Thursday January 26, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 8)
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Games-bound: After years playing with the boys, Sydney Kreps is hitting the ice with an all-girls squad at the B.C. Winter Games. see page age 43
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
Bright lights, bad process: White Rock mayor weighs in on pier overhaul
‘No more last-minute panic attacks’ Dan Ferguson Staff Reporter
Dan Ferguson photo
White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin takes a swipe at the process that produced new lights and arches for the city’s pier.
Mayor Wayne Baldwin thinks the new lights and arches for White Rock’s famous pier will look wonderful – but he’s no fan of the way the overhaul was carried out. “I cannot think of a more poorly processed project,” Baldwin said Monday (Jan. 23), following receipt of a report explaining why the new lights and arches were not installed by their Dec. 15 deadline. The report by director of engineering and municipal operations Rob Thompson said while the 30 new lamp standards were installed by Dec. 11, “a delivery issue” will postpone installation of the 15 new arches until mid-February. The mayor said in time, taxpayers will look at the completed project “and remark on how wonderful it looks and express their pride in it.” But the way it came to be is another matter, Baldwin said. “It was a project that was conceived in mid2010, was unable to make the 2011 budget cut, but then popped up on a council agenda on Sept. 19 as a major safety concern,” Baldwin said. “Council had to make a decision on the evening of Sept. 19 to fund this project using $390,000 of unbudgeted capital in order to avoid losing $20,000 in federal grant money and fix the alleged safety problems.” Baldwin complained that the “unrealistically tight” schedule meant potential bidders only had 12 days to prepare proposals, the result being that there was only one bidder. The mayor added council was “disrespectfully denied” the opportunity to discuss the matter of replacing the temporary Christmas arches with see page 4
Surrey mayor calls idea ‘an age-old argument that won’t solve problem’
Legalize pot to disarm gangsters: expert Kevin Diakiw Black Press
In the last month, Surrey has seen eight shootings, four of them fatal. Police say it’s been an unfortunate spike in gun violence, but they also note that’s how violent crime presents itself – in peaks and valleys. Overall, police and politicians point out, the number of homicides in 2011 was down. There were 12 killings in the city last year and the overall annual average for the past 10 years has been 13.
Last week, in letters to federal Minister call to arms is a familiar political refrain – of Justice and Attorney General Rob Nich- popular with voters, but ineffective public olson and Minister of Pubpolicy. ❝What you’ve got to do lic Safety Vic Toews, Mayor “That’s all nice and it would Dianne Watts called on the be good if it worked, but it is get at the underlying federal government for stiffer won’t,” Gordon said. sentences for people involved issue – the drug trade – or He believes adults should tolerate the shootings.❞ be allowed access to mariin gun crimes and a better guard against the number of juana, while the substance is Rob Gordon guns flowing across the U.S. taxed and regulated to keep criminologist border. it out of the hands of kids, But Simon Fraser University criminologist similar to the alcohol and tobacco model. and policing expert Rob Gordon said Watts’ It’s estimated that in B.C. the export of mari-
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juana is a $6-billion-a-year industry. “What you’ve got to do is get at the underlying issue – the drug trade – or tolerate the shootings,” Gordon said. “It’s one or the other.” Watts noted that the call for harsher sentences is one piece of a much larger strategy, that includes education and prevention. Both Watts and Gordon agree that until something is done about illicit drugs, the gunplay will persist. Upon closer investigation, Gordon believes see page 5
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