Round One Goes To Rasode But The MayorWon’t Take It Lying Down!

SURREY — The silent fightbetween Surrey Mayor DianneWatts and councillor BarinderRasode got ugly this week withthe mayor having to issue a publicapology over her numerous”Facebook-Likes” of a negativecomment against Rasode, arisingfrom the recent debate thatWatts wasn’t doing enough tofight crime.Watts said it was an accident thatshe liked four posts onFacebook that slammed Rasode,including one that called her a”coward.”This comes less than aweek after Rasode said publiclythat Surrey hasn’t done enoughin Newton, where 53-year-oldhockey mom Julie Paskall diedafter being brutally beaten whilepicking up her son after a gameat the local arena, reported theSurrey Now newspaper.”I agree with people who saythat our strategy isn’t working.We need to do something rightaway. The time for talk is over,”Rasode told the Now.On his Facebook account overthe weekend, blogger AlexTsakumis wrote: “I cannotbelieve that no one has takeneither (Laila) Yuile or Rasode totask for what they have done.Paskall’s body hadn’t hit tomorgue (sic) yet and there’sRasode in front of a camera sayingthat Surrey ‘hasn’t doneenough!'” Yuile is a local blogger who has been callingon the city to take action followingthe attack.Tsakumis went on to write that most ofSurrey council has taken the “dignified”route, except Rasode who he says “is outtrying to score political points on lies.”He calls Rasode’s behaviour “disgusting”and “shameless” and calls her a “coward.”Watts said Monday she unknowingly”liked” these Facebook comments.In a message to all of Surrey council,Watts wrote: “It has come to my attentionthat for some reason it showed that I’liked’ comments that Alex Tsakumis (sic).Please know that this was not done intentionally.I read it last evening and I immediatelycontacted Alex and told him totake it down. I will forward all of you thatmessage. It is inappropriate and I will notsupport or condone those commentsmade towards any member of Council.”From what I gather when reading it onmy Ipad (sic) if I tap it twice it automaticallylikes it. I am so sorry. My daughterbrought it to my attention and I hadassumed it was rectified.”If this has caused you any distress, I sincerelyapologize. I will also post on Alexfacebook (sic) page as well. Again I apologize.”Rasode confirmed Monday the mayoremailed her saying it was a mistake.”I would like to say that social media haselevated the involvement and discussionon issues. It is so positive that everyone’svoice can be heard. You don’t need a titleor a press release to engage in directingthe shape our community takes,” she said.”It is however unfortunate that in veryrare extreme circumstances, those whochoose to serve are treated with such disrespectand without a filter that determineswhat the facts actually are.”This bit of ugliness between the twopowerful women in Surrey comes on theheels of Rasode having to deny rumoursthat she was leaving her current partyheaded by Watts to start a new Surreyparty and may even challenge the mayorfor the top job.The LINK in our December 28, 2013edition – we ran a story with the headline:Rasode May Deny Plans To Start NewSurrey Party But She May Have NoChoice Because She Is Odd-Woman Out!We wrote: “While Surrey CouncillorBarinder Rasode has said she has no plansto split from Surrey First and start a newparty, she may have no choice but to dojust that, even challenge Mayor DianneWatts for the Mayorship as she is an oddwomanout in a coalition of right-leftcentristcandidates. Rift between Rasodeand Watts surfaced following her criticismof the mayor after she held thedeciding vote on a casino application by awell known Indo-Canadian businessmanwhich was denied earlier this year.”Rift between Rasode and Watts surfacedfollowing her criticism of the mayor aftershe held the deciding vote on a casinoapplication by a well known Indo-Canadian businessman which was deniedearlier this year.But Rasode denied that the South Surreycasino vote began a rift in the Surrey Firstteam.”I think if you look at Surrey First’srecord, we are very credibly a coalition ofindependents. There are a significantnumber of votes, including the Newtonslot machines, Grandview 4 (neighbourhoodconcept plan), any significant votethat we take a look at, you would see thatSurrey First members vote individually,”she told the Now.