Linda Hepner was elected mayor of Surrey, not mayor of Facebook.
While there are likely those who would give Hepner a hard time if she didn't speak out against this "Only in Surrey" Facebook page that draws attention to the city's seedier - yet very real - underbelly, it is nevertheless beneath someone of her station to take such vociferous public umbrage with the page.
Hepner calls the Facebook page disgusting, and Surrey's Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman says it should be taken down, that the anonymous operator is being cowardly, etc.
Ouch. As they are entitled to their opinions, so are other people entitled to theirs.
Moreover, their public offerings are also open to scrutiny. For Huberman to suggest the person or persons behind "Only in Surrey" should be attending committee meetings rather than posting less-than-flattering photos of situations in the city is surreal. Both she and Hepner, by engaging in debate with this Facebook page, are coming off like an officious cop at a crime scene, telling bystanders to "Move on, there's nothing to see here."
It's great that people like Hepner and Huberman love their city and try to boost its reputation, but trying to shut a Facebook page down because it doesn't jibe with their vision is juvenile.
In this issue of the Now (see page 9), the "Only in Surrey" administrator tells reporter Larissa Cahute that "if making jokes is what we have to do to get the city's attention, then let's do it."
These photos aren't illegal, nor do they appear to be contrived. They simply are what they are.
Sure, in Surrey you will find lovely scenes of families playing in beautiful parks, on safe streets. You will also find down-and-out products of broken families haunting streets that aren't so safe.
And any call to censor that reality is misguided.
The best way for Surrey boosters to put "Only in Surrey" out of business is to change the unfortunate - yet very real - situations it depicts, rather than trying to sweep it all under a rug.