With the A sporting a schizophrenic paint job, Mayor Bob Walkup, who had previously announced his conviction that the A remain white, called an emergency meeting of the City Council to courageously reverse himself. By the time the Sunday meeting came around, Ibarra and Leal had changed their minds and now opposed their own paint job. Partisan politics left the council split evenly, 3-3, with Democrats wanting the A to remain a strange blend of red, white and blue with an odd patch of white on one leg (to properly reflect the country's confusion about the war), while Republicans wanted it red, white and blue. Shirley Scott, who held the tie-breaking vote, skipped the meeting but suggested that the city erect a giant flag on the site.
So there was the A, a strange collage of colors, awaiting a return to white by city staff, until Dunbar pushed for another vote. This time, the council members united to agree to a red, white and blue paint job until the conclusion of the hostilities in Iraq, much to the relief of our fighting men and women.
One more thing: The flag's colors are supposed to be painted blue at the top, white in the middle and red at the bottom. Our patriotic crew painted it upside down--which actually represents the French flag. Which pretty much sums up the whole debacle.
Runners up:
2. TIE Mountain Avenue public art2. TIE War with Iraq/protests
Sign of the impending Apocalypse: Diana Ross' DUI (four votes)
