Abandon the slogan.
That was the message a delegation of Merrittonians upset by the city’s new brand and tagline sent to city council at its regular meeting on Tuesday night.
Merritt resident Dawn Chypyha spoke on behalf of a large group of citizens unhappy with the tagline “Country with attitude.”
She also submitted a petition against it signed by about 628 people, but for now, the tagline remains.
With some members of the crowd standing up behind her, Chypyha, in her speech to council, said the group of citizens opposed to the branding is requesting council drop the tagline and consider other ideas.
She said the two other options for taglines – “Kicking back” and “Country branded” – were unsatisfactory.
Chypyha gave council some other ideas for taglines that she said came from residents, including “Sunshine and sage,” “One under the sun,” “Merritt: Where a day should last forever” and “Where friends meet.”
“And these would be free to you,” Chypyha said. “They wouldn’t be costing $8,000. You could probably fill some potholes down Coldwater Avenue,” she said amidst cheers from the crowd.
The City of Merritt has spent about $8,000 on the new branding so far.
Chypyha told council she wants the public at large to be involved in the branding process and suggested using a contest to pick a new tagline.
“Granted, you’re not going to please everyone, but at least include us in the process. Get the community involved and we will sell it to the tourists by our enthusiasm for our community,” Chypyha said.
Coun. Dave Baker asked Chypyha how council could go about advertising this contest to reach out to the majority of Merritt, to which she suggested Facebook and making the communication in layman’s terms.
Chypyha said she would speak to other members of her group against the branding to discuss methods to hold a contest.
Merritt resident Dawn Chypyha addresses council at its regular meeting on Tuesday night. Michael Potestio/Herald
Baker mentioned the open house on the branding scheduled for March 12 and suggested the crowd attend it so they can talk one-on-one about other slogans.
“We request a public referendum on this issue to prevent further inappropriate choices being made,” Chypyha said.
City of Merritt Deputy Clerk Carole Fraser said the cost of a referendum would be between $10,000 and $15,000.
Chypyha said her petitions are still circulating, and she’s started another one against the new branding in other communities in the Nicola Valley.
“This is a very serious issue, and as far as the residents of Merritt and the Nicola Valley are concerned, this is the biggest issue that is affecting Merritt and the Nicola Valley today,” Chypyha told council.
“We would have liked to have seen the city take public input into account. Our concern is the mass majority of citizens of Merritt didn’t even get a voice,” Chypyha said.
She criticized a focus group of Merritt Secondary students used in the process of developing a new brand.
“The focus group did not include the general public, but only included just a chosen few. The focus group featured high school students. Yes, I agree, include the youth, but include the elders of the community too,” Chypyha said.
She also denounced the online surveys that were put out to the public.
“The two online surveys did not have a question regarding the branding. The survey did not speak to the branding, the survey was only online and not in the newspaper – not everyone is comfortable using a computer,” Chypyha said.
She said advertising of the new slogan was insufficient and communication from the mayor and council about the new slogan was not clear.
Five other members from the community spoke about their dislike of the new branding during the public input portion of the meeting. They made suggestions such as requesting Merritt Mayor Susan Roline ask the council to reconsider and vote again on the motion that adopted the branding.
About 50 people packed council chambers for the meeting, about half of whom left the meeting after Chypyha’s presentation.
However, the crowd was animated throughout the branding discussions, cheering, clapping and jeering during some presentations and comments from presenters and council.
Motion to rescind branding coming at March 11 meeting
Coun. Kurt Christopherson made two notices of motion to address the backlash later in the meeting.
He initially wanted to make a motion as opposed to a notice of motion so that council would deal with the matter that night. A round of applause from the crowd followed Christopherson’s initial mention of rescinding the adoption of the new branding.
However, the motion would have required unanimous approval to address it that night, which did not happen.
Christopherson said he wanted to make a motion as opposed to a notice of motion because the last time he did that, the matter was dealt with in private.
“And I don’t want this dealt with in-camera,” he said.
Another round of cheers and applause followed from the crowd.
The mayor banged her gavel and asked the crowd to quiet down, which brought forth jeers from some in attendance.
Near the end of the meeting, Christopherson made a notice of motion to rescind the original motion from the Feb. 11 council meeting, which was the one council passed and when the brand and tagline “Country with attitude” were adopted. That motion directed staff to move ahead with implementation including an open house.
“And my second [notice of] motion would be that council continue to examine the brand ‘Merritt: Country with attitude’ as presented by TOTA [Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association] but also to accept alternate proposals from the public at large for consideration in the City of Merritt’s rebranding process,” he said.
The notice of motion received applause from those in the crowd.
Christopherson initially accepted the motion to approve the new brand at the Feb. 11 council meeting, but told the Herald he did not realize what he was voting for.
He said he was under the impression that council’s approval of the branding was contingent on having public consultation.
Fraser said she needs to go over the signatures on the petition and determine if they are from Merritt electors to ensure the petition is valid.
If the petition is valid, council will then have to decide if they will address it or not, she said.
Christopherson’s notices of motion will come up at the next regular council meeting on March 11, when council will choose to either address them at that meeting or after the open house regarding the branding on March 12.
Coun. Clara Norgaard was absent from the meeting.
