Why I'm running
Municipal government shows up in ordinary life: whether the sidewalk works, whether a business can get a straight answer from City Hall, whether you understand why your bill went up, and what a development decision means for your street.
My approach is to start with the people affected and work backward to the policy. You shouldn't have to become a City Hall expert to understand a decision that affects you.
City decisions are harder to follow than they should be. People find out after the fact, and what something cost or whether it actually got done is buried somewhere most people never look.
Over the years, through my work and time in White Rock, I've had a lot of conversations at kitchen tables and in the back offices of local shops. This year, I added a more formal layer: council and committee meetings, the budget, voting records and the hearings on the community plan. A concern I've heard again and again is that decisions can feel as though they happen around people rather than with them.
Win or lose on October 17, that's the work I want to keep doing. Making these decisions easier to follow, and easier to hold a council to.
What I'd work on
Four things. Each one has a result you can point at later and ask whether it happened. Open any of them to see how I'd go about it, and what I'd need other people to agree to.
Homes with the services they need
People's needs change over a lifetime: a young family, someone who wants to downsize and stay, a multigenerational household. More housing choices matter. So do the people already here, and new homes need water, sewers, drainage and roads that don't arrive on their own.
What I'd do: push for a plain answer, in writing, before big projects go ahead. Who pays, what has to be ready, and when. Then publish it so you can check progress yourself.
See the details
On housing choice. I don't think this should be reduced to houses versus towers. The homes in between, townhomes, plexes and smaller apartments, often called the missing middle, are what let people stay in the community as their lives change. Provincial rules already allow those forms on many lots, so the local question is how well they're serviced and fitted in. I won't tell you that a housing form by itself makes a home affordable. The people already here should never be an afterthought.
One thing worth knowing. The community plan guides where and how the city can grow. It is not a building permit. Changing the plan does not by itself let anyone build.
Five questions I'd want answered separately in major development and infrastructure reports, because they get mixed together all the time:
- What services are needed, and how much capacity?
- Who pays, and who is responsible?
- What promise is actually enforceable, and against whom?
- What has to be working before people move in, as opposed to just paid for?
- What happens if it falls behind?
Money set aside and a signed agreement are not the same thing as working pipes in the ground. The tools already exist to require this work: servicing agreements, permit conditions, and the charges developers pay toward city infrastructure. I'd want staff and legal advice on what each one can and cannot require.
This isn't a promise to stop growth. Provincial law limits what a council can refuse, and I'd rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.
What it needs: council approval and a staff report. I can bring the motion. I can't promise the vote.
Know where your money goes
Council decisions are public, but they're buried in long agendas most people never read.
What I'd do: within two days of every regular council meeting, publish a short note. What we decided, how I voted, why, and what it cost. By email, on this site, and on paper if you'd rather.
See the details
This part needs nobody's permission. It doesn't need a vote, a budget, or four colleagues to agree with me. It starts the week I'm sworn in, and you can hold me to it whether or not anything else here ever passes.
The limits, said up front. It covers the significant decisions on the agenda, not every procedural item. Costs appear where the City has published them. Some matters are closed by law until council allows their release. Where that applies I'll say so, and publish the reasoning as soon as I'm allowed. If I get something wrong, I'll fix it on the original note promptly, mark the correction with its date, and flag it in the next one.
On checking the books. An outside auditor examines the City's finances every year and reported to council in May 2026. Council reviews the financial plan itself. So I'm not going to tell you nobody is checking, because that isn't true.
What I'd argue for is narrower: a regular public meeting set aside for the deeper questions, the ones that need more time than a full council agenda allows. The finance and audit committee that used to do that hasn't filed a corporate report since March 2023.
The route is a select committee under section 142 of the Community Charter, which council can set up itself. One point of detail: section 170 limits who can be given council's audit responsibilities, so the committee's job and membership have to be settled carefully rather than assumed. I'd ask for draft terms of reference and an honest estimate of the staff time it needs, rather than calling it free.
What it needs: council approval for the committee. The notes are mine alone.
Safer streets and easier trips
A steep hill, a missing crossing or a long gap between benches quietly decides where people can go.
What I'd do: keep the City's existing walking and cycling projects moving, make the costs and timing easy to follow, and check the results work for people using walkers, wheelchairs, strollers, bikes and buses.
See the details
This is work the City has already started, and I want to be clear I didn't invent it.
