Council refers motion on election signs
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on March 22, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery
Breakin’ my mind.”
Election signs weren’t the point of the classic rocker by Five Man Electrical Band but a verse in the song fits an issue addressed by city council on Tuesday.
Council by a 5-4 vote referred to the April 27 meeting of the Governance Standing Policy Committee a motion put forward by councillors Belinda Crowson and Jeff Carlson calling for an immediate ban on election signs being placed on road right-of-ways in the city.
The motion says in part that the number of signs “creates visual clutter and unsafe distractions along the public road right-of-way” and notes in the last municipal election hundreds were illegally placed and confiscated which required an additional full-time employee during the election period to manage collection and distribution of them.
Crowson and Carlson state in their motion that council and the City both received community complaints about the signs. They add that because most are made from corrugated, single-use plastics that aren’t accepted for recycling, the signs are generating additional waste in the landfill.
The motion notes that the City land use bylaw allows for temporary use of signs on private property.
Discussion on the matter showed signs of a close vote as council members looked at different elements of the motion including the ability to recycle the chloroplast signs that appear on boulevards, roadsides and street corners during elections and as Carlson point out often end up – thanks to Lethbridge winds – littering coulees and elsewhere. Because of that wind, Carlson said that signs were known to fly across roads and hit vehicles.
He noted during the last civic election there were hundreds of signs posted illegally within five blocks of his own home, adding the amount of effort the City takes to collect the signs and store them until picked up by candidates running for office “a huge waste of time.”
If signs are picked up, council heard the City disposes of them at its own cost.
If Lethbridge were to pass such a bylaw, council was told by deputy city clerk David Sarsfield it would be the first in Alberta to do so.
Councillor Rajko Dodic called the matter “a feel-good motion” and added if implemented before the upcoming provincial election, council would be “sandbagging” candidates who had already purchased signs with the intent of placing them on public property as per usual. He also told Crowson she was drawing from anecdotal evidence when she told council candidates who had run for various levels of office had no issue with the idea. And he also questioned the urgency since the next municipal election is still 2.5 years away.
Crowson stated that studies show signs only have a one to two per cent chance of swaying a voter’s opinion.
Councillor John Middleton-Hope, noting he doesn’t like the signs any more than anyone else, questioned the element of the resolution about signs being a distraction. He said that distraction to drivers is caused by the placement of all signs, not just those on public property.
Director of Infrastructure Services Joel Sanchez told council after confirmation that the signs can be recycled.
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19-18
I’m not a fan of the proliferation of election signs anymore than anyone else but realize that they’re a necessary inconvenience. Limiting them to private property gives an advantage to some candidates, you cant deny that. In Canada only male property owners were allowed to vote from 1867 to 1918. Is this giving property owners a louder voice then those who are not?
A very underhanded move made with what has been proven to be false information. These 2 councilors who present this option are making it much easier for themselves to get re-elected. New candidates need this free advertising space option as they do not have the name recognition that existing councilors do.