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SURREY - Two Surrey city council members have resigned, citing political theater on the board.
Their resignations leave the council with four members and its mayor.
Former council members Mike Thiesen and Elaine Christianson jointly issued a statement, saying, "We are proud to have served on the Surrey City Council and to have the opportunity to stand up for our friends and neighbors, and our community as a whole. However, recent events led us to conclude that multiple members of the Council would rather prioritize political theater than help our City move forward. They cloud the waters of Surrey's future by constantly bringing up past events, and advancing their personal grudges and agendas. Our citizens rightly feel like the City is going nowhere because of this factionalism and resentment.
"This all came to a head at our March council meeting. One member was expelled for using profanity upon learning that a City record could not be deleted. Another was expelled for an expletive-laden personal attack on another council member. And we adjourned the meeting without completing the agenda after our own mayor issued a disciplinary reprimand to a City employee during the meeting, and then mocked a different City employee.
"Public service is a noble arena. The Council should be comprised of members working together to solve problems and enhance our City's standing in the larger statewide community. Unfortunately, multiple members of the Council appear to create problems and expose us to ridicule. The disrespect shown to members by other members never seems to end. We refuse to assist in the further humiliation of our City. We will continue to help our community move forward, but not as members of the Surrey City Council."
Residents have 15 days to submit a petition for a special election to fill the seats. If no petition is submitted, the mayor may appoint to fill the vacancies until the next election. The next regular election would be June 2022. The seat that Thiesen held comes up for election in June 2022. Christianson served less than a year of the four-year term to which she was elected in June 2020.
Thiesen and Christianson both had represented Surrey's Ward 2. Surrey has two wards, each with three representatives.
Early last year, the council ejected a member for derogatory Facebook posts, although he won election again in June. Another council member also had resigned last year over the dissension on the board.