White Rock finished an Integrated Transportation and Infrastructure Master Plan in 2022. It is the City's twenty year plan for getting around, and it includes Vision Zero, an approach aimed at ending serious injuries on the road, with particular attention to people walking, cycling and using mobility aids.
Two projects are further along. On March 9, 2026, council directed staff to proceed with detailed design for the Buena Vista active transportation project, including a two way bike path between Fir and Best Street, and with detailed design for the Five Corners improvement project. Detailed design is a stage before construction. It is not a finished project and it is not the same as construction being funded.
In June 2026 the City asked residents to help rank active transportation projects drawn from that master plan, working with HUB Cycling on an open house. That ranking work is how the list gets confirmed.
Sources: Council summary, March 9, 2026 · Active transportation consultation, June 2026
What I'd add: make the next steps, costs, funding and progress easy to follow, so people can see where a project actually is. And check that each improvement works for everyone using the route, including people on foot, on wheels, using mobility aids, catching a bus, or trying to reach a business.
On transit. TransLink, not council, sets routes and service. So the City's job is to make a clear case for better regional connections, including the King George Boulevard bus rapid transit line TransLink is planning between Surrey City Centre and Semiahmoo Town Centre, which still needs full funding to be delivered. And to look after the part it does control: can you actually get to the bus? Someone using a walker, or someone who doesn't drive, still needs a safe route to the stop.
What I won't promise: a shuttle, a street closure or a new parking lot before the costs, accessibility, responsibilities and tradeoffs have been worked out.
What it needs: council approval, and for anything regional, partners the City doesn't control.
Local businesses that thrive all year
Our good months carry the bad ones. A quiet February is hard on a small shop.
What I'd do, inside two years: one clear path through licences, permits and the right contacts, so nobody needs the City's organization chart to get started. Publish how long permits and licences actually take. And make it easier to grow and stay here.
See the details
One clear path. The City already offers useful tools, including BizPaL and online licence applications. The gap is keeping the whole path current, coordinated and predictable, so someone opening or expanding a business knows where to start, what applies and who to call.
A place to grow and stay. From a home business or market stall, to a pop-up, to a storefront. And when redevelopment displaces an established business, help it understand the timeline, check whether a new space permits its use, and get through the permits to reopen here. The City doesn't choose anyone's landlord. It can make the move less confusing.
The whole cost of doing business. A business doesn't experience its costs in separate boxes. Property tax matters. So do utilities, fees, and the time and uncertainty of waiting on a permit. I won't promise a four-year tax rate without four years of budgets. If the tax burden on business changes, that should be explained plainly, and the City should keep looking for cost and friction it can actually remove.
Answer the business quickly. I won't promise a turnaround time before I know the current one. First I'd ask what's already measured and reported, then ask that whatever is missing gets measured and published. You can't fix a queue you haven't timed.
Things council controls, worth examining: a chance to put something right before a penalty on non safety bylaw matters, longer business licence terms with renewals online, and a one time review of business permits to find duplicated or obsolete requirements. These are options to look at, not conclusions.
On helping a business reinvest. As a general rule, the Community Charter restricts municipalities from giving assistance directly to a business, with specific exceptions set out in law. One tool it does allow is a revitalization tax exemption under section 226: a bylaw with stated goals, eligible improvements, a formula and a time limit, public notice, and a certificate. Two honest caveats. It attaches to eligible property through an agreement with the owner, so it does not automatically reach a business that rents. And it costs the City money it would otherwise collect. I'd want who benefits, what it costs and what safeguards apply examined before anyone promises it.
A year round reason to be here. Build on what already runs rather than announcing something new, and work with the business improvement association, the Board of Trade and local tourism partners. They are independent organizations, not departments a councillor could direct. Success shouldn't depend on more traffic on one busy August weekend.
On parking: I want current evidence on how parking is actually used published before anyone commits to closures, new spaces or rate changes.
What one councillor can actually do
A councillor is one of seven votes. Some things I can just do. Some need council to agree. Some need governments and organizations the City doesn't control. Here's the honest split.
I CAN DO THIS MYSELF
No vote needed
- Publish a plain language note after every regular council meeting
- Hold regular drop in hours
- Read every report before voting, and say why I voted the way I did
- Declare a conflict and step back where the law requires
I CAN BRING THIS TO COUNCIL
Needs council approval
- A motion to set up a finance committee
- A request for a report on how long permits take
- A request to check the transportation plan against what's being approved now
- Bylaw changes on licences and enforcement
I can bring the motion. I can't promise the vote. You'll see who voted which way.
