The new vice-chair of the TransLink Mayors’ Council is Langley Township’s Jack Froese.
Froese was acclaimed in the position, with Jonathan Cote of New Westminster acclaimed as chair.
Froese said he and Cote had been talking with the other mayors, and they wanted to ensure there was representation from both the north and south of the Fraser at the top of the group.
With 17 of the 23 mayors on the council newly elected, Cote and Froese are two among the few remaining who have served multiple terms and have experience on the council.
In his third term as mayor, Froese said he has built up an understanding of the TransLink system.
“We’re just one piece of the entire region,” he said.
He and Cote will also be members of the TransLink board of directors, giving them more say over how the transit agency operates.
One of the Mayors’ Council’s biggest decisions came at its first meeting, when it decided to scrap a plan for LRT from Surrey to Langley and to replace it with SkyTrain, as newly-elected Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum had promised during his campaign.
Froese said the plan right now is not set in stone.
“It’s not a done deal,” Froese said. “There’s still steps that have to happen.”
However, he was not on board with forcing LRT on Surrey if the community doesn’t want it.
“You need cooperation, you need the buy in from the community,” he said.
The Mayors’ Council guides TransLink, and approves its budget and major plans.
READ MORE: Metro Vancouver mayors cancel Surrey LRT in favour of SkyTrain
