Supervisors discussed concerns about the new Prince William County logo at the June 4 Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting and decided to allow the logo to represent economic development.
The supervisors found the new logo, which was commissioned by the Department of Economic Development, being used on signs, cards and vehicles.
Supervisors were concerned that the logo was being utilized in instances for which the seal was better suited. In addition, they were concerned about the way it was implemented, from the approval process by the board to the choosing of a designer to create the logo.
John Jenkins (D) of the Neabsco District led the discussion. He was upset that the approval process for the logo was not more open.
“If the board had had the opportunity to have an open session on this and discuss it, than we might not have come up with the same thing that the Office for Economic Development had come up with, but more importantly, the approval process the county staff went through to get here just bothers the Dickens out of me. The County Executive had sent around individuals to speak with individual board members on this issue,” Jenkins said.
He believes that an open discussion would have better included the public.
“Apparently, the County Executive thought she could just talk to the board members without any public input at all. That doesn’t sit well with me because for 30 years, I’ve always involved the public,” Jenkins said.
He said that while the County Executive’s office was instructed to create a logo for economic development, the logo had been too widely implemented.
“I don’t want to confuse logos and the county seal. What I want to say is I don’t think a logo can take the place of the seal,” Jenkins said.
Supervisor Pete Candland (R) of the Gainesville District also had questions about the logo. He wanted to know why the business of creating the logo went to David Castlegrant & Associates, a Michigan firm that handles business marketing and web design, and not to a number of more local marketing/design firms.
Grant explained that the business went to someone they had used before. Because the logo, which cost the county $750 to create, falls beneath the $1,000 minimum for official bidding, Grant did not break any regulations in using an outside firm.
However, as the process was explained to Candland, he learned that bidding for contracts over the $1,000 favors price, and local businesses only gain an advantage in the event of a tie.
Candland was hoping this could be remedied, but Chairman Corey Stewart (R) said the bidding regulations were implemented for a reason, and they should carefully review them before putting forth any changes.
Peacor informed the Board that local bids were posted on the Prince William Chamber of Commerce website. Stewart hoped they could advertise them on the county’s website as well.
The Board decided to hold a work session to discuss the new logo and how it should be implemented on July 16 for which the public is invited.
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