Surrey’s last independent city Councillor Steven Pettigrew has not ruled out joining forces with fellow councillors Brenda Locke and Jack Hundial in their new Surrey Connect slate.
“It’s a natural progression of their political life,” Pettigrew said. “Jack’s left the door open for me and I appreciate that. Just let them get settled in a bit first. There’s no rush I have to join them this week, they’re just getting things going here and so we’re talking about things.
“There’s no animosity, we get along really well,” he said, “and I have great respect for them and vice versa.”
Pettigrew said “trying to help run the city is taking enough of my mental powers. That’s the main thing. We’ve got a lot of challenges we need to take care of.”
“Give them a chance to get settled, and get all their ducks in a row,” he said of Locke and Hundial’s new alliance, revealed earlier this week.
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Surrey city council is now comprised of five Safe Surrey Coalition members, two Surrey Connect members, independent Pettigrew, and Councillor Linda Annis with Surrey First. When this council was elected in 2018, there were eight SSC members and one with Surrey First.
Pettigrew, Locke and Hundial, in that order, parted ways last year with the Safe Surrey Coalition over frustration with Mayor Doug McCallum’s leadership at city hall.
Pettigrew split from the SSC in May then Locke bailed in June, disgruntled with what she characterized as McCallum’s “my way or the highway” approach to governance.
Hundial split from the coalition in July, to also sit as an independent, saying it didn’t resemble the SSC he got elected with in 2018. For Hundial, the “final straw” was when McCallum dissolved Surrey’s public safety committee.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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