Neabsco District Supervisor John Jenkins (D) accused County Executive Melissa Peacor of acting outside her authority in requesting the development of a new logo for the county.
Following a May 21 presentation of Prince William County's new branding strategy by Executive Director of The Department of Economic Development Jeffrey Kaczmarek to the Board of County Supervisors, Jenkins suggested that the Office of the County Executive circumvented the board and gave permission to design and implement the new logo without permission from the supervisors.
"I submit that this was an unauthorized action on the part of the County Executive because the board should have made the decision to implement these particular standards," Jenkins said.
Jenkins said he did not oppose the use of the logo, but was concerned that Peacor did not formally communicate her intentions to the Board.
"For us to come and start receiving business cards from people within the organization who use the new logo, with that being the first time a board member receives it in the public domain, I resent that."
Furthermore, he expressed his desire to see the county to continue to utilize the county seal.
Peacor assured supervisors that the county government would continue to use the seal for a number of applications, including all business relating to the Board of County Supervisors.
"I am not recommending getting rid of the seal. I would never recommend taking the the seal off of our flags, taking the seal off of our pins, off of our buildings. This is simply a logo to use in different marketing situations."
Peacor said they spent $750 on the logo and minimal funds on new marketing materials using the logo, and most were directed toward the Office of Economic Development.
Jenkins suggested perhaps the supervisors should speak with the County Executive as to the limits of her responsibility. He also motioned that Peacor be required to formally request permission from the Board to develop a new marketing program; however, this resolution was later withdrawn after the supervisors decided to add the item to the agenda of the June 4 meeting.
Supervisor Martin Nohe (R) of the Coles District, who works in retail, said he agrees with the County Executive that the county needs a logo aside from the seal to present a modern and enticing image it present to public and commercial interests.
"I don't feel that there has been a protocol violation here," said Nohe, who said he felt the request for the market study implied the development of a new logo.
He also recommended that the county continue to be forward-thinking in terms of design and marketing itself to attract economic interests and exercise some marketing savvy.
"I think we need to think of ourselves more as a product and less as a government. We need to think of our taxpayers more as customers and less as taxpayers," Nohe said.
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