Surrey foes attack McCallum’s no-tax-hikes pledge

Doug McCallum is taking another run at the mayor’s seat on Surrey city council, announcing his new campaign Monday with a promise of no property tax increases for four years and sparking renewed political attacks from other mayoral candidates.

McCallum is running for the Safe Surrey Coalition along with Couns. Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra. McCallum promised a full slate will be announced within six weeks.

“Surrey, I never stopped working for you,” said McCallum, who lost to current Mayor Brenda Locke by just 973 votes.

“We delivered SkyTrain to Clayton Heights, brought UBC to our city, built Bear Creek Stadium, built the 84th Avenue Road Connector that linked communities, and widened roads across the city, and we did it all while keeping property taxes at historic lows,” he said.

He’s also campaigning on building a new swimming pool in Clayton Heights.

Coun. Linda Annis, who is running for mayor, said she was skeptical of McCallum’s campaign promise of no tax increases for four years.

“When Doug McCallum was mayor, he boasted about his 2.9 percent tax increases, which was total fiction,” noted Annis. “You only had to look at your tax bill to see that all of his extra charges, such as increasing the flat rate parcel tax from $100 to $300, meant people were seeing their taxes go up by as much as 20 percent, something he didn’t want to talk about.”

Mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk was equally dubious.

“His zero-percent property tax pledge isn’t a plan — it’s a trap,” Starchuk said. “Zero per cent means higher fees at your community centre, slower permit approvals, and fewer officers to respond to 911 calls. Surrey families have seen this movie before. They know how the Part 3 sequel would end.”

While saying he won’t raise property taxes, McCallum said he will do this while also promising a “zero tolerance policy on criminal and extortion activity” with expanded policing resources, to purchase a dedicated helicopter for the Surrey Police Service, and to extend the SkyTrain to Newton.

“The aircraft will provide aerial surveillance and rapid response capability to combat gang activity and extortion across the city,” McCallum said.