Columnist Susan Snyder: A genuine seal of disapproval

Friday, Jan. 11, 2002 | 9:13 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder @lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

OK, I get the neon signs, but where is Las Vegas' Joshua tree other than on the official city seal?

How about the skyscrapers and Hoover Dam? Not only do we not have such a skyline, Hoover Dam is in Boulder City.

That would miss being in Las Vegas by about 25 miles. And you'd better believe that if something went awry at the dam requiring the attention or money of a local municipality, we'd foist that hulking, concrete puppy off on Boulder City faster than Steve Wynn can implode a hotel.

Even Mayor Oscar Goodman says the seal, adopted Oct. 1, 1966, has always been inappropriate.

But it could never be as inappropriate as it would have been if Terry Taylor, a city maintenance worker, hadn't stepped in and prevented city officials from sending a giant flag embellished with it to New York City following the terrorist attacks.

See, the other component of the graphic is a jet flying across the sky as if it is going behind the skyscrapers we don't have.

Unfortunately, the image could just as easily look as if the jet is flying through the buildings.

Fortunately, Taylor noticed. He told David Riggleman, city spokesman, who alerted the mayor and prevented it from being sent to New York while Blockbuster was still yanking blow-'em-up movies from its shelves. The city sent a photograph and proclamation instead.

Taylor's job is tidying up the City Council chambers following Goodman's weekly news briefings. He says during one session in September the huge city flag that typically waves from a pole in front of the Las Vegas Municipal Building was used as a backdrop for the mayor.

That's when Taylor spotted the icky irony of its design.

"I looked at it and thought, 'Wow, they can't send that,' " the 28-year city employee said.

Taylor is to be commended for being so observant. What he saved Las Vegas in bad public relations is worth a big, hefty raise, Mr. Mayor.

However, it does not solve the lingering problem. We sit here with a seal as suitable for, say, Albuquerque. (Could this be how that town's listings ended up in our new phone books?)

Granted, it's been worse. The current seal replaced a 1911 design showing Las Vegas Springs.

The spring is represented by a pointy lump that resembles Cousin It. Cartoonish water tumbles from the bottom, with silhouettes of a beaver-tail cactus and a saguaro cactus.

The current image is a vast improvement, but Goodman would ditch it in a heartbeat if he could. He envisions buildings representing "the dream of a diversified economic future" with an ace of spades and a pair of dice in front, reminding us of where we come from.

But changing the seal means changing everything, from documents to uniforms, and would cost more than $1 million. Goodman says we have better uses for our money.

"Maybe if I could cut the deal with Beefeater (gin), we could afford to do it," he said.

He was kidding.

I think.

An interesting footnote is that the 1966 design said, "Clark County" at the bottom. On Nov. 7, 1979, that was replaced with, "Nevada."

"Maybe it set the stage for things to come," Riggleman laughed. "I'll leave that to your imagination."