Visalia chooses a logo! – Valley Voice

The Visalia City Council voted 5-0 to adopt Design No. 59 as the city’s official logo at its July 15 meeting.

Mayor Brian Poochigian said The Valley Voice that the City Council will officially unveil the logo and honor the artist at its August 5 meeting. He added that the city’s website, which solicits feedback from the public, will also remain open until July 26.

Communications manager Allison Mackey is in charge of the website and said they received 139 emails. The feedback covered topics such as the colors they wanted, the images they wanted in the logo or what not to include in the logo. She also said some citizens asked the city council not to select any of the submitted designs and to keep the 1998 logo.

Poochigian told The voice of the valley that the 1998 design is the official logo that will be displayed in the City Council Chamber behind the podium.

The timeline for selecting the logo was accelerated from the timeline discussed by the Logo Committee on July 10. The city decided to open the website for public comments as early as July 12 and closed it a few hours before the start of the city council meeting.

The City Council had the option to postpone the decision until August 5 if it could not decide, but found that the majority supported #59.

Council member Emmanuel Soto was reluctant to change the schedule, but said, “We’ve spent enough time on this already.” His two favorite designs were No. 34 and No. 59.

Council member Steve Nelsen reiterated that none of the logo committee members were enthusiastic about any of the designs, and he questioned why the council didn’t just decide to keep the new logo they had already paid for. He said if this had happened before social media, the process would have already been completed.

“I guarantee you that if we choose a nominee tonight, there will be unrest and public protests,” he said. “Maybe I’ll choose a nominee tonight, maybe I won’t.”

Council member Liz Wynn suggested they should just “rip the Band-Aid off” and get it over with. “It doesn’t matter who we choose. People are still going to be angry.”

Wynn liked No. 59 best, No. 34 was her second choice.

Vice Mayor Brett Taylor was pleased with the 87 designs submitted and chose the 13 he liked best. All five finalists were his favorites. Of the final five, he chose #56 and #59 because of the colors and the logos also looked good in black and white, which the city will need.

Poochigian said he was relieved to have the logo decision behind him.

His favorites were No. 56 and No. 59. “When I think of Visalia, I think of the mountains in the background,” Poochigian said.

Since four of the five council members had voted for Bill 59, Poochigian asked for a motion.

“Let’s move on to No. 59. That’s where the mountains, the sun, the agriculture and the fox are correctly placed,” he said.

Wynn requested that the number 59 be adopted as the city’s new logo and that $1,500 be paid to the artists.

Nelsen agreed and the motion was passed 5-0.