Two hot-button issues loomed large over Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner’s May 20 state of the city address at Surrey’s Sheraton Guildford Hotel.
The announcement of federal approval for 100 additional RCMP officers to help fight crime came alongside ongoing reports in the past few weeks of increased gun-related violence in Surrey. According to first-quarter statistics from the Surrey RCMP’s website, violent crime rates were 40% higher this year than in 2014’s first quarter.
“There’s no question that the headlines over the past few weeks have captured everyone’s attention,” said Hepner during her speech. “No community is immune to crime. What we’ve seen in the region has made us all question our safety.”
A few weeks ago, Hepner publicly stated she would not be fielding media requests concerning crime; however, the tone during her speech was more open and forthcoming.
“And I want to start that new chapter by dealing head on with the issue of public safety. In a lot of ways, it’s one of those elephants in the room.”
Hepner announced the City of Surrey is hiring a director of public safety strategies who will be responsible for integrating RCMP, fire and bylaw programs throughout the city.
During questions from reporters after her address, Hepner responded to questions about Monday morning’s SkyTrain Expo Line malfunction in which three Surrey SkyTrain stops were shut down for approximately an hour, stranding many commuters. Hepner said the shutdown comes as a bellwether as the May 29 deadline for Elections BC to receive ballots for the Metro Vancouver transit referendum approaches.
“This affects peoples lives, and I think that’s what we’re trying to say. Relative to the transit vote is that in order to make sure we keep the whole region running a little more smoothly in terms of congestion, we should be voting yes.”
Hepner called the transit vote the “other elephant in the room” she hopes to tackle head-on after her first six months on the job. Crime and transit were two issues former mayor Dianne Watts, who attended the event, conceded during her final state of the city address last year that she could have done more to address.
