Nov
18
2011
Surrey mayoral candidate critical of multimillion-dollar civic development corp.
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The City of Surrey has created joint-venture partnerships to develop a mall, erect 141 townhouses and build a large brewery. Opposition council candidate Grant Rice said Thursday that warning bells should be going off about the city’s foray into moneymaking enterprises usually left to private developers. “The people running the Surrey City Development Corp. don’t have the expertise to handle multimillion-dollar projects. They’re burning through $1 million a year and the taxpayers know very little about it,” said Rice, who is running for the Surrey Civic Coalition. “I’m sticking up for private developers here and asking how we can insure
Nov
17
2011
Some say Watts hasn’t done enough
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Surrey’s Mayor is facing charges she hasn’t done enough when it comes to transit from the party trying to wrest control of city council from the Surrey First Party. Stephanie Ryan with the Surrey Civic Coalition says the Mayor during her term has fallen short in getting transit improvements, “Mayor Watts was Chair of the Mayors Council for Translink for a year and I think most people would point to a lack of results in getting some more equitable funding for Surrey and south of the Fraser during that one year tenure.” But, Dianne Watts says progress at Translink is
Nov
17
2011
Georgia Straight’s Slate
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The following was excepted from the Georgia Straight’s recommendations for local civic council candidates: We can’t recommend the reelection of Mayor Dianne Watts after her defence of former president George W. Bush’s recent visit to her city. Watts has also sent conflicting signals over whether she wants Metro Vancouver to build a waste incinerator in Surrey, whereas one of her opponents, Ross Buchanan, has been unequivocally opposed. Another mayoral candidate, Vikram Bajwa, has tried to find out how much Surrey taxpayers ended up forking out on the Bush visit. We say vote for him if you don’t like people who start
Nov
16
2011
Should Surrey have a Municipal Auditor-General?
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That was one question presented to candidates at a meeting hosted by the Surrey Board of Trade Tuesday evening. While current City Councillor Tom Gill says the Surrey First team supports the position, as long as the Province provides the funding, Independent mayoral candidate, Vikram Bajwa says that role should have been created years ago. Surrey Civic Coalition candidate Grant Rice says when an Auditor-General is chosen, he wants that person to look at sales from back in 2003, “When Campbell Heights was sold for 15 cents on a dollar, 35-thousand dollars an acre to Progressive and Kingswood.” Among other
Nov
15
2011
We don’t want no *#$% smart meters
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A candidate for City Council in Surrey says if he is elected on Saturday, he’ll introduce a by-law to restrict installation of smart meters on residential properties in his city. Gary Robinson, with the Surrey Civic Coalition: “It’s one more example I guess, of the Provincial Government not listening. If it takes a city standing up to them, then a city needs to stand up to them. It’s a colossal waste of money.” Robinson says people he has talked to are opposed to a system that monitors their actions. Original article: http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1571649
Nov
15
2011
Surrey residents try to keep candidates concise
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South Surrey’s only all-candidates meeting – held at the Rotary Field House Monday – touched on a number of contentious issues facing the city. Nearly 100 people came to hear civic candidates’ responses to questions ranging from public safety to Surrey’s annual economic summit. Questions were posed in an unusual format in order to accommodate as many answers as possible on seven subjects. Candidates were all asked a question, initially only being able to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ After everyone had answered, each could use one of three “green cards” to answer in detail. The first divisive question of the
Nov
15
2011
Guest column: Surrey is being badly shortchanged on transit
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Public transportation has become a key issue in many Metro Vancouver civic elections, but nowhere is the lack of ser-vice more acute than in Surrey. Surrey has become a have-not city when it comes to public transit. Residents are understandably fed up with abysmal service. We are not prepared to wait any longer. It’s time to get our fair share. For two decades Surrey has been growing at an unbelievable pace of over 10,000 new residents each year. But transit — like schools, hospitals and other infrastructure — has not kept pace. Surrey has become the poor cousin in TransLink
Nov
14
2011
Stephanie Ryan: Surrey is being badly shortchanged on transit
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Public transportation has become a key issue in many Metro Vancouver civic elections, but nowhere is the lack of service more acute than in Surrey. Surrey has become a have-not city when it comes to public transit. Residents are understandably fed up with abysmal service. We are not prepared to wait any longer. It’s time to get our fair share. For two decades, Surrey has been growing at an unbelievable pace of over 10,000 new residents each year. But transit — like schools, hospitals and other infrastructure — has not kept pace. Surrey has become the poor cousin in TransLink
Nov
11
2011
Ram Sidhu takes positive steps to break the cycle of violence toward children
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RAM Sidhu, a School Trustee candidate with the Surrey Civic Coalition, wants to bring an end to the cycle of domestic violence. Sidhu, who attended the annual conference hosted by the Surrey Coalition against Domestic Abuse (SCADA) on November 8, said, “This conference is an important reminder about the need for education around domestic violence for children and youth. We must commit to breaking the cycle.” The conference is sponsored by the City of Surrey and community agencies which provide services to families in crisis. The theme of this year’s conference was Breaking the Cycle of Violence for Children and
Nov
11
2011
Young faces of Surrey Civic Coalition who want to make a whole lot of difference
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SURREY Civic Coalition candidates Rina Gill (council), Stephanie Ryan (council) and Ram Sidhu (school trustee) are all under the age of 35 with different dynamics in their personal and professional lives. Here are their interesting backgrounds and what they stand for: RINA GILL “I am a young business woman and community volunteer with abundant energy and fresh ideas. Surrey has many diverse communities and my vision is to nurture neighbourhoods by better engaging the public.” Rina, who came very close to being elected in 2008 with 18,888 votes and missed by just one spot, is an ambitious well-connected small business