The Editor,

I’m going to speak only for myself, but I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way.

I’m tired of not being heard by our city council. We, the residents of Surrey, can write a million letters and emails, make a million calls, follow codes and agreements to the letter, and Doug McCallum and the rest of the Safe Surrey Coalition just don’t seem to listen to us.

We get “cancelled” by our councillors – who are employed by us – if we don’t agree with them, or question them, even if we do it respectfully and politely. We get blocked from commenting on their social media pages, our emails go unacknowledged, our calls cut off.

I would dearly love for just one member of the SSC to actually vote against their majority on an important matter (like the impending road through Bear Creek Park), because the majority of residents didn’t then, and I suspect don’t now, want it.

I would love one member of the SSC to stand up and insist on a transparent public consultation about this, and then actually listen to us about it. But it won’t happen. I have no faith that it will.

We voted for them. We put them in office. Even if we didn’t vote for them, we still pay them from our tax dollars. The SSC forgets this small, yet important fact. They work for us.

I have been a proud, law-abiding, resident and taxpayer in Surrey for more than 25 years.

I have always been proud to say this. Until now. I can’t say I’m happy to live in a city where our voices don’t matter.

Heather Tait, Surrey

Surrey Now Leader