“The debt in Surrey increased 40 per cent or $70-million between 2012 and 2013,” said McCallum, referring to the mismanagement that the ruling Surrey First has been accused of by their many critics, including the voters of Surrey. “We cannot have that continue to go. Most cities strive, and certainly I did in the past, to have zero debt in the city. As debt starts to increase, then the interest costs that you have to pay on that is huge.”
SURREY – Former Surrey Mayor of Surrey Doug McCallum officially announced his candidacy on Monday at a press conference but his quest to reclaim the mayor’s chair will not be an easy one with two strong women contenders in Barinder Rasode and Linda Hepner ready to give him a fight to the finish.
McCallum outlined crime as his top priority with fiscal responsibility, transit and electoral reform as critical to building a prosperous future for the City of Surrey.
“With such rapid growth, Surrey requires decisive leadership to tackle some very difficult issues,” says McCallum. “People are feeling unsafe in their neighbourhoods, spending and debt is out of control, transit services are severely lacking, and a ward system that would help cultural and regional representation on City Council has never been seriously considered. The time for action is now.”
In a short address to supporters and media, McCallum offered a number of statistics that helped to confirm his decision to return to politics.
The City of Surrey just established a tragic record, with homicides rising 127 per cent from 2012 to 2013. Between 2012 and 2013, the city’s debt rose by 40 %, or over $70 million. The City of Surrey will become BC’s largest city within a decade, will increase in population to 750,000, and yet has had no major infrastructure added since Expo 86. Ethnic minorities represent 52.6 per cent of Surrey’s population, but never has this diversity been proportionally represented on City Council.
McCallum hopes to initiate healthy debate and an exchange of ideas in order to give people a real choice about how they want to move the city forward.
“I am humbled by the support and encouragement I have received from every corner of this great city, and I intend to live up to the expectations that come with a demand for experienced leadership,” he said
While there are a lot of Surreyites, including a very big chunk from the large Indo-Canadian-Punjabi community, are excited by his return, his opponents from the dominant Surrey First team weren’t so welcoming and said McCallum should have stayed retired.
One of British Columbia’s longest serving and most respected civic officials, Surrey First team member Councillor Judy Villeneuve, called the McCallum announcement “unfortunate”.
“I have been a Councillor in Surrey with both Doug McCallum and Dianne Watts as mayor – and I would hate to see our city go backwards to McCallum’s style of leadership. Over the past eight years I’ve seen our city move in such a positive direct in so many areas, that is why I am so proud to be part of the Linda Hepner Surrey First team. I want Surrey to continue to be a community that we can all be proud of,” Villeneuve said.
But McCallum was returning the favour, saying Surrey First team has let debt skyrocket in Surrey with expenses going through the roof.
“The debt in Surrey increased 40 per cent or $70-million between 2012 and 2013,” said McCallum, referring to the mismanagement that the ruling Surrey First has been accused of by their many critics, including the voters of Surrey. “We cannot have that continue to go. Most cities strive, and certainly I did in the past, to have zero debt in the city. As debt starts to increase, then the interest costs that you have to pay on that is huge.”
“What a mess in Surrey,” McCallum says of the transit situation in the city. “No major increases in transportation in the last number of years. We have to do something about that. With the experience I have, when I was TransLink chairman, five years, we started, built and completed, in a lot of cases, five major infrastructure projects in five years for the region.”
McCallum was mayor for nine years before losing to Dianne Watts, who is leaving at the end of this term.
Watts, who was once McCallum’s political teammate before she became his political adversary, won with 45,981 votes – roughly 10,000 more than McCallum’s 35,558.
Leading up to the election, Watts had a very public spat with McCallum, similar to the one Watts had with Rasode over the last year and half, over charges of bullying.
Also leading up to voting day in 2005, allegations of sexual harassment against a senior manager surfaced at city hall and McCallum ordered a limited investigation.
