SURREY - Surrey and Delta mayors are slamming TransLink for offering charitable donations in exchange for survey participation.

TransLink hired Ipsos Reid to conduct a survey that went out to 170 stakeholders, to see how they could better communicate with the groups, offering a $100 donation to charity for those who participated.

Jackson said this kind of spending concerns her.

"It's just another example of people in charge of multi-million dollar spending, like a drunken sailor. I just think it's terrible," Jackson said.

"I have never heard of anything like that. Frankly, to be serious about it, but I can't be serious about it, because it's just laughable," Jackson said. "It's kind of insulting. It's like, we know you won't respond, so if you respond we'll give you a hundred dollars for charity. That is not good."

Jackson, along with other mayors in the region, is calling for an audit of TransLink.

The Mayor's Council on Regional Transportation renewed a motion last month for an audit of TransLink through the Auditor General or the Auditor General for Local Government.

"If there's some question about how municipalities are run, and they are run by people who are elected and accountable, then it would seem very logical that TransLink, that does not have an elected board, is not transparent, is totally behind closed doors, borrows money like a drunken sailor, they should be audited also," Jackson said.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says she won't consider raising taxes to pay for transportation projects until TransLink goes through a full audit.

"There's no way that I'm going to go and ask the general public for any more money until that audit is done," Watts said. "It just flies in the face of what we're trying to do. That's a lot of money in giveaway money, plus the cost of the survey."

Late last year, Watts was one of the Metro Vancouver mayors who voted in favour of a TransLink plan that included a two-cents-a-litre boost in the gas tax to pay for the Evergreen Line and other regional transit projects. Jackson voted against it.

That gas tax, which plans to raise $40 million annually, is set to come into effect in April. And $30 million is expected to come through user pay measures such as a vehicle levy, road congestion charges, carbon tax or tolls.

Metro Vancouver mayors have to negotiate funding sources by the end of this year or a potential time-limited property tax increase of an average $23 per homeowner will come into effect in 2013-14.

Watts said a TransLink audit has to happen before she'll look at tax increases, tolling or anything else that will cost taxpayers.

Erin Dermer, spokesperson for TransLink, said the survey was sent to staff officials, local and provincial politicians, industry groups such as BCAA and select business organizations.

Dermer said the purpose of the survey was to see how TransLink could better communicate with these groups and added the donation incentive is offered because two past surveys didn't get a great response. TransLink has capped the amount of money it will donate at $5,000.

"Our purpose is to improve our communications with these key stakeholder groups who also communicate about TransLink and TransLink issues with their own audiences. We are sorry that some local politicians have taken issue with this," Dermer said.

Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom said Thursday he believes TransLink is a finely run organization, but he understands why the mayors are calling for an audit.

"They want to be able to look to their public and say, we have done this review, we have done an independent audit of this, everything is running efficiently."

He added that it is not an unreasonable request.

Lekstrom said he is looking forward to meeting with the Mayor's Council on March 7.

areid@thenownewspaper.com