Wednesday, February 25, 2004
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Wednesday, February 25, 2004 |
F’ville bends on ‘God bless’ bannerBy JOHN MUNFORD and JBy J. FRANK LYNCH Instead of a white flag, Fayetteville officials are about to wave “God bless America” banners — all over town. The embattled city fathers have decided to compromise on the “God bless America” banner at Crumpton’s Furniture by calling on local businesses to display even larger patriotic banners, The Citizen has learned. The likely catch is that all the banners, including the one at the furniture store, will have to come down by the end of summer, The Citizen has learned. The city council will announce plans for a special campaign called “Fayetteville Celebrates America” at a special called meeting Thursday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, said City Manager Joe Morton. Eddie and Ronnie Crumpton, owners of the furniture store, will join the city council in making the announcement, Morton said. “It’ll be a positive thing for the community,” Morton said Tuesday afternoon, declining to go into details of the campaign. “If what we do can bring the people together in prayer and support for our troops, it’ll be a great thing,” Ronnie Crumpton said of the public relations campaign plans Tuesday afternoon. Early indications called for the campaign to encourage local businesses to erect signs even bigger than the “God bless America” banner now on display at the furniture store on Ga. Highway 85 North, which at 90 feet long is 40 feet longer than allowed for temporary signs by city ordinance. Preliminary plans called for the campaign to end this Sept. 11 on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks against the United States in 2001. An outside marketing firm brought the idea to the city about the campaign after hearing about the controversy in national media accounts after The Citizen first reported the story. The “God bless America” banner at Crumpton’s Furniture incited an uproar heard across the nation after store owner Eddie Crumpton was issued a citation by the city in late January because the banner violates the city’s temporary sign ordinance, which allows such signs to be used a maximum of 60 days a year. The banner has been flying since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and it has been replaced once after the original banner started to show signs of wear. Eddie and Ronnie Crumpton initially said while they didn’t want to violate city laws, they also didn’t want to disrespect American troops by taking the banner down. City officials originally tried to convince the Crumptons to incorporate the reference into a permanent sign, but they resisted, reasoning that would make it appear they were trying to profit financially from their sentiment. Because of a recent Supreme Court ruling that cities cannot regulate the content of signs, city officials initially said their hands were tied in terms of enforcing the ordinance. The city’s attention was brought to the banner in January after another city business owner complained about having to take down a different temporary sign. The controversy later entered the national media spotlight, as interviews with the Crumptons and Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele were broadcast on Fox News Channel two weeks ago, in addition to coverage by several Atlanta TV stations. Also, local Christian radio station J93.3 held a rally at Crumpton’s Furniture to get signatures on a petition encouraging the city council to find a way to keep the “God bless America” banner up at the store.
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