The voters of Surrey and White Rock spoke loudly and clearly on Saturday.
Like it or not, the majority have called for a major course correction for both cities.
In White Rock, incumbent councillors Helen Fathers and David Chesney, who spent most of the last term resisting the momentum of the White Rock Coalition agenda and the ‘my way or the highway’ style of Mayor Wayne Baldwin, both won the highest endorsement from voters.
Mayor-elect Darryl Walker and his Democracy Direct council candidate colleagues – almost a complete antithesis of the Coalition style and substance championed by council incumbent and mayoralty hopeful Grant Meyer – swept the rest of the seats.
In Surrey, mayor-elect Doug McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition also dominated the polls, taking all the council seats save one – claimed by Surrey First’s Linda Annis – and eradicating the bids of incumbents Tom Gill and Bruce Hayne to lead new civic government teams.
READ MORE: Democracy Direct wins council majority: ‘We have to give the city back to the people of White Rock’
READ MORE: Surrey’s mayor-elect McCallum has big promises to keep
There can be no doubt that the successful candidates’ messages resonated with some deeply-rooted emotions among taxpayers. And it’s hard not to read a resounding slap to policies of the previous councils in the final tally.
In White Rock, Democracy Direct has called for a review of the OCP and a slowing of the pace of highrise-oriented development (although the city is legally obligated to currently-approved projects). They have also promised “safe, clean water” which, depending on who you speak to, may mean connecting to the Metro Vancouver water system, in spite of a huge federal and provincial investment in the city utility.
A promise of transparency and open communication with the public is one they will likely be held to above all others.
McCallum’s Safe Surrey has promised to abandon the LRT line – which has also received huge federal investment – in favour of expanded Skytrain service, and to establish a Surrey police force rather than renewing the RCMP contract. The costs of such steps are hard to calculate, and may be, ultimately, even harder to swallow.
The new faces on both councils will have to balance high hopes with political and fiscal realities – and realize that it is easier to criticize from outside than to govern from inside. They have tough decisions ahead of them and the job begins now.
Promises made during an election campaign are three-a-penny. It’s only after the shouting dies down that their true worth will be measured.