The Billings City Council voted this week to replace the city's vision statement, removing the phrase "Magic City" along with the words "diverse" and "welcoming."
Watch more on the new vision statement below:
The old statement read: "The Magic City: A diverse, welcoming community where people prosper and business succeeds."
The new statement reads: "Leading the Big Sky, Boldly inspiring opportunities for our community."
The nickname "Magic City" has been tied to Billings since the city was founded in the 1880s. It remains embedded in the names of local businesses across the city, including Magic City Property Management, Magic City Floral, Magic City Sudz and Magic City Guns LLC.
Council member Amy Aguirre said the new statement better reflects where Billings is headed.
"I do support this change with our mission statement because I think community is far more encompassing of everyone who belongs here," Aguirre said.
Brandon Berger with Big Sky Economic Development said revisiting such statements is a healthy practice.
"Your mission and vision statement should always be looked at, maybe even on an annual basis, just to see if you're really keeping up with what's going on in your organization and the economy," Berger said.
Not everyone on the council shared that enthusiasm. One council member argued the change carries little real-world weight.
"It goes on almost nothing. It's an internal vision statement, lands on the city's website... But for the general public, it impacts almost nobody," Aspenlieder said.
Aspenlieder said the volume of public response to the change was itself telling — and not in a good way.
"We had...numerous emails yesterday about the vision statement, which again, to me is a complete waste of time. The city's vision statement and effort should be focused on providing good service to our community," Aspenlieder said.
He added that the attention devoted to the issue during a day-long city council work session could have been directed elsewhere.
"The resources and the effort that went into commentary on the vision statement to me just kind of showed how little people… have paid attention to something that's truly impactful to our city," Aspenlieder said.
Councilman Mike Boyett offered a more optimistic take on the new language.
"Billings is 35% of Montana's budget. We're the big kid in the family in Montana. So why not say that?" Boyett said.
"We have a lot of different things. Billings is growing, so why not grow with it?" Boyett said.
