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Different logos create a debate over consistency
By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer CRYSTAL RIVER -- He doesn't have a name but he's pudgy and gray and has the amazing ability to stand upright. There's a glint in his eye and a light green sash wrapped around his belly that reads: Home of the Manatee. His likeness, to one degree or another, is everywhere: on the side of the city water tower, in pewter at the gift shops along U.S. 19 -- even on a toilet seat cover or two. But one place the manatee is not is Police Chief Jim Farley's business card, and that bothers some city officials. "If you notice, all teams wear the same uniform," council member John Kendall said during Monday's council meeting. "If you are representing the city of Crystal River, you represent it like the rest of us do." Setting off a debate marked with laughter and irritation, Kendall called for city to adopt one business card logo, that of the manatee, and a standard stationery. "Surely we can find something more important to debate about than this," Farley said as the meeting approached 11 p.m. "Mr. Mayor," Kendall said, his body tense, "I object to that comment." Farley and his charges currently use a shield on their cards, the same that graces the side of patrol cars. "It's a nice logo," Farley said Tuesday, pointing to a manatee on the wall of City Council chambers. "But it doesn't convey we're police." The same applies to stationery, he said, adding that when purchasing firearms, manufacturers call for official department letterhead. Kendall and fellow council member Kitty Ebert, both whom have been critical of the Police Department, particularly the budget, insist that they are not attacking Farley. "We are one city and I think we should all work together and do it together and look alike," Ebert said. She seemed to fuel Farley's irritation by suggesting his name be put lower on the stationery, below the finance director and director of public works. After considerable discussion, the matter came to a vote. Ebert and Kendall voted to change the logo, Bonnie Taylor and Susan Kirk did not. The fifth council member, Russ Kreager, left the meeting early, meaning Mayor Ron Kitchen had to cast a rare vote. He said he agreed with the point Kendall had made but without seeing a standard stationery, he could not vote with him. "I would have never thought we would be debated an issue like this," the mayor said, drawing laughter from the audience.
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