Proposed election sign bylaw moves forward at London City Hall

The fourth time was the charm for city politicians considering changes to London’s election sign bylaw.

The corporate services committee expressed some frustration on Tuesday over proposed changes to the bylaw.

Committee members were concerned about how high signs could be, how far back from the road they had to be and how long they have to remove them after the election.

“Where the balance lies has to be fair and reasonable and what I have trouble reading into with the current iteration of the bylaw is, where are we actually going to be putting enough signs that someone can make a good go of getting their name out there effectively, while maintaining the concerns that we have,” said Coun. Josh Morgan.

The committee approved the changes to height, distance and removal by a 3-1 vote.

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Morgan was the only councillor to vote against the proposed bylaw.

“We’re creating a disadvantage to anybody who’s trying to get name recognition out there who maybe isn’t an incumbent and wants to put up signs. Let’s be honest, signs are effective for getting name recognition out there and it’s important for people who aren’t incumbents and don’t have name recognition to have that opportunity,” said Morgan.

On the other hand, Coun. Tanya Park urged her colleagues to make a decision, saying this debate had gone on long enough.

“I have concerns about this going back again because it feels like every time we’ve discussed it there’s been a new issue each and every meeting, so I’m going to express some frustration on that. If colleagues have other concerns, today is the day to get it done and over with as far as I’m concerned. As I’ve said, I’m quite frustrated with this,” said Park.

The proposed bylaw will go before full council next week.