EXTRA, EXTRA/Can a mascot boost economic development?
Hutto, Texas, was overrun with hippos this summer thanks to Mayor Mike Fowler, who was campaigning for the creature’s adoption as the city’s mascot. According to the Los Angeles Times, the hippo is the mascot of the local high school, but the mayor wants to adopt the mascot citywide to attract tourism and industry. As such, dozens of concrete hippos were decorated and displayed throughout the city, and the state legislature officially named the city the “Hippo Capital of Texas.” In addition, the mayor has proposed using city funds to build a $100,000, 40-foot-tall hippo to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. According to the newspaper, some city employees have grown tired of the mayor’s antics and have begun referring to the hippo as the “H-word,” and the city council transferred many of the mayor’s duties to the newly created position of city manager in July. “I am not anti-hippo,” Councilman Jeff Phillips told the paper, “but we’ve got so much more to promote in Hutto, such as a major thoroughfare and an active railroad that may be attractive to businesses. That’s where we feel the emphasis needs to be.”