Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said the result of the transit plebiscite announced late last week was not unexpected.
"I'm not surprised," Jackson said following last Thursday's announcement that the "no" side had received 62 per cent of the vote to just 38 per cent for the "yes" side. "The entire process has been difficult from day one."
She said all of the planning and discussion around the proposed transit plan went on behind closed doors, and then was presented to the public for a vote.
"A lot of people had a lot of questions about it," Jackson said. "People in Delta want the background... I don't think the rest of the public in the Lower Mainland is any different."
Voters in Delta rejected the proposed 0.5 per cent sales tax increase by an even greater margin as 68 per cent supported the "no" side.
Last year, the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation released its plan to improve transit and transportation in Metro Vancouver. The proposed 0.5 per cent tax hike was expected to generate $250 million annually, money that would be earmarked for transportation improvements identified in a 10-year, $7.5 billion plan put together by the region's mayors.
The plan called for a Broadway subway and light rail for Surrey, among much else, but not much for Delta.
Jackson said it also came down to many people's opinions about TransLink.
"The majority of people do not trust TransLink, in my opinion," she said, adding that appointing a "huge bureaucracy" is not a democratic way to handle public money. "I think we should get back to the politicians making decisions on these things," she said.
In a statement released after the plebiscite results were announced, Jackson said Delta would continue to work with the transportation authority and senior levels of government on getting much-needed transportation services.
"We will seek sustainable solutions to address growth and congestion in our community and the region." Recently declared federal NDP candidate for Delta Jeremy Leveque also issued a statement following the plebiscite results.
"The transit mess in our region is the result of decades of neglect from provincial and federal governments," Leveque stated. "Now more than ever, the region needs a federal partner for transit and infrastructure."
