P Pantomime a thing thi of beauty pages 50-51
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Thursday November 24, 2011 Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
Bob Bose signs off after 28 years
Make motorists pay and wait: Surrey report advises
Driving fees, more transit urged
It’s been a long haul in politics for veteran Surrey councillor, former mayor by Kevin Diakiw
by Jeff Nagel
AS A tot in the 1930s, he constructed castles out of blocks, only to have them kicked down by his brothers. As his mother told it, three-year-old Robert Bose would quickly and carefully put them back in place over and over, until his brothers became tired of tormenting him. It’s that same dogged determination Bob Bose, now 79, carried throughout the rest of his life, including his 28 years serving on Surrey city council – which included nearly a decade as mayor. Bose and his Surrey Civic Coalition (SCC) were crushed by Mayor Dianne Watts’ Surrey First machine on Saturday, the defeat essentially writing the closing chapter in the elder statesman’s political story. Wearing khakis and a black pullover sweater, Bose sat in his office Tuesday morning, packing boxes and preparing for his final exit from politics. Switching between laughter and tears, he recalled the long road that brought him to this moment, each vignette an emotional extreme. As a youth, he didn’t have political aspirations, Bose said, in his customary stance Bob Bose of comfort and honesty, leaning back with arms crossed. Unlike his grandfather Robert, who was a Surrey pioneer and a reeve (mayor) of this city from 1905 to 1910, Bose always wanted to be a scientist. However, he remembers harbouring a deep distaste for injustice. While in Grade 1 at Surrey Centre school, he huddled outside the front door of the one-room schoolhouse on a cold winter day. The teacher was late. Bose edged his way through the crowd and kicked the door in, allowing his schoolmates to get refuge from the cold. He was strapped for it. “I always took matters into my own hands,” Bose said. He eventually fulfilled his lifelong goal of becoming a scientist, obtaining his PhD in chemistry from the University of Minnesota.
“I always took matters into my own hands.”
See ADVICE / Page 5
EVAN SEAL / THE LEADER
Bob Bose has served in Surrey public office for 28 years, including nearly a decade (1987-1996) as mayor. He failed to get re-elected on Saturday and says his long career in politics is over.
THE CITY of Surrey is being urged to support a TransLink vehicle levy as one way to fund transit while making driving more expensive. That’s one of the recommendations in a report commissioned by the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association (DSBIA), which hired consultant David Hendrickson to analyze Surrey’s transit needs. His report says Surrey should consider backing a ‘Only suggestions,’ Metro Vancouver says transportation Downtown improvement fee of $65 to $165 per Surrey Business vehicle to support Improvement sustainable transportation, provided Association there are hardship executive concessions for low- director income motorists. Elizabeth Model. It also suggests Surrey push ICBC to allow distancebased insurance, where car owners pay premiums based on how far they drive. And Hendrickson says a share of the provincial carbon tax should also go to transit, rather than income tax relief under the current revenue-neutral model. See ROAD PRICING / Page 3
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