While your Jan. 15 edition headline says "Revenue continues to sag, city looks at options," our City Council is considering spending $89,000 for a city "branding" project. Citizens are upset, based upon comments at the Jan. 13 council meeting and in letters to the daily newspaper.

Yet, Gary Wartik, the city's economic development director, says with a straight face, "I see this as an investment in our city." Will you please elaborate on that comment? It's more like an investment in someone's ego.

We have a large pool of talent of all ages in our city who would be glad to design a brand and one speaker at the Tuesday council meeting offered to design a logo for free. Some people think that anything free can't be worth much. It seem to me that appointing a committee of Andy Fox and Jacqui Irwin to study the issue without neutral members at large from the community will no doubt have the same result as the original proposal.

Citizens of the Conejo, we have a 60-day window in which to let our council members know they are wasting our money by such spending.

Flood them with e-mails or phone their offices and let them know you are a voter who expects them to be fiscally responsible.

I would ask the council two questions: Don't we know who we are? Do we need a brand? Bob Fitch Thousand Oaks