Council questions Herriman-branded awareness signs; staff to draft sponsorship policy

A council member told the Herriman City Council that signs bearing the city's logo promoting Child Abuse Awareness Month were placed in planters outside City Hall without clear council authorization, prompting a request to clarify policy on endorsements and sponsorships.

"They're in the freaking flower planters out there, and there's signs printed with our city's logo on them," said Speaker 1, who asked whether the council had approved the display and argued the practice appeared inconsistent with prior decisions about taking stances on issues.

Speaker 8 (HR/staff) responded that the signs were arranged by one of the city's crossing guards, routed through HR and Travis, and that staff permitted the display while a draft policy is in development. "It came through HR... and because we're currently working on a draft policy, we went ahead and let it happen. So I'll take the heat from that," Speaker 8 said.

Council members asked staff to prepare a formal policy covering sponsorships, donations and seasonal programs (examples cited included angel-tree efforts, ribbon trees and other temporary displays) so staff and departments have a single standard to follow when requests arrive. Speaker 3 and others said the practice should be clarified to avoid ad-hoc endorsements and to preserve consistent use of the city logo.

Staff committed to return with a draft policy and recommendations for a process so future requests are handled uniformly; Speaker 8 said staff would present the proposal to council at a future meeting. The discussion did not result in a vote; council members framed the next step as a staff return with a written policy for council review.