Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts is rapidly becoming a megawatt star in B.C. municipal politics. A firm proponent of bringing business to her city, Watts was the guest of the District of Sechelt at an invitation-only luncheon on June 23.
An audience of about 40 business people and local politicians including representatives from MLA Nicholas Simons' office listened raptly to Watts' address on how B.C.'s second largest city is marketing itself to business.
Watts is the first female mayor of Surrey. She was first elected in 2005 and was re-elected in 2008. Surrey has a population 463,000, one-third of whom are under the age of 25. Watts said that in addition to having jobs for people, it's also important to have the necessary social infrastructure to fill the needs of young families. Because of the population demographics, Surrey has the biggest school district in the province.
To bring business to Surrey, the mayor and council adopted an Economic Investment Action Plan with six main points.
Step one under the Plan is a capital works program budgeted at $465 million with a targeted creation of 4,200 jobs.
Step two is a mayor's advisory council on investment and job creation that draws on business leaders from every sector across the Lower Mainland. The objective is to have the expertise and experience assist Surrey.
"We have a wonderful group of bright minds to draw on," Watts said.
Step three is a business retention and expansion program. The highlight of this is to support local businesses by understanding the challenges they face. Along with attracting new business, Surrey is working hard to keep and enhance the success of established businesses. The city plans a regional summit in October that will feature former prime minister of Britain, Tony Blair. A past event with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani was a success. Watts stressed that Surrey is pulling out all the stops to find ways to position the city as a business leader.
Step four is a first in B.C. Watts has divided Surrey into economic investment zones. Both the city centre and the Bridgeview/South Westminster area are being targeted to attract new investment. A new bylaw has allowed the city to eliminate taxes for three years. This pertains to the municipal portion of property taxes only, not utility rates or other parcel taxes and levies. The action plan also allows for a 50 per cent reduction in building permit fees.
Step five has streamlined the process of doing business with the city. This alleviates frustration for business people. An online status of building applications will allow developers and others to follow the progress of their paperwork.
"We're promoting the city of Surrey. It's important to have staff on the same page as your [council]," Watts explained.
The sixth step of the plan is to pre-service business lands. Areas throughout Surrey will be building-permit ready. Past development costs are paying for the costs involved. Watts said having the land ready is part of the big picture.
It's also important, she said, to keep looking at the end goal and working backwards. She is adamant that agriculture land will not be used for any other purpose. And Watts refuses to turn industrial land into residential property. She wants people living in Surrey, working in Surrey.
"Surrey is open to business," the mayor proclaimed.
