City council voted Tuesday night against a six-figure marketing plan to promote London during March’s world figure skating championships.

Then they voted for it.

Kind of.

Minutes after rejecting the marketing push that is built around a new logo reading “Canada’s London,” council voted to approve it under another ­championship-related matter, so long as the logo is tweaked.

The unusual and confusing vote bucked the procedural advice of staff.

While staff suggested council needed a two-thirds majority approval to reopen the matter, Mayor Joe Fontana ruled that wasn’t required and the $100,000 spending — which is be matched by the combined efforts of several city-funded agencies — was approved.

“How many people living on the street today could we help with $100,000?” Denise Brown asked during the debate. “Just because we have it doesn’t mean we have to go and spend it.”

A slim council majority agreed at first, voting 8-7 to reject the expense. Those opposed were Bill Armstrong, Nancy Branscombe, Matt Brown, Harold Usher, Stephen Orser, Dale Henderson, Paul Van Meerbergen and Denise Brown.

But what a difference a letter makes.

In the logo, the second o in the word London is a maple leaf — which had Usher concerned visitors wouldn’t recognize that as an o and therefore make the city name unreadable.

Others agreed, and a related item — calling on city administration to work with organizers as much as possible — had the $100,000 thrown in, with a caveat that the logo get adjusted to replace the maple leaf with an o.

That was enough to sway Armstrong, Usher, Orser and Henderson, and council voted 11-4 to OK the spending that had been rejected just minutes earlier.

Four councillors voted no both times: Branscombe, Van Meerbergen, Denise Brown and Matt Brown.

Sending directions to the logo designers is foolish, Branscombe said in a tweet.

“Council shouldn’t be trying to redesign logo. Good grief. Support it or not but let professionals handle the design,” she wrote.

The ad campaign will see banners and signs popping up around the city in the leadup to the March 11-17 championships.

patrick.maloney@sunmedia.ca