THIS NEEDS PARTNERS
Not the City's alone
- Bus routes and service levels, which TransLink decides
- Doctors and health services, which the Province and Fraser Health run
- Business programs run by the BIA, the Board of Trade and tourism partners
- Anything crossing the Surrey boundary
Here a councillor advocates and coordinates. No councillor, and no council, can deliver these on its own.
About me
I live in Sullivan Station, Surrey, in a multigenerational household. I'm a real estate advisor with Engel & Völkers, and a small business owner.
I've been playing tennis and pickleball at the Centennial Park courts for years, and I'm a member of the White Rock Tennis Club. You'll also find me at the farmers market and along Marine Drive.
My work is how I came to know this city properly. I've sat at a lot of White Rock kitchen tables, often with older residents working out whether to downsize and where they'd go. I've sat in a lot of back offices with owners being straight about how the last few years have gone. Those conversations are where the questions I'm asking came from.
Those conversations didn't start this year. What I've done more intensively this year is the civic homework: council meetings, committee meetings, public hearings, the budget and the voting records. I wanted to understand not just what people were experiencing, but how the decisions behind those experiences were actually being made.
On ethics. Where I have a direct or indirect financial interest in something before council, or another conflict that means I'm not entitled to take part, I'll declare it and step out as the Community Charter requires. It goes in the minutes either way. If there's genuine doubt, I'll get proper legal advice. I won't use public office to influence a matter I have a conflict in, I won't use a City relationship to find business, and nothing I learn in a closed meeting will ever reach my private work. If I'm elected, I'll serve the full term.
Questions people actually ask
You don't live in White Rock. Why should we elect you?
I understand residency is something voters may weigh. I live in Sullivan Station, Surrey, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. Provincial law allows me to run, but legal eligibility isn't the same thing as earning trust. So judge me on the work: do I show up, do I know the files, am I accessible, and am I straight with you about the decisions I make?
Here's what I offer to be judged on. I'll publish my reasoning on every significant vote, in plain language, with my name on it. If my reasons don't hold up, that's on the record.
How can we support housing and businesses without making traffic worse?
By planning the two things together instead of one after the other.
Building height alone doesn't tell you what will happen to traffic. What matters is how many homes are likely to actually get built, over what period, and what that means for the roads, parking, buses and walking routes around them. Those are different questions and they need to be looked at side by side.
It also means looking at several projects together rather than one at a time, because the effect of five approvals is not the same as five separate effects. And it means counting growth on the Surrey side of the boundary, since those cars use our roads too.
On business, the goal I'd aim at is steadier trade through the year, not bigger crowds on the busiest summer weekends. More people here in February helps a shop more than another packed Saturday in August, and it costs the road network less.
I'm not going to promise a shuttle, a street closure or a new parking lot before the costs, accessibility and tradeoffs are worked out.
Where do you stand on the community plan?
The density number isn't my first question. The servicing and traffic evidence is, and I haven't seen it. I won't tell you this plan has too much or too little until someone can show me what the roads, water and sewers can actually carry. That's a position, not a dodge. It's what I'd press for before voting either way.
The plan is not finished. Council moved the current amendment forward by a 4 to 3 vote after the September 14 public hearing, but it has not been finally adopted, and the final decision may fall to the council you elect on October 17. I'd want the area around the hospital looked at again on its merits.
See the details and sources
What the plan is. The Official Community Plan guides where and how the city can grow over time. It is not a building permit. Changing it does not by itself allow construction.
Where Bylaw 2593 stands. This is the amendment covering provincial alignment and the North Bluff corridor. It had first and second reading on August 31, 2026 and a public hearing on September 14, after which council voted 4 to 3 to move it forward. Metro Vancouver has to accept part of it before final adoption, which could come after the election.
The evidence I'm asking for. The City finished a transportation and infrastructure master plan in 2022. My question is whether it has been updated and costed against what this bylaw would allow. I have not seen a study showing whether Marine Drive has capacity for it, and I won't pretend I have.
Two things true at once. The revised plan moves the City toward meeting provincial requirements. And the land use around the hospital came down, which reduces possible housing near where care workers work. The mayor called that a missed opportunity. Another councillor's point was that services have to catch up to homes already built. Both are reasonable.
One distinction that keeps getting skipped. What a plan allows, what is likely to be built, and whether the services are ready are three different things. A plan can meet every legal requirement and still not be serviced.
