Barinder Rasode all but jumps in Surrey mayors' race
Only one Surrey mayor in the past 60 years has won a fourth straight term. Until Thursday, I was convinced that Dianne Watts would easily do it this fall — and she may indeed do so. But it appears she has a formidable challenger, who has been prepping carefully for a showdown. Coun. Barinder Rasode has served two terms on Surrey council. A recruit by Watts' Surrey First organization from the left-leaning Surrey Civic Coalition, she is bright, savvy and very well-connected. Reports published Thursday, and her own comments, indicated that she had left Surrey First, and would run for mayor only if Watts chose not to. That seemed unlikely, and reports later in the day seemed to indicate that she is definitely gunning for the top job. Watts has been on council since 1997, and been mayor since defeating incumbent Doug McCallum in 2005. In the process, she torpedoed the Surrey Electors Team. The SET members of council elected in that election eventually all came over to her, and to...