A third candidate has now stepped into the race for mayor of the City of 91原创.
Ray Lewis, an associate broker with Sutton Group, announced his intention on Thursday to make a run for the top job on City council.
Lewis, who grew up in Vancouver, moved to 91原创 in 1971. He has worked as a realtor for 40 years 鈥� 30 of those with Sutton Group.
This is his first run for office since an unsuccessful bid for a seat on 91原创 School Board in the early 1980s, but Lewis said he felt compelled to do it because he didn鈥檛 like the way the City was being run.
鈥淚 thought about (running) when Peter (Fassbender) went to the provincial side. I mean no disrespect to anyone, but I didn鈥檛 agree with a lot of the things he did, especially in the latter part of his term.鈥�
For Lewis, a married father of two grown sons, the biggest issue facing the City is crime, which he said is out of control.
鈥淲e keep electing people who do the same thing they鈥檝e done. They keep hiring policemen, it鈥檚 a bottomless pit.鈥�
Lewis said with the City spending roughly 45 per cent of its tax revenue ($10.3 million in 2014) on policing, the ratio of officers to citizens sits at 1:500.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the highest in Canada, and we have the highest crime rate. It doesn鈥檛 add up.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 blame the RCMP. Lots of times their hands are tied.
鈥淲e need something that gives police the ability to do their jobs, because they鈥檇 sure like to.鈥�
Pushed into 91原创 City by both Surrey and Abbotsford, he said 鈥�(people with) mental health issues are dumped onto us. We are seen as a soft target.鈥�
The solution, he said, is for Lower Mainland municipalities to co-ordinate their efforts and work as a group to lobby the federal government for changes in the law itself.
The same goes for health care and province鈥檚 beleaguered ambulance service.
鈥�91原创 City is a small dot,鈥� said Lewis.
鈥淲e have to go as a united front (to Victoria and Ottawa) and say, 鈥榃e represent two million people and we need help.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檇 like to have (Burnaby mayor) Derek Corrigan on the team. I鈥檇 like to have him as a mentor,鈥� said Lewis.
鈥淏urnaby has $700 million in reserves and it has great infrastructure.鈥�
Like most other Canadian municipalities, one of the major costs facing the City is fixing its crumbling water and sewer lines.
That, said Lewis, is a cause for concern but not panic.
鈥淲e have crime, homelessness, drug abuse. If you can鈥檛 fix your city, there鈥檚 no point in fixing potholes. We have to regain our city because we鈥檙e losing it.鈥�
鈥淥ne of the things people will probably throw darts at me for is that I鈥檝e never served on council. I鈥檓 inexperienced,鈥� said Lewis.
No matter their background, he said, everyone works their way into the job of being mayor.
Working in real estate, he said, new situations are always being thrown at him, and as vice-president of his strata council, he has experience with the bidding process, budgeting and overseeing projects.
鈥淭he City runs itself. They have employees who do the work and as far as I can tell 91原创 City has a good crew.鈥�
