A proposal to save Des Plaines thousands of dollars while providing new uniforms for the fire department almost got hung up on the controversy over the city’s new logo, but was approved in light of an offer to change the embroidery if needed.
Monday marked the third meeting in a row in which city officials argued over the city’s branding strategy, which was approved by aldermen in June and includes an artistic rendering of a D and a P woven together as a logo and the phrase “Good Move” as a slogan. With dissent to the design mounting, an ad-hoc committee of residents was appointed to come up with a new logo and slogan.
The latest argument rose over a request by Fire Chief Alan Wax to move from a yearly allowance for department uniforms to a quartermaster system, which he said would save between $20,000 and $25,000 per year. The annual uniform allowance was between $700 and $750.
With the new system, the city will enter into a roughly $27,000 contract with Elk Grove-based On Time Embroidery as the uniform vendor.
