Second vote required to officially adopt new city seal

A Sarasota city staffer discovered that the original city seal was incorporated into the city code, which required an ordinance to legally adopt the new design.

By Andrew Warfield
| 7:00 a.m. February 22, 2023

Sarasota
News

In November 2022, the City Commission unanimously adopted a new city seal to replace the century-old original seal that could be mistaken for a third-grade art project.

Or did it?

During Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, City Attorney Robert Fournier said for the seal to be formally approved, it had to be codified by an ordinance.

Said Fournier, “I got an email from deputy city auditor and clerk that said, ‘Hey, I think (the seal) is actually adopted by ordinance in the City Charter. Do we need to have an ordinance to formally amend the code to adopt it?’”

Fournier agreed with the assessment, and added the ordinance to the agenda.

With no discussion, commissioners unanimously adopted the new city seal. Again.

author

Andrew Warfield

Andrew Warfield is the Sarasota Observer city reporter. He is a four-decade veteran of print media. A Florida native, he has spent most of his career in the Carolinas as a writer and editor, nearly a decade as co-founder and editor of a community newspaper in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.