Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Approval of Final City Seal
Date: May 09, 2023
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion to approve a final City seal, including a rounded hexagon and basket border pattern.
Background
City staff began exploring an update to the City seal several years ago at the same time that the City began developing the new branding logos. As part of this process, staff provided an initial draft of an updated Chief Kotat’i seal to the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria (FIGR) for their input. The FIGR communicated to the City that they preferred that the new seal not include a likeness of a Native American. This led staff to discuss alternatives, and working with a local graphics art company, developed three general themes representing music, nature, and landmarks.
These three themes were presented to the public through an online survey in August 2022 to determine which direction residents wanted to go with the new seal design.
Based on the results of the community survey, the public largely supported a nature-based theme, with the second most popular theme being music. There was also significant public comment encouraging the incorporation of Cotati’s hexagon layout into the seal to make it unique to Cotati.
On November 22, 2022, the City Council reviewed the public survey feedback on conceptual City seal options. As a result of that discussion, the City Council recommended that the graphic artist design a draft seal centering on a nature theme, with a hexagonal shape and potentially an element/texture to tie the seal to local Native history. Subsequently, the graphic artist put together draft seal options that were reviewed by the City Council and public at the February 14, 2023 City Council meeting. The City Council provided the following feedback:
• Add a rooster to the weathervane on top of the bandstand. • Liked the oak trees in the scratchboard art example. If possible, would like to move trees closer to the Laguna, overhanging so it looks more like a creek while not obscuring the bandstand.
• Add reeds along the Laguna, like the scratchboard art concept, so it clearly looks like a stream and not a path.
• Try to incorporate both grassland and crop rows as a representation of previous native state and more recent agricultural history.
• Liked the hexagon, including its orientation, as well as the placement of the banner and year of incorporation. However, when the next draft returns, present the hexagon with the rounded corners as well as sharp corners.
• Liked the Pomo basket weave around the border, similar to the seat wall at ORH/116, but requested staff confirm that the pattern is actually a basket weave pattern used by the local band of Pomo's.
• With the final draft, provide examples in both color and black and white, as well as at different scales, including a version at the scale this will generally be used for letterhead, business cards, etc.
Due to prior City Council feedback, staffs’ use of the current seal is now limited to letterhead, agendas, and similar official city correspondence only. Use of the seal in most other applications has been replaced by the marketing graphics.
Analysis/Discussion
The final proposed seal uses the hexagonal shape for the border and centers on themes of nature (represented by the Laguna de Santa Rosa and the hills/agriculture around Cotati) and music (represented by the bandstand in La Plaza Park). Additionally, the proposed seal includes a border detail that subtly incorporated native culture reminiscent of local Pomo basket weave pattern. An image of the Pomo basket weave that served as a model for the seal is included below:
The basket weave pattern is the same pattern that is on the 116/Old Redwood Highway mosaic wall. This is already part of Cotati’s public space and it is clearly identifiable as Native American.
City staff also held a meeting with staff from the FIGR to discuss the basket weave pattern. They were non-committal and suggested that if the City wants formal feedback, that the City will need to submit it formally. While the basket weave pattern proposed is a Pomo pattern, it’s not clear if there is a similar pattern used by Coastal Miwoks, which also inhabited this area. In any case, it is an authentic pattern for baskets created in this area by native tribes and in staff’s opinion, honors the native American culture of the area. In any case, staff have also provided alternate borders for the City Council to consider, if needed.
The graphic artist tried to incorporate additional trees or foliage along the creek, but it proved to be too busy and obscured the bandstand, which is the main focal point. Therefore, the trees in the foreground were pulled back and the creek was enhanced with more prominent reeds, rocks and subtle features to make it more easily recognizable as a creek. Included below, at the scale typically used on letterhead or business cards are black and white and colorized versions of the proposed seal.
The final seal is focused on a few elements to prevent it from becoming overly busy and so the seal clearly conveys the main elements at a small scale. The attached versions are in large format to better view the details, as well as a version with square edges for consideration, as requested by the City Council.
It is recommended that the City Council move forward with a final seal. The City is clearly moving away from the old seal and is already limiting use of the official city seal to a bare minimum. The staff recommends the seal with the rounded corners and the Pomo basket weave pattern. The border is respectful of local native culture, is already used in the public space without issue and respects the prior feedback received from FIGR to remove the likeness of the fictional Chief Kotat’i.
Financial Considerations
If the seal includes minor revisions, no additional funding is expected to be required. However, if the theme is rejected leading to new iterations, it could significantly increase the cost, depending on the extent of additional work.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.
Attachments:
February 13, 2023 Draft Hand Sketched City Seal Options (DOCX) Final City Seal - Black and White Basket Weave Border (DOCX) Final City Seal - Colorized Border Basket Weave + Options 2, 3, 4 (PDF)