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<p>wrolley@charter.net sent you this article.</p><br />
<p><b><u>Comment: </u></b></p><p>All the more reason for providing an active voice in local politics. I can think of a lot of better uses for $1M. </p><br />
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<p>The Mercury News <br/> 04/11/2017 - Page B01</p><br />
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<div class="article0"></div><div class="article_head0" style="margin-top:0.4em !important"><p class="maintitle"><span style="font-style:italic;"> Rebrand for a lot less than $1 million </span></p></div><div class="article_body0" style="margin-top: 10px;"><div class="first column" style="width:50%; float: left;"><div class="div_padding0" style="padding: 3px;"><p id="articleAds_top" style="display:none;"></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_12"> On its agenda Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is proposing to spend more than $1 million for a New York PR firm to rebrand the county, telling citizens all the wonderful things that county government does.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_12"> The supervisors are paying far too much. I’ll do the job for a tenth of the price. After brainstorming the matter, I have three ideas that you, dear readers, can choose from online. I promise my proposals will be more honest and memorable than anything from Ne!
w York.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_12"> First, let’s deal with the concept. If you need proof that county government has too much money, this is even more persuasive than the $355 sterling-silver badges the coroner’s office ordered, or the cadre of $200K-plus deputy county executives on the 11th floor. The county doesn’t need a new "narrative,’’ as the memo to the board suggests. It doesn’t need to redefine its brand structure or articulate its message "in a consistently impactful manner.’’ All those words are just hot air from folks who want to pull down a million bucks.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_12"> Here’s a revolutionary idea: The people who run county government — the five supervisors and County Executive Jeff</span></p></div></div><div class="last column" style="width:50%; float: left;"><div class="div_padding0 split" style="padding: 3px;"><p class="abody split"><span class="Fid_12 split"> Smith â€!
” should do their jobs. They should be the envoys to the publi!
c. And they should avoid fiascoes like the ridiculously expensive coroner’s badges.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_12"> Remember, the county already pays around $1.3 million yearly — and my estimate is probably conservative — on salaries and benefits for people whose primary job is delivering information to the public. The county executive’s office alone has three people in its public affairs office.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_12"> I don’t mean to suggest that the county stands by itself in this errant impulse to brand itself, or rebrand itself. Union City, for example, spent $49,000 last year on a new logo for the city — essentially varying shades of blue in the shape of the letter "U.’’</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_12"> But the county, which has about 19,000 employees, proposes to do this in a par-</span><pagejump></pagejump></p><p id="articleAds_mid" style="display:none;"></p>
<br><img src="http://mercurynews.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/mercurynews/20170411/0411111xb001_w-or9_w-socr.pdf.0/img/Image_7.jpg" onload="" width="60" height="60"><p class="abody"><span style="font-weight:bold;"> SCOTT HERHOLD</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_20"> COLUMNIST</span></p><p id="articleAds_bot" style="display:none;"></p>
<br></div></div><br style="clear:both;"></div> <hr class="hr0" style="margin-top: 0.8em; margin-bottom: 0.8em;"><div class="article_head_last" style="margin-top:0.4em !important"></div><div class="article_body_last"><div class="first column" style="width:50%; float: left;"><div class="div_paddinglast" style="padding: 3px;"><p id="articleAds_top" style="display:none;"></p><pagejump></pagejump><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> ticularly lavish and carefree style. The appropriation, which would add $950,000 to an existing $200,000 exploratory contract with Keating, a New York PR firm, is on the consent agenda.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> That means it won’t even be discussed unless one of the supervisors agrees to pull it for further talk. A million bucks?</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> Puh-leeze. It’s not even real money, particularly when you’re talking about a narrative "including the County’s passion for social reform.â€!
™â€™</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> "This will assist the County to be viewed as a trusted County; will communicate an identity that connects the County of Santa Clara with the greater Silicon Valley region, and will attract and retain top talent in the County workforce,’’ the memo states.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> Right. You might need to ask why the county needs to establish trust.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> Or why it can’t attract and retain top talent when it’s paying $200,000-plus for deputy county executives.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> Or why taxpayers should pay to be sold on how their money is being used.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> So what are my ideas?</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> The first plays on the idea of the county as a deep</span><span class="Fid_24"> pocket, its coffers filled with new taxes or money that used to go to r!
edevelopment agencies. Atop a deep Western pit, the simple bu!
t elegant words say, "Santa Clara County.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> Bottomless.’’</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> The second is a play on the whole coroner-badge fiasco. Below, the $355 badge that Chief Medical</span></p></div></div><div class="last column" style="width:50%; float: left;"><div class="div_paddinglast split" style="padding: 3px;"><p class="abody split"><span class="Fid_24 split"> Examiner Michelle Jorden chose, the words would say, "Santa Clara County: We don’t need no stinkin’ badges. But we wear them anyway.’’ Colloquial, but salient.</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> My last offering has a formidable vintage. In the old days, Santa Clara County was known as "Santa Claus County’’ because of the generosity of its social services. It’s flush once more. My rebranding? A picture of Santa with the words, "We’re back!’’</span></p><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_24"> Go to www.mer!
curynews.</span><span class="Fid_24"> com/scott-herhold</span><span class="Fid_24"> to vote. Do so early and often. If we get enough of a popular mandate, maybe, just maybe, the supervisors will discuss this issue before throwing away a million of your dollars.</span></p><p class="abody"><span style="font-style:italic;"> Contact Scott Herhold at sherhold@bayareanewsgroup.com.</span></p><p id="articleAds_mid" style="display:none;"></p>
<br><img src="http://mercurynews.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/mercurynews/20170411/0411111xb002_w-or9_w-socr.pdf.0/img/Image_4.jpg" onload="" width="113" height="75"><p class="abody"><span class="Fid_22"> The</span><span style="font-weight:bold;"> first</span><span class="Fid_22"> in Scott Herhold's contest for county rebranding.</span></p><p id="articleAds_mid" style="display:none;"></p>
<br><img src="http://mercurynews.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/mercurynews/20170411/0411111xb002_w-or9_w-socr.pdf.0/img/Image_5.jpg" onload="" width="113" height="92"><p class="abody"><span style="font-weight:bold;"> Second choice</span></p><p id="articleAds_mid" style="display:none;"></p>
<br><img src="http://mercurynews.ca.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/california/mercurynews/20170411/0411111xb002_w-or9_w-socr.pdf.0/img/Image_6.jpg" onload="if (this.width > 460) {this.height = this.height * 480 / this.width; this.width = 460;}" width="113" height="87"><p class="abody"><span style="font-weight:bold;"> Third choice</span></p><p id="articleAds_bot" style="display:none;"></p></div></div><br style="clear:both;"></div>
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