OUR VIEW: 15 of 16 spots on Surrey committees is more of the same

A trip down memory lane…

On Dec. 15, 2020 we told you how then-mayor Doug McCallum stacked his four standing committees with Safe Surrey Coalition councillors, appointing them to the positions of chairperson or vice-chairperson with rival slate councillors exiled.

Then-councillor Brenda Locke, of Surrey Connect, made noise about McCallum not wanting to hear from anybody in opposition to him.

In this spot, on July 24, 2019, we took a poke at McCallum planting his Interim Police Transitory Advisory Committee – with which he controversially replaced the long-standing Public Safety Committee the week prior – with an exclusive crop of his yes-people, then-councillors Laurie Guerra, Doug Elford, Mandeep Nagra, Allison Patton, and of course, himself.

Shut out were former political allies Jack Hundial, Steven Pettigrew, Locke, and sole Surrey First councillor Linda Annis.

READ ALSO: 15 of 16 appointments to Surrey’s Select Committees of Council go to Locke’s team

After Locke replaced McCallum in the mayor’s chair, she declared she “will not be anywhere close to what Doug McCallum is, it’s not my style. It’s not who I am, I can’t be somebody I’m not.”

For his part, Elford said, “We’ll wait and see on that.”

And here Elford is today, on the outside looking in.

With the exception of Surrey First councillor Mike Bose, a farmer, having been appointed chairman of Surrey’s Agricultural and Food Policy Committee – the obvious and clever choice – Surrey Connect’s firm grip on 15 of 16 appointments to Surrey’s Select Committees of Council supports the notion that in politics the more things change, the more they stay the same.

It comes as some surprise that Surrey First councillor Linda Annis – who topped the polls with 35,222 votes and has been CEO of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers since 2004 – was not appointed at least vice-chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee, given the experience she certainly could bring to that table.

– Now-Leader