SAFE Surrey Coalition on Thursday said in a statement that “within one week of the 2018 municipal election that saw [them] win 8/9 spots on Surrey City Council, a covert political meeting was organized by then Councillor-elect Brenda Locke and Councillor-elect Jack Hundial.”
“Invites were extended to Councillor-elect Doug Elford and Councillor-elect Allison Patton for a political proposal designed to usurp the election results,” it added.
According to Elford: “The clandestine meeting we were asked to attend floated the idea of Councillor Patton and I leaving the Safe Surrey Coalition to form a new political party to oppose Mayor Doug McCallum. Other than the personal grievances they expressed to us, there was no reason relating to public policy or the good of citizens ever provided.”
According to Patton: “I didn’t understand why we were asked to attend in secret, and by the end of the meeting, I questioned why Brenda Locke or Jack Hundial ever agreed to run with the Safe Surrey Coalition. I was focused on the three principles that we ran and won on, and here were two of my running mates who were immediately ready to abandon their commitments without any rationale.”
Safe Surrey Coalition said: “These accounts are in stark contrast to the statements made by both Locke and Hundial when they departed the Safe Surrey Coalition many months later.”
Locke said on June 27, 2019: “I was elected by the people of Surrey to speak up for them and advocate for their interests, but it has become impossible to do as part of Safe Surrey.”
Hundial said on July 18, 2019: “[The Mayor] turned to old style party politics where elected councillors were expected to nod their heads in agreement. It didn’t even come close to resembling the coalition that I was promised when I joined the SSC.”
Safe Surrey Coalition said: “These commentaries both belie the facts of the meeting Councillor Eflord and Councillor Patton were invited to, as at that point, no Council meetings nor Council business had yet occurred. In fact, none of the individuals in attendance has yet been sworn in.
“Locke and Hundial’s offer at the October 2018 meeting is also contrary to their unanimous vote in favour of the policing transition that took place in the first City Council meeting weeks later.”
According to Elford: “Both their initial statements at the time of leaving the Safe Surrey Coalition, as well as their ongoing public statements, are designed to mask their naked, self-serving ambitions.”
He added: “I take the commitments my colleagues and I made to voters very seriously, so it is shocking to see the deceit being used to fuel delusions of political grandeur and false narratives supposedly in support of citizens.”
