Surrey mayor hopeful Barinder Rasode has an ally in Cloverdale’s business community, where Brian Young, president of the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce, has announced he’s running for city council as part of Rasode’s One Surrey slate.
Young was expected to announce to chamber members Tuesday that he’s stepping aside so he can run for Surrey city council on Nov. 15.
Young’s decision to run for council came very recently, he told The Reporter last week. But his support for Rasode dates back to the city councillor’s decision to break with her fellow Surrey First councillors.
“I was very proud of Barinder when she had the courage to step out of Surrey First,” Young said. “The hardest thing, when you’re part of a team, is that when you believe they’re not living up to their abilities… when she did that, I reached out to her.”
Young said he offered her his support at the time, but the notion of running for city council, either as an independent or as part of her slate, did not cross his mind until much later.
He simply wanted to let Rasode know he respected her decision.
“That courageous act meant a lot,” he said.
For months, Rasode was widely expected to run for mayor but she didn’t make her official announcement until late last month.
Meantime, Young said she met with a myriad of community groups on a range of hot issues, from crime and public safety to concerns in Cloverdale.
“She did not campaign,” he said. “She went to learn. She reached out to the safety realm, she reached out to the schooling realm, she reached out to the business realm and learned. I kept hearing from people, ‘She should run.’”
Eventually, Young decided she was the best option for mayor in the coming 2014 municipal elections, and realized he had to help her achieve that by running for council as part of her slate.
“I am doing a disservice to myself and the community if I don’t step up,” he said. “This is very recent for me. I just decided.”
Young, chief operating officer of the Surrey Golf Club and Delta Golf Club, has been active with the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce for several years, serving most recently as president. A chamber of commerce, he said, can only achieve so much. He wants to act as a voice for Surrey’s business community on council.
“My track record shows I will support business,” he said. I strongly believe that the current mayor and council dictate to the people of Surrey, versus listening to them and working with them. I want city hall to be the city’s hall – all of the city.”
He agrees that crime is the top priority in Surrey.
He said there’s never been a slate like One Surrey, which he describes as a compilation of leaders from all segments of the community.
“It’s a huge battle,” he said.
Rasode announced her team last week: Maz Artang, 27, is a restaurant manager; Merv Bayda is a retired RCMP officer; Mike Bose manages his family’s poultry farm and is a long-time Cloverdale minor hockey coach; Darlene Bowyer is former president of the Port Kells Community Association and has sat on the city’s Heritage Advisory Committee; Narima Dela Cruz is a community volunteer and Realtor; and Kal Dosanjh is a Vancouver Police veteran.