“Municipal governments have the power to affect change quickly and aggressively, if there is the political will to do so. The One Surrey team will move forward immediately with our new action plan to create a safe and prosperous city, so we can begin building the kind of city residents want and deserve.
Public safety is our number one priority, but controlling spending, creating jobs, investing in community facilities, improving transportation, and managing growth are also key areas of our focus. The first 100 days of any new city council are critical – it is during this time that major priorities defined and the resources required to achieve success are committed. During the first 100 days of a new One Surrey city council, we will act decisively and with clarity on a number of new initiatives.

Community Safety

Last year, there were a record number of murders in Surrey; the wait-and-see approach hasn’t worked - it’s time for action. One Surrey has created the only comprehensive crime plan and the only plan that can be implemented immediately. 
We will establish a new Office of Public Safety at City Hall, which will manage policing, fire, by-law services and a new Community Safety Team. We will begin hiring 200 Community Safety Officers right away, and the entire team will be on the ground by the end of 2015. Failure to achieve this goal will result in an immediate 10 per cent wage cut for all members of Council.
The One Surrey crime plan includes hiring more police and Community Safety Officers, because we can’t afford to wait years for new officers to arrive, our neighbourhoods need help now. 
Our plan was developed by listening to the community and working with Canada’s longest-serving Chief of Police, Delta’s Jim Cessford. Our One Surrey council team includes former RCMP officer Merv Bayda and active Police Detective Kal Dosanjh. Together, they bring 60 years of law enforcement experience to the table, and they will help set us on the path to ensure that Surrey is the safest city in Canada.
The starting point of our approach was simple – if we do not change the way we approaching crime prevention and public safety we cannot make our communities safer. The status-quo is simply not working and One Surrey has an aggressive plan to move forward in a new direction.

Controlling Spending and Respecting Taxpayers

One Surrey believes the City can’t keep raising taxes and sinking into deeper and deeper into debt. Over the last four years, spending at City Hall has increased by $75 million, and debt has gone from zero to $245 million – this is simply not acceptable. City Hall must start thinking like a taxpayer, because waste and abuse of tax dollars will cripple our city. 
We will complete a core review and an independent “value for dollar” audit of each city hall department within 100 days of taking office - we will find the waste and put a stop to it and find opportunities to be more efficient and act on them. We will also cut one per cent of discretionary spending and reinvest it in the public safety budget. 
The new city hall is a shocking example of Surrey’s out-of-control spending – the project was 50 per cent over budget, and the final cost was over $150 million. One Surrey will ensure this type of excess never happens again. Within 100 days, we will complete an independent audit of the new city hall project to understand where things went wrong and where tax dollars were wasted. 
We will also end the culture of entitlement that has taken over City Hall and eroded the trust of taxpayers. We will immediately end the overly generous severance provided to elected officials, put a cap on expenses for the Mayor, Council and Staff, end the Mayor’s car allowance, and stop the needless travel junkets and trips to foreign countries.
Our city cannot move forward until our residents trust their government again. That means respecting tax dollars and ending the perks that only Surrey’s elected officials enjoy. 

Jobs 

Surrey is a rapidly growing city. In the next decade, another 100,000 people will move here. We need to build a sustainable economy that protects our environment, while continuing to create a high quality of life for our residents. By creating new jobs, capitalizing on both our human and infrastructure assets, and getting our finances in order, Surrey can become a key centre of investment and job creation in the Province. 

Community Facilities for Families

We are a city of young families and construction of recreation facilities has not kept up with growth. One Surrey has already announced that we will make Surrey the largest field hockey hub in North America by building a new facility at Tamanawis Park. 
We have also committed to redeveloping the Cloverdale Fairgrounds to create an economic and sporting hub, including a trade centre, sporting facility and new transit connections to serve Surrey’s fastest growing town centre.
But, we are very aware of the critical need for additional sporting facilities in each of our town centres. In collaboration with residents, we will immediately begin a comprehensive review to assess and monitor the current shortages, and we will have a capital plan completed in early in 2015.

Investing in Public Transit and Transportation

In today’s world, mobility is essential, so we must get Surrey moving again. Congestion is a real problem in Surrey – it is damaging our economy and quality of life. Families and businesses are fed up with traffic jams and inadequate public transit. 
Our city has waited patiently for rapid transit funding for too many years, and Surrey has been pushed from the front of the line twice. The last Skytrain station in Surrey was built over two decades ago. For over 20 years, successive Mayors and Councils have failed to improve public transit – a costly failure for our community. 
We will take action immediately to develop a new plan to fast-track rapid bus and community shuttle services, as well as improve traffic flow, including solving parking issues in neighbourhoods and for truck operators. 
At the same time, we will meet with our provincial and federal counterparts to work on a plan to expand the public transit network in Surrey. One Surrey will also work and for a fair and equitable bridge tolling strategy, as well as a new six-lane Pattullo bridge. It is simply not fair that residents living south of the Fraser River are the only residents in the Lower Mainland forced to pay tolls during their daily commute.
It’s time for new ideas and new approaches at City Hall. We’ve made progress over the past decade, but all the progress we have made is in jeopardy if people don’t feel safe, if our economy is stuck in traffic, and we don’t start controlling spending. The residents of Surrey are demanding better and want fresh thinking brought to local government realize the full potential of our great city. The One Surrey team has listened. We are prepared to take the decisive action Surrey needs to build a safe and prosperous city.