The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

2 Friday, February 15, 2019 brooklintowncrier.com Less than half the picture: By Richard Bercuson Is vultus amo holerum cum muscle I cheated. My four - yes, four! - years of high school Latin didn't provide me quite enough linguistic flexibility (ie. intelligence) to share with you what I really think about Whitby's proposed rebranding logo. So I went to Google translate and settled on, "It looks like a vegetable with a flap." Hence, "Is vultus amo holerum cum muscle." It could also be an errant cabbage, if cabbages can go errant, or a baby cradle with a seat belt. The Town's Staff Report (CAO 05-19), as presented to the Committee of the Whole on Feb. 4, included a deconstruction of the logo along with renderings of how the flappy vegetable would look on street banners (confused), stationery (peculiar), and then toques, tee-shirts and coffee mugs (who'd buy one?). The report describes the proposed final product as follows: "The new recommended brand is modern, innovative and progressive and boldly expresses Whitby's core brand attributes of active spaces and community, while also nodding toward growth and innovation, heritage, vibrant, welcoming and sincere." Nodding toward? Our North Ward Councillor Steve Lee plunked it on Facebook and solicited people's opinions. He got over 400 responses with a wide variety of comments from the inane to sensible. The most creative, if not slightly gross, one? "It looks like a recyclable Depends undergarment." In short, there weren't many who thought the logo represented anything but an obtuse abstract that represents, well, no one is quite sure what except for perhaps the graphic artist. Let's refer here to the icon reconstruction. It's supposed to link/meld/superimpose/marry/blend/interfuse the themes that go along with a leaf, water, sports and community. Together they supposedly form a mosaic. Using a leaf struck me as a bit fanatical about a team that has yet to win anything. Still, I do accept we live in the GTA. I can be as deep as the next person. For instance, when staring straight into the Mona Lisa's eyes once at The Louvre, I'm almost certain I saw a twinkle. Like all of you, I also know a logo that's wrong the moment I spot one. Highway 407 ETR's shows a yellow streak through the letters ETR. Now there's a metaphor if ever I saw one. However, its logo should really be an old fashioned cash register, something everyone can understand. Meanwhile, Whitby CAO Matt Gaskell has written a curious response to the public's opinion of the suggested logo. We've published it in its entirety. Essentially, he's saying, "Brand is important. A logo must be, too. We chose one. Oopsy, the public hates it. Back to the drawing board. Stay tuned for more options." However, one Facebook contributor nailed it. "Anytime a logo requires an explanation, it's not done correctly." Exactly. Whitby CAO Discusses Rebranding Project Last week, a staff report regarding the Corporate Rebrand Project was brought forward to Committee of the Whole for consideration. Due to the significant amount of interest in the topic, Matt Gaskell, Chief Administrative Officer offers the following comments regarding the development of the new brand: "The rebranding project was identified as a priority a few years ago and was initiated in 2017. In addition, Town Council has placed an emphasis upon economic development and promoting Whitby as the vibrant, welcoming, urban Town that it is. To help realize the Town's full potential, we need a brand that reflects who we are and who we want to be. "Branding is a challenging exercise. It is a strategic direction and an investment that is about much more than just a logo. It is a system of colours, fonts, standards, graphics and more that collectively can set a community and an organization a part from others. Moreover, a brand is not just a logo or a look. A brand impacts how you feel about a product or a community. Residents engaged "A new brand for our community understandably invokes a sense of ownership. And research shows that we invariably have a strong initial reaction to new branding or when a logo changes. The initial reaction to a new brand is usually negative. Several examples of this include Apple, Starbucks and Nike. In our case, the change may feel personal because our connections to this community are strong. We understand that. That is why over the past year and a half, we engaged residents, business owners, staff and stakeholders in the development of the recommended brand. From an online survey, to comment cards, to interviews and roundtables and more, we undertook considerable effort to seek input into this process. "These insights helped us to develop the recommended brand. To date, the largest portion of the project's budget has been invested in engagement. In fact, it remains the Town's most significant engagement project to date, and we take pride in that. I would like to acknowledge the significant amount of work that has gone into this project and thank the residents, business owners, staff and stakeholders who contributed insights, ideas and feedback that was received during that process. Brand represents values "The Town's new brand should be unique and dynamic just like our community. The recommended brand presented to Committee of the Whole on February 4 positions Whitby as modern and innovative. It differentiates the Town from other municipalities and signals that things are changing in Whitby. We believe the new brand is consistent with the values of the community and what we have heard through the 2018 community survey. "However, we also appreciate that there are many different opinions on this topic. The passion with which this issue has been discussed demonstrates its importance. "Based on the interest in the recommended brand, we will be reporting back to Council on February 19 with additional options on how this project can proceed. Our goal is to, constructively build on what has been done to date and to provide the community with further opportunity for input." Budget TBD From Regional Councillor Rhonda Mulcahy: The budget was presented to council on Monday at the Committee of the Whole. Despite the property tax bill being on Town letterhead, the Town's portion of your property tax bill is one third. The school board's 1% and the Region the remainder. Thus a home assessed at $437,000 (MPAC's average home value), displaces $2776 to the Region, $1802 to the Town and $743 to the school board. Furthermore. property taxes are 9% of the total household taxes paid to all levels of Government, with the Feds collecting 47% and the Province 44%. To be fair, property taxes get the most done with the least amount collected. Where does town revenue come from in our $133 million budget? $93.3 million is property taxes; $25.4 million is user fees; $7.2 million is reserve transfers; $6.2 million is other revenues including Whitby Hydro; and $0.2 million is from the provincial or federal governments. Where does the money go? (in millions) $41.32 - fire and emergency services; $39.64 - roads, bridges and sidewalks; $28.61 - facilities, parks and trails; $9.28 - library; $6.28 - waste management; $5.34 - corporate governance; $5.14 - winter maintenance; $4.81 - community programs; $3.31 - building, planning and development services; $2.56 - by-law and animal services; $2.24 - sustainability, heritage, downtowns and community development and economic development; $0.82 - special events and community grants; $0.82 - Station Gallery. Much of the discussion circulated around the funding of the mid-block alterior road and the new Whitby North Sports Facility. Many around the table expressed concerns over the delay of either of these. The longer we wait on the Environmental Assessment for the road, the longer we wait for all of it. So I've asked staff for a memo to outline how we can expedite the hiring to get this rolling. Our challenges are mostly about future growth. Contrary to common belief, growth does not pay for itself any more than budgets balance themselves. The budget document itself is over 400 pages. You can get a hard copy at town hall or look it up at whitby.ca/budget. There is time for feedback and we on council welcome it. An email to council@whitby.ca will get to all of us. Mine is mulcahyr@whitby.ca