Opinion: A holiday Grinch

Floridians have a tough enough time getting in the holiday spirit. We wake up Christmas morning with an 80 degree sun beating down on us, an array of flowers blooming and the beach beckoning. To compensate for this lack of holiday ambiance we send our northern relatives cards with Santa in swim trunks relaxing under a palm tree and decorate our homes with lighted "icicles" and plastic snowmen.

You work with what you have.

But somehow, despite these obstacles, most Floridians are still able to muster great enthusiasm for the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. It tends to be a time of infectious good cheer when people from all backgrounds become a little friendlier, a little more sociable with one another. That's why it's too bad that St. Petersburg Police Chief Goliath Davis III went so far as to ban all holiday displays, decorations and celebrations within his department.

We can certainly understand his impetus. The department has been named in a religious discrimination complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A Jewish officer complained about the overt displays of Christianity at the workplace, a violation of church-state separation. Davis has a legal obligation to make sure his department does not appear to be promoting a religious faith. But his mandate to strip the department of even such innocuous, secular displays as Christmas trees and reindeer takes this to the extreme.

The attorney for the Jewish officer makes a good point when she says the overreaction by Davis almost appears to be a tactic designed to generate resentment toward her client.

Enjoying the spirit of holidays, particularly for those public servants who are expected to work them, is a way to make co-workers feel more like a family, it is a way to boost morale. Considering the dissension and division in the department that has marked Davis' reign, he might want to re-think the Grinch memo. After all, even the Grinch eventually came around.

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