Did mayor’s developer friend attend government meeting? Surrey councillor demands answers from McCallum
Posted September 16, 2019 10:22 pm.
Last Updated September 17, 2019 1:07 pm.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) — A Surrey councillor wants answers as to why the mayor may have allowed a member of the public into a government meeting.
Coun. Jack Hundial brought forward the motion Monday that said Solicitor General Mike Farnworth met with Mayor Doug McCallum November 2nd 2018, before council was sworn in. He said the mayor may have brought along Bob Cheema, a developer and friend of McCallum’s, into the meeting about traffic fine revenue sharing.
“The mayor stated publicly this is a close personal friend of his,” Hundial said, adding Cheema is not a city staff member and had no reason to be there.
Hundial said it would compromise the integrity of city council and the mayor’s office and “everyone should be quite concerned.”
It’s been almost a year since this meeting apparently happened – hundial says he was tipped off and saw the publicly posted schedule for Farnworth. Says he’s concerned – why is a member of the public attending govt meetings at all? @NEWS1130
— Taran Parmar (@Tarankparmar) September 17, 2019
Mayor McCallum said in a statement on Tuesday that never happened.
“The claim that Councillor Hundial has made is categorically false. Mr. Cheema has never been present at any meetings I’ve had with the minister,” the statement said.
On Mike Farnworth’s public agenda you can see the meeting with Mayor Doug McCallum which was on November 2nd 2018. This was a couple of days before he was officially sworn in as Mayor of #SurreyBC. Along with McCallum, City Chief if Staff Donna & Bob Cheema are listed. @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/W4bhCtJ9c4
— Taran Parmar (@Tarankparmar) September 17, 2019
Hundial has called for staff to find out if Cheema attended, if he was compensated, and if he had attended any other meetings with the mayor. Hundial would then like staff to return with their findings and present them at the next council meeting.
Hundial was apparently tipped off about the meeting, and said he saw Farnworth’s publicly posted schedule.