Answer current as of September 21, 2026. I'll update this as the bylaw moves. Sources: City council agendas, minutes and video · Peace Arch News, September 14, 2026.
Will you lower my taxes?
I won't give you a number I can't keep. My rule is simpler: if the bill changes, explain the bill.
If I support an increase, I'll tell you what drove it, what it funds and whether the cost continues. If someone proposes a cut, I'll ask for the service consequence at the same time. And I want the whole cost shown in one place, not spread across different bills.
See the details and sources
This year. The average 2026 increase was 5.04 percent. The City broke that down as 1.38 for core services, 1.53 for RCMP costs and 2.13 for capital and infrastructure. Your own bill may have moved differently, because it depends on how your assessment changed compared with everyone else's.
A billing change to watch. Starting January 1, 2027, drainage, sewer, solid waste and secondary suite fees begin moving off the property tax notice and onto a quarterly utility bill. Moving a charge from one bill to another doesn't make it smaller.
On savings. The City's 2025 audited statements show roughly $190 million in cash and investments combined. I'm not going to call that spare money, because a lot of it is legally restricted or already committed. What I'd like is a plain language page saying which part is which.
Sources: City of White Rock, 2026 to 2030 Financial Plan adopted · City of White Rock, 2025 audited statements · council agendas and reports. Figures current as of September 2026.
Isn't anyone checking how the City spends money?
Yes, and I'd rather be accurate about this than score a point. An outside auditor examines the City's financial statements every year and reported to council in May 2026. Council reviews the financial plan itself. Oversight exists.
What I'd argue for is narrower. A regular public meeting set aside for the deeper questions, the ones that need more time than a full agenda allows. The finance and audit committee that used to provide that hasn't filed a corporate report since March 2023. A yearly outside audit and an ongoing committee do different jobs, and treating them as the same thing leads people astray in both directions.
What about access to education and training here?
This matters to me, and I want to be straight about what a city can do.
Colleges and universities are funded and run by the Province. A council does not fund them, open campuses or set tuition. I'm not going to promise any of those.
What a council can do is work with neighbouring communities, institutions and learners to find out what actually blocks people here, then make a clear, supported case to the Province. That means real evidence about who is affected and how, not a letter with a wish in it.
I'd want to understand the barriers properly first, including transportation, cost and what programs already exist nearby.
You're a realtor. Isn't that a conflict?
It's the right question, and the answer is a process rather than a reassurance.
Where I have a direct or indirect financial interest in something before council, or another conflict that means I'm not entitled to take part, I declare it and step out as the Community Charter requires. It goes in the minutes either way. If there's genuine doubt, I get proper legal advice. I won't use public office to influence a matter I have a conflict in, I won't use a City relationship to find business, and information from a closed meeting never enters my private work.
The job is also how I know what this city costs and who gets priced out of it. Both things are true.
Put up a lawn sign
If you'd like a sign on your property, fill this in and I'll get in touch about dropping one off. There's no cost, and it doesn't commit you to anything else.
Two things worth knowing. Signs can go up from September 18 and must come down by October 24. I'll check the exact spot with you before anything goes in the ground, because the City's sign bylaw sets rules about where a sign can sit, and there are extra restrictions near voting places.
How to vote
Election day is Saturday, October 17, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
You can vote at any one of three places: Centennial Arena (14600 North Bluff Road), Kent Street Activity Centre (1475 Kent Street), or White Rock Community Centre (15154 Russell Avenue).
Advance voting is October 7, 8 and 13, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
At Centennial Arena (14600 North Bluff Road).
The City doesn't mail out voting cards, and you don't need one to vote.
Advance registration with Elections BC closed on August 18, but you can still register at the voting place. Bring identification, and check the City's page below for exactly what counts.
The City of White Rock is the authority on who can vote, where, and when. Please check the City's voter information page for anything I've got out of date here.
Get in touch
Ask a question, raise a concern, or tell me I've got something wrong. You can also find me on Instagram at @rajoberoibc.
You don't have to support me to write to me, and asking a question doesn't sign you up for anything.
Supporting the campaign
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How to contribute. There's no donate button on this site. Email me at oberoi.s.puneet@gmail.com or call 604-348-6565 and I'll walk you through it, including checking eligibility.
For every contribution I have to record the contributor's full name, mailing address, residential address if it's different, the amount, the date received, and how eligibility was confirmed. Elections BC sets these rules. Figures current as of September 2026.