On March 21, 2023, Lethbridge City Council debated the motion that would eliminate election signage from being posted on public property. (Photo: LNN file photo on November 22, 2022)

By Sarah Jones

Lethbridge Council debates potential ban of election signs on public property

Mar 22, 2023 | 1:55 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – During the Tuesday, March 21, 2023, Lethbridge City Council meeting, council was torn on an official motion that was brought forward by Councillors Belinda Crowson and Jeff Carlson.

In short, the motion would eliminate election signage from being posted on public property, and if passed, would apply to municipal, provincial and federal elections.

Election signs would still be allowed to be advertised on private property.

After several back and forths at City Hall, council ultimately voted five-to-four to send the motion to the Governance Standing Policy Committee (SPC) to be looked at further.

Crowson and Carlson indicated that hundreds of election signs were illegally placed within public roadways in the last municipal election in 2021, which required an additional full-time employee just to manage the collection and distribution of signs.

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According to the motion, the signs generated multiple complaints from the community about the visual clutter and unsafe distractions they created.

Some signs also proved to cause additional waste at the Lethbridge landfill as only specific kinds of materials are eligible to be recycled.

Director of Infrastructure, Joel Sanchez said that to his knowledge, only two candidates from the previous election had reached out to the Waste and Recycling Centre to dispose of their signs. He went on to suggest that it didn’t mean that other candidates did not properly dispose of their signs in another method.

Sanchez explained that the city is looking to work on a caveat that would provide information on what materials are encouraged to be used when making election signs.

Acting Mayor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel debated how this would impact entry-level candidates and their advertising campaigns. City Manager Lloyd Brierley explained that this could be explored further with direction from council.

Councillor Rajko Dodic questioned the problems it may cause with candidates who likely purchased signs that are set to run in the upcoming provincial election, who, up until this point, believed they would be able to share signs on public property.

Crowson explained, “I can let you know, I’ve had public and private conversations with several people running in the upcoming election and they see the value of signs on private property because that actually shows you what sort of support you have, and most of them have supported removing them from public property because it would be equal to everybody.”

Crowson went on, “I could share with you several of the literature reviews I’ve done. What they’ve shown is that signs only have a one-to-two per cent chance of changing an election mind, it is incredibly small. Of course, the research does not show if that is on public or private property, but signage has exploded since 2008 across North America and is not being shown to have any real effect on the political outcome, and that is based on research.”

Dodic then went on to rebut the whereas’s in the motion that were brought forward, questioning the number of complaints that were received and signs that were illegally placed in the road right of way near intersections.

Dodic said, “What I’m suggesting is that the whereas’s lead to an incorrect perception that this is a huge problem. Whereas, in fact, this happens once every four years for one month, and some people who have no other way of advertising themselves. Whether or not it has an impact on the election may be limited to the signs, so I don’t know if this is the right time. I’d say, let’s refer this resolution to the Governance SPC.”

The referral motion indicated that the item would be looked at on April 27, 2023, at the Governance SPC. Carlson, Middleton-Hope, Schmidt-Rempel, and Parker all opposed the motion while Crowson, Dodic, Paladino, Hyggen and Campbell voted in favour of moving it ahead.

The motion going before the Governance SPC would allow for public input on what recommendations could be made before a final decision is voted on.

If passed, it would be the first bylaw in Alberta to prohibit the installation of election signs within the public road right-of-way.

The council meeting can be viewed on the City of Lethbridge Youtube page.

Read more at LethbridgeNewsNow.com