Surrey First has added two candidates to their slate and both have Cloverdale connections.
Paul Orazietti will be familiar to many for his work with the Cloverdale BIA and Ajit Mehat is a Lord Tweedsmuir graduate.
Orazietti, the current executive director of the Cloverdale BIA, said he wants to improve Surrey’s brand.
“I’ve spent my entire working life promoting strong and creative economies that help generate good jobs, and improve the livability of neighbourhoods,” Orazietti said in a press release.
“Over the past few years, I have had the chance to work with Surrey First Councillor Linda Annis and she impressed me every time we connected,” he added. “At the same time, like so many people in Surrey, I’ve known Gordie Hogg for years and his honesty, integrity and ability to listen, will make him the sort of mayor our city needs.”
Orazietti is a founding director of Tourism Surrey, and one of the founding directors of the organization that runs the B.C. Truck Museum.
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“Paul knows the value of strong neighbourhood economies, and how they should come together to build Surrey’s local and regional economy,” Gordie Hogg, Surrey First’s candidates for mayor, also said in the release. “At the same time, he recognizes the importance of knitting together Surrey’s economic growth, business development and cultural growth in ways that improve the livability of Surrey and each of its neighbourhoods.”
Orazietti, a Fleetwood resident, is a business graduate from Simon Fraser University. He worked in advertising and marketing for more than a decade before working for BIAs in Chilliwack and then Cloverdale.
Ajit Mehat, who’s worked for both federal and provincial governments, said he thinks “listening to diverse voices and viewpoints” will improve things dramatically at the city level thus leading to “better outcomes” for Surreyites.
“I believe in the Surrey First commitment to transparency and accountability, and that includes welcoming our fellow citizens to city hall, rather than trying to distance them from the people they elect,” Mehat said in the release.
“We’re building a strong, competent and caring team and Ajit’s background and experience here in B.C. and other parts of the country give him a broad and unique perspective that will help make a new city council stronger and more creative,” said Hogg.
Annis said she thinks Orazietti and Mehat will make a difference if elected.
“We will get a lot done for Surrey if council can work together, and we include our fellow citizens in the big decisions we need to make,” said Annis. “I’m absolutely convinced that Paul and Ajit can make a terrific contribution at the council table, and they also know how to get things done.”
Mehat, a South Surrey resident, graduated from Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary and then UBC. After graduating from UBC, Mehat worked for more than three decades in the public service in B.C., Ontario, and with the federal government.
Orazietti and Mehat join Annis, Mary-Em Waddington, and Bilal Cheema, who are also running for council.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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