Several signs advertising an effort to oust Calgary’s mayor from office are being removed due to a bylaw infraction, according to city officials.
In a statement to Global News, the City of Calgary said the size and locations of the signs violate the Temporary Signs on Highways Bylaw 29M97, which regulates temporary roadside signs in the city.
“We are aware of a number of signs placed by Project YYC that are not in compliance with the bylaw due to size or location and have either been removed or will be scheduled for removal as they are reported as part of our standard processes,” the city said in its statement.
The petition to recall Mayor Jyoti Gondek was launched by Landon Johnston, a local business owner, back in February.
For the petition to be successful, the legislation states Johnston has until April 4 to gather more than 514,000 signatures, which is 40 per cent of Calgary’s population total of 1,285,711.
According to a small sticker on the signs, they were placed by Project YYC, a group helping Johnston gather signatures.
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A document obtained by Global News shows the group’s goal is to create a “big tent coalition” to elect “common-sense conservative” mayor and councillors in next year’s municipal election.
However, Gondek has accused the group of gathering personal information through the signatures to build a database of support for a municipal political party.
A spokesperson for Project YYC denied the allegations in an interview with Global News last week.
In a statement to Global News, the group criticized the city of “partisan interference” for removing the signs, and stated the move is “disappointing but not surprising.”
The group said it believes regulations around election signage would be more applicable for the signs rather than the temporary sign bylaw, as the recall process is registered with Elections Calgary.
“Our biggest problem is that the city legal department refuses to provide in writing the reasons for their interpretation of the relevant bylaws, and specifically why campaign guidelines do not apply to the petition campaign,” Project YYC’s recall campaign co-chair Roy Beyer said in the statement. “Without such explanations in writing, and knowing who the responsible city managers are, we cannot have our own legal counsel respond.”
Johnston, who met with Gondek on Friday, said he paid Project YYC $3,000 for the signs.
“I never put them out myself, I just paid for them,” he told reporters Friday. “If they’re in the wrong spot, they should be moved.”
According to the city, signs will be removed if they are in contravention of the bylaw, which may be due to a variety of factors, including allowable location and allowable size; and that continued offences may result in fines.
The city said nearly 2,000 “non-compliant signs of all kinds” have been removed since January.
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