At the risk of stepping on Martin’s toes, there’s one section of today’s D.C. Register which absolutely required special mention. According to Executive Order 2011-45, “Policy Establishing a Standard for Official Letterhead, Publications and Signage,” you’ll be seeing a lot more of “One City” around these parts — like everywhere the D.C. government maintains a presence.
The branding has already begun: the city’s annual Summer Youth Employment Program is now officially called the “2011 Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s One City Summer Youth Employment Program”. One city government source tells DCist that the “One City”-fication has been in the works for some time and that every city agency has been directed to work the “One City” theme into its PR work. (Those standards, according to the order, will be developed by the Secretary of the District, Cynthia Brock-Smith.)
Obviously, Gray intends to leave not only his name all over the city — something that most mayors have done –but also his brand. Critics point out that such branding serves as little more than “an act of vanity” that costs the city money, is politically questionable and causes logistical issues down the line.
Of course, in the short term, Gray should probably be more concerned about the public’s tendency to apply the order to the barrage of scandals that have hit the Wilson Building in the last week. One City Under Navigators, anyone?
