Okaloosa County BOCC — November 4, 2012 — Colin Baenziger — reading text

is in the center of the logo." Deciding on an accompanying icon proved more taxing than choosing the main part of the logo. After considering numerous icons, the committee selected one of the city squares tipped on point because of its messages. The committee realized Savannah means different things to different people, however, the one thing unique to the city when compared to others is the public city squares. "The central core of the Oglethorpe plan and the ward is the square, the open space, the green space, the sense of public," Morrill said. "For us it's the simplicity of the symbol and the allusion to the public city squares," Crockett said. "This is important because the square not only represents Savannah's beauty and livability, but it reminds us that the city has always been responsible for their care." The official design brief explained that the shading of the city square "creates a positive forward motion." The use of green does justice to the countless parks and trees while emphasizing an environmental focus, and the feminine serif font of "Savannah" captures the welcoming spirit. "Even though the symbol is kind of a downtown symbol, those values radiate throughout our community," Self said, "not only in public land planning and public spacing but also with access and involvement." -44-  Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order A SOFT ROLLOUT The city purposely did not plan an official unveiling of the new logo mainly with the taxpayers' best interest in mind. Instead, it opted for a soft rollout, which means using up supplies that contained the old logos and waiting until vehicles are replaced. From start to finish the rebranding cost totaled just less than $25,000, a cost virtually unheard of in most rebranding projects. "We wanted to roll it out more organically so that people would subtly discover it," Morrill said. "Externally, the whole rebranding as an organization shows that we're one organization, we have core values that we work toward." Public safety services such as the police and fire departments were not required to switch to the new logo because of their widely recognized existing logos. Appointed city officials such as the mayor and legal counsel will continue to use the more formal historic seal. Brightwhitespace created a 42-page stylebook with specific guidelines for city employees to use in order to avoid relying on outside vendors for printing. The stylebook contains color variations of the logo in files formatted for Web and print and lists suggestions on how to use the graphics. With city employees having access to the files, they can print on an as-need basis instead of having to order in bulk. "We thought there would be a lot of push back (internally) because it's difficult to implement change in any organization," Self said. "But to my knowledge it has been universally accepted because we rolled it out in a way for our people that made it as easy as possible for them to embrace it." -45-  Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Augusta Chronicle, The (GA) August 20, 2004 PROPOSAL BENEFITS TOURISM GATEWAY Author: Scott M. Larson and Mary Carr Mayle, Morris News Service SAVANNAH, Ga. - The tourist boulevard along Savannah's quaint River Street will expand soon with the construction of a $570 million mixed-use development that city officials say will transform a chunk of land - next door to downtown Savannah - that resembles a wasteland. "If you look at it right now as you drive in, it's one of the gateways to Savannah, and it's ugly looking," said Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill. "There are not many large sites in the city so close to downtown where you could really do a quality development that could extend the Historic District." In the past, the site has scared off developers because of extremely poor drainage. City officials said that, in the past couple of years, six or seven developers have met with the city about the property but couldn't make anything work. Mr. Morrill and John Hutton, the city's acting inspections director, are more optimistic about this proposal because three developers, including a group building a mall just to the south, are working together to address the big issues, such as drainage. "All of a sudden, you are looking at doing something for one-third of the cost," Mr. Hutton said. -46-  Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Savannah Morning News (GA) October 15, 2002 SAVANNAH OFFICIALS TO STAY IN INDONESIA THREE CITY EMPLOYEES TO CONTINUE GOODWILL VISIT DESPITE VIOLENCE. Author: Savannah Morning News Friday, three Savannah city officials departed for Indonesia on a goodwill mission to offer their expertise to a sister city across the globe. The next day, while the group was in midflight, a bomb exploded in a Bali nightclub. Sunday, the Savannah trio landed in Indonesia as thousands of Westerners attempted to flee the island nation. The three - acting Revenue Director Buddy Clay; Development Services Administrator John Hutton; and Public Development Coordinator Cindy Boyette - were given the option of returning, but decided to stay, despite a U.S. embassy order evacuating all nonessential personnel. The city they are visiting, Yogyakarta, is located on the main island, they reasoned, and they are being accompanied at most times by Indonesian security. As an extra precaution, they have canceled