Council allows ad hoc pump-track committee limited use of city seal, bars fundraising use

The Aliso Viejo City Council voted to allow the newly formed pump-track ad hoc committee to use the city seal and logo for presentations and email signatures, but excluded its use for fundraising activities.

Mayor Pro Tem Duncan explained the request as a means to avoid unnecessary friction when committee members meet vendors and community partners and said examples of expected uses included a presentation deck, email communications and thank-you letters. Mayor Ackley and other councilmembers raised concerns that affixing the city seal to committee materials could imply formal city endorsement and might put the council in a position of fundraising on behalf of what an individual councilmember described as a private project. Mayor Ackley said putting the seal on communications could be “misleading and inappropriate” if it suggests city endorsement for a project that has not come before the full council.

Councilmember Max offered to prepare a written list of approved uses and limits. Council then voted on a motion to allow use of the city seal and logo for presentations and email signatures—excluding fundraising—which passed in a roll-call vote with the mayor dissenting.

Next steps: staff and the ad hoc committee will document permitted uses and restrictions so committee members can apply the logo consistently without implying city endorsement or engaging in fundraising on behalf of the project.