TWO-TERM City of Surrey Councillor Bruce Hayne on Thursday announced his decision to resign from his civic political party, Surrey First, and sit the remainder of his term as an independent.
“It comes down to a question of integrity, and I have lost faith in the leadership and direction Surrey First has taken,” said Hayne.
The decision is effective immediately.
This newspaper had on Tuesday reported: “The VOICE has learned that a prominent Surrey Councillor is going to announce that he is quitting Surrey First – “the sinking ship,” as it’s being called now with councillors Judy Villeneuve and Mary Martin and Mayor Linda Hepner deciding not to run again.”
The VOICE ran a story titled, “Is Rich Coleman ready to run for Mayor of Surrey?” on April 26 – The Province newspaper carried the same story on June 10.
This newspaper wrote: “When Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner made the surprise announcement on April 10 that she would not seek re-election in the municipal election in October, The VOICE wrote that “the buzz was that a former B.C. Liberal minister would be quitting provincial politics to run for mayor in Surrey.”
“That person was Rich Coleman.”
Coleman told The Province: “There is a rumour a day about me! I have not made any decision. If I do get close to a decision of any kind, I will let people know.”
In other words, he has not said NO!
Hayne, a long-time Surrey resident and business owner joined Surrey First in 2011 under its founding leader, then-Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts. He is currently serving his second term as Councillor, where he has held a number of key roles including:
- Chairing the City’s Investment and Innovation Committee which oversees the City’s Economic Development strategies including Innovation Boulevard and the Clean Tech sector. The committee also spearheads the City’s Smart City strategies and Open Data initiatives
- Chair of the Parks Recreation and Sport Tourism Committee
- Finance Committee
- Police Committee
- Development Advisory Committee (DAC)
- Audit Committee
- Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association
- Metro Vancouver Board of Directors
- Metro Vancouver Regional Parks
- Metro Vancouver Zero Waste Committee
- Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) – Executive Member
- Intelligent Communities Forum Foundation (ICFF) International