Editor:
Re: Raises for Surrey council, March 4
Anger does not begin to describe what I’m feeling.
We are in the middle of a pandemic, tens of thousands of Surrey residents have lost their jobs, hundreds of businesses have closed their doors permanently. Thanks to the present council, our taxes have gone up hundreds of dollars and our city has incurred a massive debt.
The boutique new police department costs have more than tripled to this point with no end in sight, not a single pair of boots on the ground and no indication when that will happen or when the flow of resources will stop.
It appears that it is now acceptable to reward incompetence and a total lack of empathy for the people of Surrey.
“To achieve better alignment with the market” is the pathetic excuse for this spineless secret action. Laurie Guerra hides behind the Local Government Act because politicians are either unwilling or unable to defend their self-gratification in public.
The honourable thing to have done was to table the recommendation until the city was back on its feet. But we are talking about politicians, and honourable ones are as rare as hens’ teeth.
I, for one, cannot wait until the next election and we can rid our city of the SSC and Mayor McCallum.
Chris Hale, South Surrey