With the Surrey mayoral elections still four months away, a new candidate from the South Asian community threatens to shake up the race in a city whose population growth is being fuelled by immigrants and new citizens. Although Barinder Rasode has not yet announced, her candidacy is making the rounds, with observers speculating that name recognition and her independent streak might give her a good shot to replace Mayor Dianne Watts on Nov. 15. While Watts is not running, she has backed Councillor Linda Hepner of the Surrey First Coalition. Former Mayor Doug McCallum and an independent, Vikram Bajwa, are the other two declared candidates. Surrey is populated by more than half-a million-people and growth is expected to continue over the next five years, as forecast in the Annual Official Community Plan. By the end of this decade, Surrey could possibly overtake Vancouver, with most of the growth coming from immigration and low or mid-income families moving into the city. Their votes will play a crucial role in November, with the potential to make life for future immigrants to Surrey better. Another element is the influx of wealthy immigrants and foreign investors who may want more of a say in how the City is run. Their investments would help secure jobs here and improve the economy. Population growth, with a new influx expected to be approximately 10,000 per year over the next electoral term, is the number one issue. The second is public safety and transportation. Over Mayor Watts’ tenure, crime first went down, but spiked again last year, which unfortunately ended with 25 murders. The most horrific was one of late Julie Paskall, who was killed in front of the Newton ice rink while she waited for her son to finish officiating at a hockey game. Since then, the political situation in Surrey has changed rapidly, which probably explains why there are several candidates running to succeed a woman who was once considered one of the most popular mayors in Canada. Hepner, who is a veteran city bureaucrat and three-term Councillor, started her campaign recently with strong backing from incumbent Mayor Watts and many representatives of ethnic communities in Surrey. Her aim in this race is to continue doing what Watts started a decade ago, when she was first elected following the defeat of then mayor, today mayoral hopeful, Doug McCallum. Unfortunately for Hepner, her campaign did not get off to a great start. As is well known, crime and transportation are the main issues, but Hepner has not spoken about them. Instead, in her announcement interview she spoke about her goal to have a ferris wheel and a beach on Surrey Lake – which left most people speechless. Speaking with Kevin Diakiw of The Surrey Leader, Hepner asked: “Why can’t I have a ferris wheel there? Why can’t I have something that brings kids to the waterfront?” The “waterfront” she was referring to is the Bridgeview community of Surrey which is one of the most underdeveloped and a community that struggles with many problems, including transportation and safety. Also, while addressing issues regarding Newton, which has been the scene for many-a-crime, the candidate went on to speak about how she would remove the public ice rink arena from the centre of the community as she sees it as a great location for a mixed residential and business development. McCallum, former City Councillor and three-term mayor of Surrey, frustrated by the current political and security situation in Surrey, decided to run again after almost a decade in political retirement. His aim is to put the city back on track when it comes to finances, security and better policing, and to build on its reputation in the transportation field. McCallum comes into the race with significant political knowledge and experience, but this could also work against him. “With such rapid growth, Surrey requires decisive leadership to tackle some very difficult issues. People are feeling unsafe in their neighbourhoods, spending and debt is out of control, transit services are severely lacking, and a ward system that would help cultural and regional representation on City Council has never been seriously considered. The time for action is now,” McCallum said in statement just before he announced his run to Surrey media just over a week ago. He is quite right in his assertions, but his previous record shows us that McCallum struggled while he served as mayor. Many, including those living today in Surrey’s most insecure neighbourhood of Newton, say that Surrey was Canada’s crime capital during his stint. He is going to have a hard time defending his past record in office, including claims of harassment against him.