MAYOR URGES CENTRE FOR YOUNG ADDICTS

The Community Must Focus on the Root Causes of Crime, Dianne Watts Says

SURREY - Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts wants a treatment centre for
drug-addicted youth established in her city by the end of her current
three-year mandate.

That's one of the most specific goals outlined by Watts during a
wide-ranging discussion Thursday with The Vancouver Sun's editorial
board.

Watts, a former chairwoman of the city's drug and crime task force,
said the community has to focus on the root causes of crime.

"You have to deal with the fact that people need treatment," she said.
"We don't have a treatment facility for youth or a youth detox. We've
got the most children and youth, per capita, in the entire province,
and we don't have those services."

But Watts wouldn't commit to an entirely city-built and financed
facility. She said the provincial and federal governments -- and
perhaps a non-profit group -- could be involved.

Asked whether a mayor elected as an independent could achieve that
goal without the backing of a majority of the nine-member city
council, Watts responded with a question of her own.

"Who wouldn't want to support youth getting treatment?" she
asked.

Watts conceded it will be more difficult to achieve her goals without
the support of at least a majority of council. But about her own
political future, she would only say some kind of new civic party is a
"possibility" for the next election.

"I was under no illusions when I ran as an independent that this was
not going to be a cakewalk, but I did what I felt I had to do," she
said. "Moving forward, I see the benefits of having people who are on
your side that are not always looking for a political angle to attack
you."

In separate interviews earlier Thursday, two Surrey councillors from
two opposing civic parties had no harsh criticisms for the new mayor.

Coun. Bob Bose, a former mayor and the only elected representative
from the Surrey Civic Coalition, said Watts is doing well for an
independent. As for her leadership style, "If she doesn't get her way,
she doesn't pout about it," he said.

On Feb. 2, Watts announced that city manager Umendra Mital will be
leaving his job at the end of March. Mital, who earned $275,000 a
year, is getting a reported settlement in the range of $800,000.

Bose said the upcoming big hurdle Watts will face is whether her
recommendations for the next city manager are accepted by council.

"That will really be the test," he said.

Six of the nine people elected to Surrey council last November were
from the Surrey Electors Team, the civic party once led by McCallum.
With its majority, SET has kept its lock on city council. Watts, a
former SET member, has just one of the nine votes on council.

Marvin Hunt, a SET councillor, said it is a challenge for Watts to get
support in council for her initiatives.

"Obviously, what she has to do is work at finding common ground with
her agenda and the agendas of other members of council," he said.
"It's too early in the process to do a scorecard on her."

Hunt said Mital's pending departure is one of the "bumps in the road"
faced by Watts. He was more critical of a proposal by Watts to put her
former campaign manager, Chris Gardiner, into the mayor's office as
her communications manager. Council rejected the proposal.

"That's an absolute no-starter," Hunt said. "One concern I have is
with the potential politicization of the bureaucracy."