Editor:
To call Mayor McCallum and councillors the SAFE Surrey Coalition is outrageous.
Refusing to implement increases to police and fire protection services, in a rapidly growing city, is outrageous.
To postpone or eliminate provisions to increase and improve community resources in a rapidly growing city, is outrageous.
The bizarre end to the budgetary process Dec. 16 was beyond comprehension in a democratic society.
How do Couns. Elford, Guerra, Nagra and Patton feel in their role as puppets to the mayor?
Do they not realize that this whole issue of a separate Surrey police force is revenge for McCallum’s inability to get along with the RCMP during his previous term of office?
Former mayor Dianne Watts, probably the most capable mayor Surrey has had for decades, noted this when she succeeded McCallum after his first term.
The best service to the City of Surrey that any one or two of these four could do is to break from voting with the Safe Surrey Coalition.
The mayor would then not have his automatic majority – to the benefit of all.
Surrey residents would be safer and better served if the millions of dollars committed to the transition from RCMP to a private Surrey police force were spent filling the additional police and fire department positions cancelled in 2019 and 2020 by this council.
Eric H. O’Dell, South Surrey
