Dickinson approves rebranding of city logo

Feb. 1—DICKINSON — The Dickinson City Commission approved a new logo for the city in a 4-1 vote during a

meeting

on January 24th. The approval was met with both support and dissent from city officials and members of the community.

Mayor Scott Decker and Commissioner John Odermann praised Marketing & Events Director

Joel Walters

for his work on the new logo, while Commissioner Robert Baer was the sole dissenting voice. Baer spoke out against the change during the meeting and in an interview with The Dickinson Press.

"I don't see anything wrong with our current city logo with 'The Western Edge' and the cowboy. To me, that logo explains who we are among the cities in North Dakota, we are on the Western Edge. With Theodore Roosevelt, that cowboy is who he was. Rugged, hard working people; that to me symbolizes the people who are out here," Baer said. "So I don't understand why we need to change the city logo."

Baer raised concerns that the public was not given a chance to provide input prior to the decision, and criticized the new logo as "boring" and "dull." He also questioned the costs to the city, citing complaints from constituents.

"I've had phone calls. I've been stopped on the street. I've been stopped at church. People have told me that they're not happy with the logo change. Many of them asked me why," Baer said.

Baer argued that it doesn't make sense to move away from a symbol many believe to be emblematic of the Roughrider himself to get ready for the opening of his official presidential library. He also contended that if there was to be a change, that Walters should've offered more than one option to the commission; or that the city could've gotten the community involved by holding an art contest to find a better option.

Mayor Decker defended the change, explaining that it was listed on the meeting agenda and necessary in preparation for the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in 2026. He added that the old logo was a creation of the Dickinson Convention & Visitors Bureau and that discussions on a change had been held for years prior to Tuesday's decision.

"It was posted on our agenda, and if people are paying attention, they are more than welcome to address the commission at any time," Decker said. "If they have any discussion or grievances they can bring those forward at the meeting."

Baer acknowledged that the agenda item was properly listed on the meeting agenda, and complimented the presentation Walters delivered, but floated the idea that the change could have political motivations.

"It's almost like we're going woke to get rid of any kind of masculinity at all. I'm like, Oh, woke comes to Dickinson," he said. "My other concern is, what's this going to cost the city? We're either in a recession or going into a recession. Depends on who you talk to. We didn't see anything about what this is going to cost."

City Administrator Dustin Dassinger addressed concerns about the cost, explaining that expenses from the branding change would be spread out over time and at minimal taxpayer cost, noting that the city's water towers and other branding in town would be handled in accordance with their own routine maintenance and replacement schedules.

Public Works Director Gary Zuroff confirmed that the new logo would eventually be displayed on the city's four elevated water tanks. Kyle Fischer is a sales representative with Sioux Falls based Maguire Iron Inc. — Water Tower Experts, and said his company has done contracts for the City of Dickinson in the past. He gave an estimate that the new three colored logo on a water tower would cost $15,000 per tower, and stated the paint job would take 2-3 days to complete.

Dassinger explained that city vehicles have logos, especially the police and fire departments, but that a budget already exists for upkeep and replacement and that branding changes would be implemented in accordance with each department's budget over the time frame outlined, effectively nullifying costs.

With regard to trash and recycling bins, Dassinger said that there is no active plan to replace those with newly branded ones until a time when their functionality lifespan expires and new bins are purchased — which Dassinger noted would also result in negligible costs, as replacements are common practice under the current budgetary considerations.

Baer took issue with Dassinger's explanation, arguing that the change still represents a financial burden on citizens and that no total amount had been provided by the city.

"It's still going to cost the public money and they deserve to know how much," Baer said. "I was elected to be a good steward of taxpayer money."

Walters explained that as the person charged with presenting Dickinson in the best light possible, he wanted a much more modern and attractive look.

"We wanted to make sure that our brand that we were creating was simple and professional, and not ornate, or, you know, overly trendy in any way," Walters said. "As someone who's walking in and was tasked with marketing, it's very important that I have these pieces in place so that I have the groundwork laid from which to market the community better. So we had to implement these things."

Decker expressed his excitement for the new color scheme and modernization of the logo, saying he personally liked it.

"The more earthy tones are just the setting here and what you would find in the southwest part of the state, with the red scoria, the sage and the wheat colors. Then when it comes to oil or energy production, more of the titanium, the darker color," Decker said.

The next regularly scheduled City Commission meeting will be held on Feb. 7, at City Hall.