SURREY - One of the candidates seeking the city's top job wants to ban election signs in the City of Surrey.
And not just for municipal candidates - for those seeking higher levels of office as well.
"We could do it for all (levels of government)," said Coun. Barinder Rasode, who split from Surrey First earlier this year and is now running for mayor with her One Surrey team.
She said her motivation comes from concerns about the environment, distracted driving, as well as creating a level playing field for all candidates, noting the high cost of election signage.
"It eliminates independents," she stressed.
"What we would do is change the digital sign bylaw so that during the campaign people could purchase equal space on the digital sign," Rasode added.
She went on to say she has no concerns about lawn signs on personal property during a campaign.
When asked why she has signs if she's compelled to ban them, the mayoral candidate said she was "compelled by circumstances."
"If I had not done them it wouldn't have been fair to me.
So it needs to be on a move forward basis. It has to be about a level playing field," she added.
In the 2011 civic election, Surrey First - which Rasode was a member of at the time -spent more than $662,000 on its campaign. Of that, $46,312.41 was spent on signs, pamphlets and brochures.
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