LATHROP – It’s a safe bet that Lathrop won’t adopt the slogan  “The Mule Capital of the World,” regardless of how stubborn local politicians can be at times.

That motto was once claimed by the kissing cousin town of Lathrop, Missouri.

It’s been 15 years since it was suggested Lathrop adopt an official city slogan and then efforts stalled. The Lathrop City Council will tackle the slogan issue again when they meet on Monday, June 6, at Lathrop City Hall at 7 p.m. It will be up to the five elected leaders whether they want to pursue the agendized item, and if so, whether they want to choose the slogan outright or solicit community input before making a final declaration.

The idea was placed on the agenda by councilman Omar Ornelas after resident Tyler Silva brought it up for discussion during a meeting back in January.

“This is something that has been brought up at past council meetings and has been talked about for a while and it’s something that I’ve always thought was a good idea,” Ornelas said. “I thought it was something that the council should consider.

“I think that with the discussion on the table we might be able to form a committee to come up with a slogan that would best fit the city.”

Finding one to set in stone, however, might not be so simple.

When Manteca finally set out to come up with a slogan that they could use not only on official letterhead but to help promote the community out-of-town visitors and business ventures, they initially settled on “Heart of California.”

It wasn’t long before that ended up being “Crossroads of California” until it’s current slogan name – “The Family City” – was formally adopted.

The following are from the list of names brainstormed in 1997 and include several suggestions that were tied to the unsuccessful Gold Rush City project that was never completed:

• Crossroads to the Future

• The Better Way

• Full of Promise

• The Little City that Does and Will

• Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

• Location, Location, Lathrop

If Ornelas has his druthers, it’ll be a committee comprised of residents that has the ultimate authority in selecting the slogan that he hopes will be read by motorists along I-5 and those who see the Lathrop city seal.

“I think that this is something that belongs to the entire city and anybody who wants to be on this committee, if that’s the way that the council wants to go, should be able to be,” he said. “Something like this gives the residents a sense of pride and a sense of community, and if we do go with a committee I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with.

“We’ve had recommendations in the past and some were good and some weren’t so good, but they were residents who were suggesting them. I think we should go that route again because this is something that should belong to the people."