planned media events to lower their visibility. "They feel safe and they are going to stay," said Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill. "If the situation changes, we will get them out quickly." Morrill, City Manager Michael Brown and Finance Director Richard Evans visited Yogyakarta in March to establish the sister-city partnership as part of a program funded by the International City/County Managers Association. Hutton, Clay and Boyette will spend the week helping Yogyakarta improve its revenue system and inspections process. -47-  Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Savannah Morning News (GA) September 13, 2002 LOST SOLUTION MAY BE FOUND NEGOTIATORS TENTATIVELY AGREE HOW TO SPLIT ABOUT $45 MILLION A YEAR, BUT THE COUNTY COULD BLOCK THE PLAN TODAY. Author: Jennifer Moroz, Savannah Morning News After months of bitter back-and-forth, negotiators for Chatham County and eight municipalities have reached a tentative agreement on how to split up millions of dollars in sales-tax revenue. Under the proposed distribution of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), the cash-strapped county would get about $2.3 million a year more than it does under the current arrangement. County Commission Chairman Billy Hair and representatives of the municipalities, including Savannah, agreed the deal was a fair compromise. But some county commissioners say that it does not go far enough, and their voices count: The proposal needs the stamp of the majority on the nine- member commission to become final. The commission is expected to consider the matter at its regularly scheduled meeting this morning. Pooler Mayor Buddy Carter was confident: "We've got five votes lined up." County Commissioner Frank Murray, one of two designated negotiators for the county, wasn't so certain. "I don't think it's an offer that has the support to pass," he said. Murray himself is against the proposal, which was hammered out over the last few days between Hair and Savannah Mayor Floyd Adams Jr. Representatives of the other seven municipalities, which have teamed up with Savannah in the negotiations, have signaled their approval. "I think we're getting close," Murray said, "but I don't feel the offer is where it needs to be right now." Proceeds from the 1-percent sales tax represent a major source of revenue for local governments, which use the money to fund services - and lessen the property-tax burden on homeowners. Over the next 10 years, the tax is expected to generate about $500 million. About 35 percent, or $175 million, of that comes from tourist spending. The proceeds are divided based on a number of criteria, including population, level of services provided by each government, and where the tax is generated. The first split is between the county and the municipalities as a group; the municipalities then decide how to divvy up their share. Under the current distribution formula, negotiated in 1995, the county gets 19.22 percent of the annual proceeds - about $8.3 million last year. Savannah gets the bulk at 68.73 percent - about $30 million last year. Over the last three months, county officials have argued that they have lost millions a year as a result of the 1995 deal, when they picked up the cost of housing municipal prisoners in return for a slightly larger piece of the sales-tax pie. Commissioners, who just finished closing an $11.7 million hole in the county's operations budget, have blamed a large part of the county's ongoing financial woes on the prisoner issue. -48-  Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Municipal officials countered that the county has overestimated its losses, using faulty figures to calculate prisoner costs. Under the proposed new agreement, the county would get 17.6 percent of the sales-tax revenue - an amount equal to about $7.9 million next year. It would charge the municipalities $30 a day for each municipal prisoner housed in the county jail. The county would pay for municipal prisoners not yet bound over to the state court system after 28 days. County officials estimate those prisoner fees will bring in an extra $2.7 million a year. "I think we've come to an agreement we can all live with," said Garden City administrator Tom Gates. "We tried to do what was fair and right and protect the tax to make sure it continues to exist." If an agreement is not finalized by Dec. 30, the tax expires. Up until last week, negotiations appeared deadlocked. County officials had originally been asking for 18.6 percent of the tax proceeds, plus $45 a day for each municipal prisoner. City negotiators in return offered the county a 15.51 percent cut of the sales-tax pie, with no help to maintain the county jail. Savannah Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill said the proposed deal was especially sweet for the county. "They started at 18.6 percent and $45 (a day per prisoner) and look where this agreement is," Morrill said. "This is a good deal for them." The city, which last year got about $30 million of the proceeds and didn't have to pay to house its prisoners, would lose about $600,000 a year. Morrill said he did not yet know how officials would make up the lost revenue. If county commissioners ratify the agreement, the municipalities would decide how to divide the remainder of the sales-tax proceeds. That division is usually based on population, which would give Savannah 67.37 percent, or about $30.3 million next year. Bloomingdale would