TEAM Burnaby candidate Lee Rankin says his office has been fielding calls from residents concerned about Burnaby Citizens Association candidates' advertising on public property.
The advertisements are on waste receptacles and bike racks, Rankin said.
"I got some calls from people when they went up," Rankin said, mentioning the advertisement on the waste receptacle at Deer Lake Parkway and Royal Oak Avenue in particular.
"It looks like it's on park property," he said.
But Lambert Chu, director of engineering for the city, said the signs are paid advertisements and not in violation of the bylaw against signs on public property. In 2006, Burnaby city council prohibited election signs on public property, and city staff are authorized to remove any they find.
The BCA ads in question are on Silverbox recycling containers, which are owned by EcoMedia Direct Inc. EcoMedia initially installed 50 of its recycling containers in Burnaby in December 2009 as part of a pilot project and installed 150 more last fall after signing a long-term agreement with the city, which allows it to sell advertising on its panels.
The BCA has also purchased advertising on bike racks installed in Burnaby by C Media Outdoor. The company provides free bike racks to municipalities in the region and makes its money by selling ad space on the racks.
Rankin was concerned because he believed the advertising was part of the city-owned bus shelter advertising, after the city cancelled its contract with Pattison Outdoor last summer.
However, Chu clarified that the recycling container and bike rack advertising is separate from the bus shelter advertising, which will be run by the city.
The city decided to install and manage its own bus shelters - including advertising - throughout Burnaby, after choosing not to renew its contract with Pattison Outdoor. Pattison currently has about 80 shelters in Burnaby, while the city has another 70 or so without advertising.
Pattison's contract ran out in April, but the company has until the end of the year to remove its shelters. The city is working on replacing the Pattison shelters with its own, according to Chu.
Burnaby is preparing a request for proposals for advertising management of the shelters and plans to send it out in the next few weeks, he said.
The city is looking at partnering with smaller advertising groups that may not be able to afford the capital cost of installing and maintaining bus shelters, Chu said.
Pattison Outdoor Group's Pacific Region vice-president, Rob Hunt, said in June that the company might be interested in responding to the city's request for proposals once it is released.
