Together for White Rock municipal election candidates couldn\u2019t have asked for a better backdrop than the picture-perfect, blue sky, sunny day on Friday, when they announced their run for city council.<\/p>\n
Gathered at the seaside city\u2019s iconic pier, the team slate announcement drew a crowd of supporters, curious passers-by and three former mayors: Darryl Walker, Judy Forster and Gordie Hogg.<\/p>\n
Walker introduced the candidates after an Indigenous welcome and blessing from Kweti Sel Kanem (Tyler Whitley) with Semiahmoo First Nation.<\/p>\n
Current city councillor Susan Bains, who won her seat in a byelection last year along with Anthony Manning, announced that she is running for mayor, backed by a Together for White Rock slate that includes Manning as well as current councillors David Chesney and Christopher Trevelyan.<\/p>\n
Former Laura\u2019s Coffee Corner owner Laura Cornale and UBC political scientist Conrad King complete the slate.<\/p>\n
Bains announced that her vision is for White Rock to become Canada\u2019s most livable city, before sharing why she\u2019s running for mayor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in leadership that listens. As a city councillor, I have worked to ensure that residents are heard before decisions are made. When there was significant public concern about the official community plan, I paused the process to make sure that our residents had more time to understand it,\u201d she told the gathered crowd. \u201cI have worked to ensure that residents, youth, and seniors have a voice in shaping our community and have a seat, because representation matters. As your mayor, I will continue to ensure feedback is heard before major decisions are made. And that the city remains open, transparent, and responsive.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hopes to build a White Rock that is for everyone, she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo achieve (Canada\u2019s most livable city), we must focus on three priorities: a vibrant city, a responsible community, and a White Rock that is for everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cornale spoke next, introducing herself and explaining she has experienced White Rock as a business owner and resident for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not a politician. I\u2019m a mother, a small business owner, a volunteer, and a resident who deeply cares about this community,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe in listening first, leading with integrity and putting residents at the centre of the decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chesney, who spoke right before a train passed, noted he\u2019s a three-term councillor and has been the odd man out for those terms \u201cby my own doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLo and behold, a few months back something magical happened. We had a byelection \u2026 we had four votes at city council and I\u2019ve seen what can happen with four votes at city council,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that excited me and I said (to my wife) \u2018You know what? I\u2019m going to go one more term with your blessing.\u2019 So, I\u2019m very proud to stand here as the train rings \u2026 I couldn\u2019t be prouder to stand with this group and together we will make White Rock everything that you and I believe it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
King introduced himself and noted he\u2019s a family man as well as a political scientist and lecturer who lives in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last five years, I\u2019ve learned that this is the place that I want to raise a family and live forever. I think White Rock is special. It\u2019s special because of the place; it\u2019s also special because of the people. And I think I can be of service to the people of White Rock,\u201d he said, adding that, if elected, he would use \u201cmy expertise in public policy to help build a more sustainable and inclusive community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manning, who served one term on council before being elected again in the 2025 byelection, said if elected, his goal would be to listen to the city\u2019s residents and to work with his council colleagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe six of us may not always agree, and you may not always agree with me, but it\u2019s important to find that middle ground to make sure that we can move forward, because White Rock does desperately need to change,\u201d Manning said. \u201cWhat that change looks like is entirely up to you. So please, continue to support us through the summer and on to (the election).\u201d<\/p>\n
Trevelyan, a two-term councillor, noted he\u2019s also a family man with young children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fundamentally believe that residents have a right to have a say in their community, their city. I\u2019ve got three kids. \u2026 This is where we live. This is our home,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to make the city a place where they can live, where I want to make (sure there\u2019s) development that fits into White Rock. I want streets to be clean. I want safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trevelyan also noted that although Together for White Rock is a slate, they\u2019re not bound to always vote the same way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is very important for us. We\u2019re not into vote-block voting. That\u2019s not what we\u2019re about,\u201d he shared. \u201cWe\u2019re joined together and we have different opinions. \u2026 We\u2019re here united on the same slate because we all respect each other and we\u2019re going to agree to disagree or agree to agree, and go home and be respectful to each other and be positive and supportive, because everyone here is running for you guys because we all really believe in White Rock.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Together for White Rock municipal election candidates couldn\u2019t have asked for a better backdrop than the picture-perfect, blue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-749243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}