Mayor Dianne Watts continues to reap outstandingly positive press. Following several weeks of blunders by the provincial Liberal government, an Angus Reid poll asked the public who would be best suited to take over Gordon Campbell’s job. Ms. Watts won by a landslide.
Ian Bailey, from the Globe and Mail, picked up on that theme in a new interview with Surrey’s Mayor. Here was her direct response to the question of running for Premier:
Throughout this week’s interview, Ms. Watts seemed to be waiting for the premier question. When it came, she reacted as if she had heard an especially effective punchline.
After she finished laughing, she acknowledged that she has long been asked whether she is interested in federal or provincial office, but said she would be worried about missing time with her two teenaged daughters.
“You have got one chance with your kids, and you can’t take it back,” she said. “We have so much fun together. We like shopping and getting our hair done, our nails done.”
But teenagers turn into adults, freeing their parents for other pursuits. The mayor, who said she will probably seek a third term and is not organizing for a provincial run, considers that, then opens a door just a bit.
“Well, you know what? You never say never,” she said.
Until then, Ms. Watts describes the downtown project as her current “number one priority.”
Meanwhile, a CG image in the Globe article shows a slightly different design for the new City Hall. Previously, all mockups have shown a large public plaza surrounded by a series of towers. In this latest sketch, there are appears to be two complexes – one contained the plaza, City Hall, office space, and SFU expansion, while the other contains the performing arts centre, library, and new hotel space. It’s worth noting that Kasian Architecture has yet to complete design work for the building.
