There appear to have been senior staff changes at Surrey City Hall. The city won’t talk about them

There appears to have been changes of senior personnel at the City of Surrey following a change in power with the election of Mayor Doug McCallum.

But the city is refusing to confirm the changes — or say why they have been made.

If changes have been made in the senior ranks, the city could be on the hook for hefty severance bills.

On its website, the city now lists two changes in senior management, but there may have been even more changes.

Benjie Lee is listed as the acting city solicitor, a position held by Philip Huynh before the election. Jason Cairney, the city’s fire chief, is now also listed as acting general manager of public safety, a position held by Brian Edwards before the election. Edwards, who had been in charge of the Surrey RCMP, was appointed by former mayor Brenda Locke to the new public safety position in 2025.

At a city council meeting this week, neither Huynh nor Edwards was in attendance. Also absent was city manager Rob Costanzo.

Harry Bains, the only councillor remaining from Locke’s council, says he noticed the absences.

“I can tell you that nobody from mayor or the other councillors, nobody has spoken to me about it. But when I come to council and I see an acting city manager, I see an acting legal services (person), I see an acting GM of public safety, and some of the regular faces I just don’t see there, amid these rumours that there’s been all these people laid off, non-political staff, long-standing City of Surrey staff, that’s concerning,” said Bains.

While Locke’s team made a change in city manager, it wasn’t until nine months after her slate took power in October 2022, noted Bains.

“To do things like this on Day 1, it raises questions,” he added. “One of the biggest questions is how much severance is being paid?”

In response to Postmedia News questions on whether Costanzo had been put on administrative leave or terminated, and whether Huynh and Edwards had been terminated, and how many other people had been terminated and why, the media relations department stated: “The city is unable to comment on personnel matters due to privacy and confidentiality.”

McCallum and deputy mayor and Coun. Mandeep Nagra didn’t respond to Postmedia questions this week about staff changes.

This week, city councillors received an email purportedly from city staff calling the council’s first week as leaders “absolutely disgraceful.” The email wasn’t signed by an individual or individuals but by “Engineering/Planning/Corporate Services/Legal Staff.” They called out the “shocking way” the council had dealt with the employment of many city staff, charging it was borderline criminal.

“Changes happen yes, but the way you have gone about things has left our workplace ripped apart and gripped with fear and very little trust in you as a council,” said the email.