Tuesday October 7, 2014 (Vol. 39 No. 80)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
On the board, at last: Good things come to those who wait, and while the Surrey Eagles would’ve rather not waited seven games for their first victory, they finally got into the win column Sunday on home ice. i see page 17
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Mayoral candidates’ trade shots over proposed policing policies, funding
Unarmed officers pose danger: Hepner Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Mayoral candidates are under fire as opponents ask how they will fund their increased policing promises. And Linda Hepner is accusing former Surrey First teammate Barinder Rasode of endangering the community with her plan to hire 200 community-safety personnel – trained like police officers but unarmed, to respond
to minor incidents and free up regular RCMP officers to take on the more serious issues. Hepner dismissed Rasode’s plan as nearly identical to the Surrey Crime Strategy “which has been in place since 2007, is almost 90 per cent complete and was developed with input from more than 100 community agencies and organizations.� “The only real difference is that Rasode’s version will spend $8 million to put 200
well-intentioned, but inexperienced, citizens on the street, creating a danger to themselves and the community,� Hepner said in a news release Thursday afternoon. “The people she’s talking about are not trained police officers. Policing is serious business and it needs to be handled by professionals.� Rasode announced last week that her plans as mayor would include soon-to-be retired Delta Police Chief Jim Cessford in a new role
as a deputy city manager to oversee police, firefighters, the legal department and bylaws. She said her safety-personnel plan will cost about $8 million and can be funded with the one per cent of unused discretionary funding she said city staff has told her is available. That figure would eventually rise to $12 million per year when the officers reached a full pay rate of $28 an hour. i see page 9
New role for Smith
Hospital champion moves on to BCIT Alex Browne Staff Reporter
It’s a time of mingled excitement and sadness for Jackie Smith. The executive director of the Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation will be moving on to a new post in the new year – as executive director of the BCIT Foundation in Burnaby. “It’s a newly created position,� said Smith, adding the foundation is seeking to help and grow funding for education through Jackie Smith the institute in executive director the same way that the PAH foundation has focused and consolidated support for health care on the Semiahmoo Peninsula. “I’m an alumnus of BCIT – it almost feels like going full circle in life and career for me,� she said, adding that Kathy Kinloch, president of the institute for the past nine months, was a former chief operating officer for Fraser Health. i see page 8
Forever on their minds
Boaz Joseph photo
Twenty years after South Surrey teenager Pamela Cameron was grabbed off the street and killed on Oct. 4, 1994 by a repeat offender, a gathering was held Saturday at The Forever Garden in South Surrey Athletic Park – dedicated, after Cameron’s death, to youth who die before their time.
Annable, Sinclair team up with incumbents, two others to form coalition
Civic-slate idea returns to White Rock Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
With the election-nomination deadline on the fast-approaching horizon, White Rock’s list of council hopefuls is growing and shifting shape – with the announcement this week of a slate – and a pledge to challenge the mayor’s seat has been withdrawn. A half-dozen White Rock council candidates, including two incumbents, plan to officially
launch their team effort this Friday at 5 p.m. – one hour after the nomination period for the Nov. 15 municipal election closes. A statement released Monday identifies incumbents Grant Meyer and Bill Lawrence, former councillors Lynne Sinclair and Cliff Annable, notary Megan Knight and Tourism White Rock vice-president Doug Hart as members of the White Rock Coalition. It describes the slate as “a non-partisan team
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of independents working together for a better White Rock.� Annable was among candidates in the 2011 municipal election who had planned to run as part of a five-member Team White Rock slate. That idea – announced at the time by now-incumbent mayor Wayne Baldwin – was shelved shortly after, with a lack of support for such groups cited as a driving factor. i see page 10
DR. AVI SAHOTA
DR. KAREN SAHOTA
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