Former Austin council member starts petition against city's new logo

AUSTIN, Texas - Former Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly has started a petition against the city's rollout of its new logo. 

The new city logo cost $1.1 million for its contract, design, and outreach.

Petition on Austin's new logo

The backstory:

The petition calls on the city to pause the rollout and put the final design to a citywide vote. 

As of Monday afternoon, there were more than 2,700 signatures.

"My hope is that the petition itself will send a message to our city leadership that overall the city is unpleased with the decision that they made," former Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said.

The logo is supposed to symbolize hills, rivers, and bridges. The colors represent Violet Crown skies and green canopies.

City Council voted in 2018 to start developing a cohesive brand. 

"We had a contract approved for authorization and negotiation of the contract in May 2024, but it was not related to this specific logo itself," Kelly said.

Dig deeper:

You'll first start seeing the new logo online on Oct. 1. First responder uniforms won't change. Other signage and vehicles will transition when it's time to replace them.

"We'll probably never see that money returned to the taxpayers who footed the bill. The rollout of the new logo and the costs associated with that are what we're looking to prevent," Kelly said.

In a press conference last Thursday, FOX 7 asked the city with a tax rate election coming up, what they would tell Austinites who think this isn't a good use of tax dollars. 

"I would tell them this actually creates a lot of efficiencies within the organization," said Jessica King, chief communications director of the City of Austin.

They pointed to 300 different logos across all the departments. The city has been using its seal in place of a logo until now. 

"When you create brand-new things over and over, the costs increase. If you can work within a system and within a structure that really resonates across the community, then it's even more effective," King said.

The city says feedback groups told them they wanted consistency across departments. 

The other side:

Austin residents weighed in.

"I think it's different. I think Austin's a little bit crazier to have a more simplistic logo like that. The price tag is insane though," Emryle Martinez said.

"It's too much money to spend on something like that. It should be spending something else more needed for, you know," Jorge Campuzano said. 

Kelly says there are other ways to develop a logo. 

"They could have held a contest. We have so many artists in the community and bright young minds in high school or even middle school that could have participated, and we could have gotten it done for a fraction of the cost," she said.

She says that $1.1 million could've gone towards other needs.

"It could've gone to public safety or homelessness. The city has a lot of priorities that they're trying to spend taxpayer dollars on," she said. 

City of Austin responds

In a statement, the City of Austin says:

"The City appreciates former Councilwoman Kelly’s time and devotion to the City of Austin during her tenure. On May 2, 2024, the Austin City Council, which included former Council Member Kelly, voted unanimously to authorize funding for TKO Advertising and Pentagram Design to develop the brand strategy that was presented. We always appreciate and consider feedback from the public."

AustinAustin City Council