Yesterday, we published Part I of our interview with Mayor Wayne Baldwin of White Rock, who shed a bit of light on what’s been happening in the ‘City by the Sea”, and his experiences as both Mayor and City Manager.
Today, some regional and electoral context — are White Rock residents dealing with the same issues as other Metro Vancouver residents? What’s his impression of the field of candidates in his city, as we prepare for unprecedented turnover?
And a discussion of amalgamation…is that a thing in White Rock? (Side question for you, dear reader — when was the last time you looked at White Rock on a map?)
What advice would you give candidates running in White Rock?
I think the main thing is stick to your principles. Don’t compromise. And grow a very, very, very thick skin. I’ve been involved in local government for over 30 years, and I’ve worked for six mayors and one chair of the regional district. And things have changed dramatically.
I think social media has been abused. It could be a very useful tool, but it’s also a tool for people who have something to say, don’t have the courage to say it to your face, but get it out in a very public manner. It’s made the job much much more difficult in some respects. And certainly not as attractive in many as well, which I think is part of the reason why you have half the region’s mayors packing it in.
Is there anyone exciting you this election cycle, giving you encouragement for the future of White Rock?
Uh…no, not really. I’ve seen a number of them that I’m concerned about, but I don’t see too many that get me excited. I think most of them are just a continuation of what’s been going on. And quite frankly, I think a lot of the candidates really don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Some of them are still of the opinion that White Rock controls the hospitals and the schools, and of course no municipality does that. It’s not atypical.
I think it’s going to be a bitter campaign because of the division between the growth group and the no-growth group, who want things to return to 1950s kind of thing. So we’ll see how that works out.
What are the biggest regional challenges?
I would say there are two of them, and they’re linked. The first one is transportation, and the second one is population growth, and trying to deal with all that that brings, which brings up the question of affordability, and supply versus demand. But I think those are the two root causes, and in the end I’m not sure which one is more important. There’s no question that we have to plan for both and provide for both. Right now, TransLink right is doing a reasonably good job of trying to get ahead of the curve, or at least stay up with it. And it’s going to be an uphill struggle, but there are some serious challenges for the region, no question about it. Things are changing. People don’t like change. And that’s as simple as it is.
What’s the benefit to White Rock of TransLink moving into Phase 2 of the Mayors Plan?
We will benefit somewhat from it. At this point in time it really doesn’t work real well to get to Skytrain — it’s a real pain. To go to King George Station and find parking or anything like that is a journey unto itself. It takes me almost as long to drive to Skytrain as it does to drive directly to Metrotown in Burnaby. And the buses are crowded. Now, we’re going to get more buses which is good, so the frequency will improve. Not hugely — we won’t come anywhere near Vancouver in terms of frequency — but it will be an improvement, so there will be something for us. And I guess indirectly, the biggest thing for us is it gets everyone off the road. So it’ll be easier to commute I suppose.
Click on map to enlarge.
What about amalgamation? Has this come up recently, and would you say it is anywhere on the horizon?
It comes up every every seven years or so, I think. Something pops up and somebody starts going at it.
In 30 years, White Rock has grown from about 12,000 to about 20,000 — our growth rate is quite low, actually. South Surrey, on the other hand, with whom we would amalgamate, has grown from about 12,000 to about 110,000. If there were an amalgamation, the decision-making would not lie with White Rock, for one thing. It would lie with Surrey. And I would think that Surrey would be most reluctant to give up South Surrey because it’s pretty much their prime area, taxation-wise.
In fact, probably the bulk of their growth is in South Surrey, so I don’t think they would ever give that up to create a separate municipality of South Surrey White Rock, or whatever it would be called. For one thing, the people in White Rock would certainly be a huge minority. And there would have to be a referendum to allow it to happen, as I understand it, and that’s very unlikely to happen.
Now if it were amalgamation, White Rock would probably be absorbed by Surrey, and Surrey would be happy with that I’m sure. White Rock, maybe not so much.
Going forward, will you stay involved in some way with politics?
I’m going to be a professional retiree, that’s my plan. I will probably keep an eye on things. I might say something from time to time, but other than that, I’m not going to get involved in politics anymore. I was a reluctant participant in the first place, but I’ve had enough.
It’s time for someone else to step up and take it on, and hopefully be able to do a good job. I’m sure they will. We’ll see how it works out.
