McCallum welcomes Laurie Guerra as eighth Council candidate of Safe Surrey Coalition

Laurie Guerra

SAFE Surrey Coalition mayoral candidate Doug McCallum said on Monday that he’s very pleased to welcome Laurie Guerra to the Safe Surrey Coalition.

“As the eighth Council candidate nominated Laurie completes the coalition. This creates balance with four women and four me all of them bringing unique and valuable perspectives to the table,”  McCallum said.

“Laurie has long track record of being involved with organizations that make a positive difference. I look forward to working with her and everyone on the Safe Surrey Coalition. Together we will build a city you can be proud of.”

(Front row, L-R) Steven Pettigrew, Bableen Rana, Doug McCallum, Brenda Locke and Mandeep Nagra; (back row, L-R) Jack Hundial, Laurie Guerra, Doug Elford and Dr. Allison Patton.

The other Safe Surrey Coalition candidates for Council are Jack Hundial, former RCMP Staff-Sergeant, Steven Pettigrew, local activist and leader of the Save Hawthorne Park group, former minister of state Brenda Locke, prominent businessman Mandeep Nagra, Doug Elford, who quit as president of the Surrey Community Alliance to join McCallum’s party, lawyer Bableen Rana, and Dr. Allison Patton, a distinguished community physician.

Laurie has lived in Surrey for 27 years. She currently resides in Fleetwood with her husband and five children.

Safe Surrey Coalition noted: “She has solid small business experience, both locally and internationally. On council she will be a strong voice for good fiscal management. The city’s financial position has deteriorated with Surrey First. It needs to improve.

“Guerra is also concerned about public safety. She has been a director at Surrey Crime Prevention Society for the past four years and is an active participant in her local community as captain of her neighborhood Block Watch.

“She also held the position of Chair of the Community Council for Surrey – under the Ministry for Children and Family Development – Community Living (CLBC) branch.

“But, the cause closest to her home is autism. Eighteen years ago, at the age of five, her son was diagnosed with autism. Ever since then, Laurie has been a director of the Autism Society of British Columbia; chairing the Community Networking Committee through the ASBC and facilitating the Surrey Parent Support Group for the organization; she has sat on the executive as Secretary for two terms, Vice-President for two terms, President for two terms and currently serving as a Director of AutismBC.”

2 COMMENTS

  1. Without the establishment of a network of legitimate* rapid transit lines in the South of Fraser sub-region-
    SOF cities will be permanently economically damaged…

    * Legitimate meaning- Automated (computer-driven), separated-from-roadway, rapid… as opposed to Surrey First’s FAKE rapid-transit: IE- human-driven, in-middle-of-roadway SLOW** street-car (“LRT”) lines

    ** 30 Miles Per Hour maximum- that’s the speed limit on roadways where Surrey First’s street-car lines would be built;

    South of Fraser cities should be provided a network of rapid-transit lines that is comparable in technologies and quality to North of Fraser cities’ network of 5*** legitimate rapid transit rail lines…

    *** Expo, Millennium, Evergreen, and Canda Lines, AND the West Coast Express Heavy Rail line…

    Legitimate rapid-transit lines are needed:

    a) From Scott Road SkyTrain station west along Scott Road, then south along Scott Road up the hill, and eventually to Scottsdale Mall (with new station and100+ meter long platform station built there)… and then east along 72nd (or east along 64th) to King George Boulevard…, and then north along King George Boulevard to King George Station (near city hall);

    b) From North Surrey’s King George (SkyTrain) Station along the Fraser Highway to/ from the 2 Langleys;

    During the past 3 decades, Metro Vancouver’s “North of Fraser” cities have benefited immensely- in terms of economic development- from having a network of 4 legitimate rapid-transit lines (Expo, Millennium, Evergreen and Canada Lines) in the NOF area… enabling several- such as Burnaby, to build up huge ($1 billion +) reserve funds, while several of the booming in populations, long neglected South of Fraser cities have gone into debt…

    South of Fraser cities should not be denied the same opportunities as MV’s North Of Fraser cities to economically develop themselves- by establishing Densification and Economic Development Hubs that are linked by a network of legitimate rapid-transit lines…
    =================

    References:

    2013:
    https://www.straight.com/life/354186/towers-rise-burnaby-all-according-plan

    “(Burnaby’s) assistant director of current planning, Ed Kozak, explain why high-rise developments are being concentrated in four town centres linked by rapid transit: Metrotown, Brentwood, Edmonds, and Lougheed.

    “’Part of our responsibility to the region is to allow more places for people to live,” Jordan says. “So those are the places where we have designated for high density: density around (rapid) transit, housing around transit.’”

    ==============

    New Westminster:
    https://biv.com/article/2017/07/new-westminsters-rising-tower-power

    “New Westminster council approved zoning for the largest tower the city has ever seen: Bosa Development’s 53-storey condominium skyscraper.

    “The building is part of a project that will include a second 43-storey tower and a three-storey commercial building, all built on the New Westminster riverfront****”

    https://pierwestbybosa.com/

    **** Facing North Surrey and its decades-old outrageous eyesore mess of scrap metals dealers, junk yards, sawdust “mountains”… spread aimlessly across 250 + acres adjacent to the Scott Road SkyTrain Station….

    This North Surrey area should be a priority for Surrey city council as a city of Surrey/ BC govt/Govt of Canada redevelopment mega-project…
    =============================

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/what-will-or-should-burnaby-do-with-its-1b-reserve-fund-1.4253774

    “(Burnaby) has accumulated more than $1 billion in reserve funding… by cashing in on the recent development boom in the region.

    “Community benefits, much of it in the form of cash, have been coughed up by developers in exchange for building homes with more density”

    https://www.burnabynow.com/news/burnaby-s-257-million-surplus-more-than-double-projected-for-2017-1.23298921

    https://www.burnaby.ca/Assets/our+city+hall/financial+reports/2017+-+2021+Financial+Plan.pdf

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