Huntington Beach : Council Ready to Adopt Contest-Winning Motto

If the City Council adopts a new municipal slogan, as it is expected to do tonight, the community will become known as “The City of the Expanding Horizons.”

The motto was selected last week from among 200 entries in a citywide contest that was the brainchild of Mayor Ruth Bailey. City officials said the name of the author and prizes will be announced at the council meeting.

“I think the city needed a sense of identity and pulling together of all the community interests,” Bailey said. “We are sometimes perceived as a beach city only, and of course, that’s a very important part of our city, but there are other elements as well. We felt it was time to bring it all together.”

Bailey was one of six judges who selected the slogan, along with Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Joyce Riddell, former Mayor Don Shipley, Councilman Bob Mandic, Allied Arts Board member Marilyn Tom and Youth Board member Diane Snyder. “Most of the other entries were surf, sea and sun-type things, having to do with beaches and sunsets and progress and prosperity,” Bailey said. All five of the judges agreed on the motto chosen, she said.

“It lends itself to the graphics in our city,” Bailey said. “We do have beautiful sunsets.” The new slogan refers to a variety of things, she said, such as the city’s expanding development and its artistic and cultural achievements.

The council will also decide tonight how to make use of the motto and what prize will be awarded the winning entry, she said.