Well, then they knew! With all the discussion that has taken place in the last 3 years with this project, they knew people wanted a mascot and still did nothing!
Was there a committee put together to discuss the mascot situation? Were any details released about the committee's determinations? I know this is a bureaucracy and nothing happens in a vacuum.
Right then and there, it should have been discussed with all members. This discussion could have taken 5 minutes. Then put out that this is the committees findings