything good or better to talk about? We're like the Beverly Hillbillies around here."
The comment brought hoots and groans from the crowd, the largest at an Inverness City Council meeting in years, according to City Clerk Marilyn Jordan. For while some agree that the conflict between Inverness police Chief Joe Elizarde and local restaurant owner Butch Ramsey over a lost order for two hamburgers has been blown out of proportion, it's still a serious issue to many in this small town.
"It was uncalled for, unprofessional and just wrong, wrong, wrong," said Jim Blackshear, a friend of Ramsey's and a longtime Citrus County resident.
The burger imbroglio began New Year's Day when Elizarde phoned in a take-out order to Happy Dayz Diner on U.S. 41, and it ended with Ramsey's arrest on a charge of misdemeanor battery. Elizarde said he drove to the diner to express his displeasure after his order was neglected; he said he was "manhandled" by Ramsey. Ramsey contends the chief was abusive to him and his staff, and he merely placed a hand on Elizarde's shoulder to show him the door.
Since then, the city of Inverness, a quiet place known mostly for its elderly population, has talked of little else.
Most of the callers to City Hall and local newspapers have condemned the chief, with many demanding his immediate termination. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, however, the first public forum since the arrest, the crowd was more evenly split.
But the gathering was mostly a means for residents to vent their frustration: Personnel issues in Inverness are handled by the city manager, not the council. City Manager Frank DiGiovanni has stated he won't make any decisions until the city completes an investigation.
The State Attorney's Office is conducting its own inquiry before deciding whether to formally charge Ramsey with battery.
Terence Garrity, an Inverness resident sporting an NYPD baseball cap, was one of several supporters of the chief, who was placed on paid administrative leave Friday pending the outcome of the city's investigation.
"No, there aren't two sides to every story, there's three sides: Your story, my story and the truth," Garrity said. "And one thing I know that's true and correct about this story is that man put his hand on Joe Elizarde."
Florida statutes define battery as intentionally touching or striking someone against his will or intentionally causing bodily harm to him.
But James Thompson, a self-employed contractor from Inverness, said the chief's actions have a chilling effect on local small business owners.
"The idea that a customer can come into your business, make a scene because they feel they lack service and you can't even ask them politely to please leave, well, that's a little uncalled for," he said.
Many expressed sorrow over the attention their town has attracted for the dispute. Radio and television stations from Tampa and Gainesville picked up the story, and it was sent to newspapers around the country through the Associated Press.
Joe Bega, an Inverness resident, blamed the "irresponsible media" for creating the scandal and urged residents to reserve judgment until the city completes its investigation.
"Sometimes things are not as they appear," Bega said. "Once we know all the surrounding facts, we might look at them differently."