Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves appears upset that residents aren’t impressed with his new city logo or how he rolled it out. Once again, he has taken to social media to defend a logo that some have jokingly described as looking like a zebra’s butt.
Once Upon A Time
In 2023, during his first year in office, the mayor didn’t take himself so seriously and had fun rebranding because sometimes the best civic engagement comes wrapped in humor and creativity.
When the City of Pensacola announced in March 2023 that it needed names for three new street sweepers, nobody anticipated the overwhelming response that would follow.
An Unexpected Wave of Participation
Within just two days of launching the contest, then-Public Information Officer Kaycee Lagarde reported more than 450 entries flooding in. By the submission deadline on April 14, city staff found themselves reviewing over 1,500 creative suggestions from residents eager to give personality to these municipal workhorses.
- The submissions ranged from clever pop culture references to groan-worthy puns. Among the early favorites were “Fleetwood Vac,” “Bruce Springsclean,” “No Sweep Til Brooklyn,” “Sweeping Beauty,” and even simply “Kevin.” Each entry reflected Pensacola’s sense of humor and willingness to find joy in the everyday machinery of city government.
From Submissions to Stardom
Mayor Reeves and city staff narrowed the field to 12 finalists, setting up a public vote that drew remarkable engagement. The finalist list read like a comedy lineup: Sweepy McSweepface, Obi-Wan Cleanobi, Lightning McClean, Dirt Reynolds, Dirty Harry, The Grim Sweeper, and Darth Sweeper among others.
- The public voting period, which closed on May 3, generated more than 6,000 votes for three street sweepers. That level of participation for naming municipal equipment speaks volumes about community connection and the power of making government accessible and fun.
In June 2023, the city unveiled not just the winning names but custom designs to match at his weekly press conference. Sweepy McSweepface, Obi-Wan Cleanobi, and Lightning McClean became the official identities of three Elgin street sweepers that would patrol Pensacola’s 326 miles of city roadways.
- “I was blown away by the level of participation and incredible creativity our citizens showed through this contest,” Mayor Reeves said at the unveiling. “We definitely had a lot of fun with it, and I hope the public did too.”
The mayor enjoyed the contest so much that he added a “Mayor’s Choice” bonus name, selecting Dirt Reynolds for a fourth sweeper.
Why It Matters
Aside from the jokes and wordplay, the contest managed to shed light on vital city services that often go unnoticed. Pensacola’s fleet of eight street sweepers removes over 4,700 tons of debris annually, preventing pollutants from entering stormwater systems and protecting local waterways. They respond to parades, festivals, and special events while running their regular 16 monthly routes.
- Naming the machines allowed the city to turn impersonal equipment into familiar figures. Residents now spot Sweepy McSweepface or Obi-Wan Cleanobi on their streets and feel a sense of ownership and connection to city operations.
The street sweeper naming contest proved that civic engagement doesn’t always require serious town halls or complex policy debates. Sometimes it just takes a little creativity, a sense of humor, and the willingness to let the public have some fun with their government.
In 2008, John Peacock (who then had no nexus to the city) told me that he was acting on behalf of those he called “important area businessmen” to guide Charter Review Commission Chairwoman Crystal Spencer to propose a new city government that consolidated massive power in the hands of a so-called “strong [executive] mayor” and politically castrated the city council to a “rubberstamp” role. Ms. Spencer did say aloud during a meeting that she only reviewed “county-sized” city charters and imagined Pensacola having a population of 300,000. CRC member Jim Reeves – a former city council member and state legislator – successfully insisted that the mayor be removed from the city council. Mr. Reeves explained that he did not want the mayor subject to Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law. However, in an extraordinary August 7, 2009 letter, Ms. Spencer and CRC general legal counsel Margaret Stopp described a very different proposed city government with no strong mayor, no weak city council, a clear separation of powers and checks & balances. (I must have given the letter to the council a dozen times but they didn’t read it.) I compared the old and new charter. The new mayor exercises less administrative authority than the old city manager with the mayor’s executive authority further diluted by a “city administrator,” a position that was up until the last meeting intended to be optional. Mayors Hayward, Robinson and Reeves have all claimed to exercise powers not described in the charter or granted by ordinance (city law) or resolution (city policy). I can only think of four councilmembers since 2011 who have resisted with Councilmembers Brahier and Bare on that list. The city council should vote to direct the city attorney to cite Mayor Reeves’ authority for the new “brand.” They can also vote by ordinance, resolution or “sundry motion” (not subject to veto) to prohibit the expenditure of public money on the new brand. Or they can meekly do nothing.
Where have all the trees gone, mayor? (And that doesn’t even count the senseless and revolting slaughter juggernauting towards Baptist.)
Where has all the transparency gone? (Pro tip: the endless looping streams of pressured speech at pressers and on the dais do not equal transparency.)
Where has all the accountability gone? (Apparently, out the door with a good percentage of the institutional knowledge lost with key staff turnover.)
Where has the consensus building gone? (Wiped out: see proud proclamations from the Strong-arm Mayor in the PNJ.)
Where has the City’s integrity gone? (Down the crapper .)
Council needs to obtain its own legal counsel; bring back a measure to allow employees who are terminated or forced out recourse; PRR the heck out of him; and lower the amount of his discretionary spending.
It is a crying shame Jennifer Brahier’s push to get that second item on the list done was defeated by her own peers who would have benefitted from it greatly–if best governance had been their goal, rather than personality politics and sucking up to the mayor. Hopefully after the next elections there will be strengthening of the corporate chemistry of the Council, with a heightened desire and wherewithal among ALL council members to provide checks and balances to the strong mayor model when it is manifesting its worst aspects. While happy-go-lucky governmental spontaneity can be fun in short doses, the public contentment afforded by stability and clarity is a far more desirable state, and the one to which all elected officials should aspire.
B*tching about your government is something every citizen does. It doesn’t require any solicitation at all.