She is the 36th mayor of B.C.’s second-largest city, and she recently delivered her first state of the city address to a packed house at the Sheraton Guildford Hotel in Surrey.
But most Lower Mainland residents are still getting to know the leader of one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities.
Since Linda Hepner took office last December, she has been front and centre in the press concerning hot-button issues like transit and crime, in a community pegged as possessing immense economic potential. New business and development projects are flocking to the city, making it a prime destination for forward-thinking individuals looking to predict the Lower Mainland’s next hot spot.
Hepner’s trial-by-fire mayorship has her following the footsteps of three-term incumbent Dianne Watts, who abruptly decided not to seek a fourth term in early 2014, less than a year before the municipal election. Hepner revealed Watts approached her privately about taking over, and Hepner said her decision to carry the torch came down to one thing.
“I looked at it and said, ‘Would I serve under another mayor? No.’”
Having recently celebrated her 66th birthday, Hepner spoke to Business in Vancouver from her city hall office in a wide-ranging discussion that spanned all the way back to her upbringing in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
From her office on the top floor of a building that’s had its share of controversy over skyrocketing construction costs and legal battles, Hepner showed off the south-facing view from her balcony that overlooks the heart of the downtown core.
With construction on the 52-storey 3 Civic Plaza underway to the left and SkyTrain cars zooming by on their way to and from Central City station, Hepner’s office view boasts some of the city’s most celebrated economic development projects as part of its landscape.
“It is a constant requirement for me to think at the 30,000-foot level,” she said.
“You can’t get down and think, ‘Do I have a portfolio to deliver on this?’ It is constantly, ‘Where does this city need to be? And what is going to get us there with each decision I make?’”
Hepner moved to Surrey after living in multiple provinces, as her first husband took a job as a systems technician in 1984 working on SkyTrain pre-construction. Hepner hit the employment circuit and found a position in the city’s legal department covering a maternity leave. That turned into working as the assistant to the city manager, where she won the job over a hundred other candidates with a key response during the interview phase.
In 1985 the city’s motto was “Excellence in Local Government,” and Hepner was asked to interpret what that meant to her.
“I remember to this day what my answer was. I remember saying, ‘To me excellence in local government was that when someone calls in as a resident, you answer the phone. You don’t put them on hold, you answer the phone even if it’s not your department. You find out the answer and you get back to them and you don’t give them the runaround.’”
Closing in on 30 years as a public servant and elected official, Hepner continues to stand by that response.
James Stewart, a lawyer and partner with Hamilton Duncan Armstrong + Stewart who’s been practising in Surrey since 1980, said Hepner has thus far handled a difficult role with calm and poise.
“The comments that I hear in the business community about her leadership and the job that she is doing are overwhelmingly positive.”
Stewart acknowledged Surrey is currently under a spotlight as it evolves from Lower Mainland afterthought to big-city metropolitan hub.
“There are some very difficult and complex issues to deal with in Surrey. And frankly some are issues that no other city or level of government is dealing with particularly successfully. But in my view Mayor Hepner is actively seeking practical solutions rather than waiting for someone else to do it. This bodes well for us all.”
