Thursday April 12, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 30 30) 0)
V O I C E
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W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
5K in their shoes: A group of students at Southridge School has organized a five-kilometre run to raise money to build schools in emerging countries. see page A11
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
TransLink commissioner says savings achievable without cuts, but mayors unsure
Overruled fee hikes jeopardize routes Jeff Nagel Black Press
TransLink Commissioner Martin Crilly has vetoed a steep transit fare increase next year, ordering TransLink officials to instead carve waste from the transportation authority. It’s good news for passengers, who overwhelmingly opposed the fare hikes. But the decision – which knocks $40-60 million out of TransLink’s assumed revenues
over the next three years and increases the odds of a $23 property tax hike per average home next year to cover commitments to expand transit service – could jeopardize promised service upgrades, including a new White Rock-Langley bus route. Premier Christy Clark had already rejected area mayors’ call for a vehicle levy – or any other new short-term funding source – to avoid the need for the extra $30 million
from the property tax hike, instead vowing an audit will find savings. Crilly said all the savings he is challenging TransLink to find – $15-28 million per year – should be achievable without cutting current or planned services. “We believe this is possible for them to do without service cuts,” he said. But Mayors Council vice-chair Peter Fassbender said that if sufficient savings to offset
both the fare and property tax hikes aren’t found, the mayors could consider revising the Moving Forward plan approved last year, eliminating or delaying promised service upgrades, many of them south of the Fraser. In addition to the new White Rock-Langley route, they include a new Highway 1 bus rapid transit service over the Port Mann Bridge promised when the new bridge see page A4
Impairment alleged
Woman charged in athlete’s death Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Tracy Holmes photo
Ron Eves is hoping statistics that suggest a significant drop in speeding enforcement in White Rock will prompt police to take a closer look.
Campaigns mounted over enforcement
Residents reach out over speeders Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A pair of Peninsula residents – independent of one another – are calling on police to get tough on motorists speeding through White Rock and South Surrey. Ron Eves of White Rock has taken his concerns about an apparent drop in enforcement to his city’s mayor and police chief, while James Cooper of Surrey has asked that his MLA and police bring more attention to stretches of his neighbourhood’s roadways, including 8 Avenue, east of 176 Street, and 176 Street, from the border to Highway 1. Both men say enforcement of the cities’ speed
limits is lacking. Eves is hoping ICBC statistics he shared that show a drop in the number of tickets issued in White Rock over the last seven years will be enough of a nudge to inspire action. “I’m hoping they can see fit to spend a little more time on it,” Eves said Tuesday, noting the figures he received translate to frontline RCMP officers each writing less than one speeding ticket per month in 2010. “What I would like to see is just reasonable traffic enforcement for our city.” But White Rock’s top cop, Staff Sgt. Lesli Roseberry, said efforts to make the city safer focus on more than just speeding.
In an April 10 email to council, Eves and Peace Arch News, Roseberry notes that her 16 general duty officers issued more than 1,000 traffic violation tickets in 2011, for offences ranging from speeding to aggressive and impaired driving. The volume of citations “illustrates a high level of commitment to road safety,” she writes. “Of course, in the deployment of our resources, we are always seeking increased efficiencies and a level of effectiveness that surpasses expectations.” (Roseberry was not available for further comment by PAN deadline Wednesday.) see page A10
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A Surrey woman has been charged in the death of Kassandra Kaulius, who died in a collision in Newton almost a year ago. Natasha Leigh Warren, 34, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death, causing an accident resulting in death and failKassandra Kaulius ure to stop at an victim accident causing bodily harm. Kaulius, 22, was returning home in her older-model BMW from a softball game in Cloverdale on May 3, 2011, when a van ran a red light, smashing into her at the corner of 152 Street and 64 Avenue. Kaulius’ father, Victor, told Black Press Wednesday the family is pleased with the charges and they hope the courts follow up with adequate sentencing. “We’re not looking for the death penalty,” he said. see page A4
WE’RE EXPANDING TO A VERY EXCITING NEW LOCATION IN SOUTH SURREY