Safe Surrey councillors stand by mayor amid calls for transparency
Members of the Safe Surrey Coalition expressed their support for Mayor Doug Mccallum on Friday as political rivals were calling for clarity over unanswered questions about whether he shares any business ties with a city councillor.
As reported Friday, Mccallum has declined to answer Postmedia’s questions about what, if any, connection he has with Coun. Allison Patton’s Mountainview Wellness Centre, including his involvement in a recent police incident at the naturopathic clinic. Video footage obtained by Postmedia showed Mccallum involved in a dispute between Patton and her former longtime business partner one evening last month at the business when Surrey RCMP officers arrived to mediate.
Mccallum and Patton have not responded to calls or emails. Some Surrey councillors, including two former Safe Surrey members who quit the party last year, say the mayor and Patton should clear the air about whether they have any professional relationship beyond being council colleagues.
Coalition Coun. Laurie Guerra said questions about Mccallum and Patton are a “non-issue,” and she “thinks very highly” of the mayor.
“He’s the only one with experience on council,” Guerra said. “He’s been very calm, very rational, he’s been kind.”
While Safe Surrey’s one-vote majority is slim, there’s no indication it’s in jeopardy, as the party’s councillors were vocal Friday in their support for the mayor and the party’s key campaign pledges of building Skytrain to Langley and transitioning from the RCMP to a municipal police force.
As long as the mayor is focused on those priorities, Coalition Coun. Mandeep Nagra said Friday, “then he has my full confidence.”
Mccallum previously served as Surrey’s mayor from 1996 to 2005, before returning to the office in the 2018 election, leading the Safe Surrey Coalition to a near-sweep, filling eight of nine council seats. Since then, however, the party’s majority has thinned to the slimmest of margins after three Coalition members quit the party last year, leaving Mccallum’s group with five votes out of nine.
Councillors Brenda Locke and Jack Hundial, who were both elected with Safe Surrey before leaving the party last year, say the mayor should clarify if he’s had any business relationship with Patton.
Both pointed to his support for her appointment last year to the Metro Vancouver board, a position that brings added remuneration.
However, Coalition Coun. Doug Elford said the former Coalition councillors’ criticisms are “a stretch,” adding “it’s all political.”
But Mccallum’s immediate predecessor in the mayor’s office, Linda Hepner, agrees with the councillors seeking more transparency, saying: “I think that’s a request the public would expect them to make.”
Hepner has no knowledge of whether any conflict of interest actually exists on council, she said, “and that’s why the transparency is so important.”
The public must have confidence council is making decisions on their merits, Hepner said, “and especially when there is such a narrow margin of majority, you have to be extra cautious to assure the public.”
Surrey’s policing transition is on the agenda for Monday’s council meeting, as council considers authorizing $500,000 for software security upgrades as part of launching a municipal department.
He’s the only one with experience on council. He’s been very calm, very rational, he’s been kind.