Oxnard Gives Up Idea of Ads on Patrol Cars, but Will Put Logos Elsewhere : Revenue: Council hopes to establish partnerships with businesses that will save money and expand programs.

Having abandoned the poorly received idea of putting advertising on patrol cars, the City Council voted Tuesday to offer businesses a chance to put their logos on a variety of programs and materials--from pet licenses to literature handed out at drunk-driving checkpoints.

Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt a policy to create business partnerships that they said would save money and expand programs.

“The city realizes that government can no longer provide all of the services alone that the community wants and that the community needs,” said Dennis Scala, an analyst in the city manager’s office. “Sometimes, partnerships with the private sector actually provide better services.”

City staffers have identified more than 25 potential partnerships, including establishing an Adopt-A-Neighborhood program and a directory of city services on the Internet. Putting ads on patrol cars, a proposal that drew national attention during the summer, is not on the list.

The City Council endorsed the patrol car program as part of a broad operating budget, but residents spoke out strongly against it. And the union representing police officers also objected, Scala said.

But that was never what the partnership program was all about, Scala said.

“What this program is not about, and I want to emphasize that, is not about selling advertising,” he said. “We’re trying to de-emphasize the revenue making part of it and emphasize the partnerships.”

Nonetheless, most of the six ideas the city thinks it can put in place most rapidly involve selling ads. One proposal would include putting ads from pet-related businesses on the flip side of pet license tags to help pay for animal control programs. Ads on materials handed out at drunk-driving checkpoints--the type of commercial messages that would be appropriate aren’t specified--could help pay to continue the effort when the current state grant runs out.

Other programs would allow corporate sponsorship of trash cans and municipal vehicles, though presumably not police cars.

Council members said they see the policy as a way to allow businesses to give back to the community. The council, however, expressed concern that inappropriate advertising should not be permitted. The business community applauds the idea, said Don Facciano, executive director of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce.

Facciano sat in on brainstorming sessions with city officials in August to come up with ideas.

“People have told us they don’t want any new taxes, although they’re not willing to give up any of their services,” he said. “We have to find a way of providing services to the people, and one way is an alliance between businesses and the government.”

He cited the city Fire Department’s new $35,000 fire safety house--paid for exclusively by private and corporate donations--as an example of the sort of benefits such partnerships can yield.

The partnership program surfaced as part of the city’s budget process last July. The idea was to generate $15,000 for public safety and youth services.