Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-06-18, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, June 1$, 1997 IN TBE NEWS_ Y_l_ Regional wrap up Parmalat buys Ault Foods MITCHELL - Ault Foods has been sold to Parmalat Food Inc. for $415 million according to a report in the Mitchell Advocate. The Advocate says the future of Mitchell's. plant is unknown, but the merger adds to the com- patibility of the two company's strengths -- fluid milk and cheese. The purchase by Parma- lat is expected. to be a very posi- tive transaction for Ault staff. Through subsidiaries, Parma- lat. operates _ more than 100 plants in 23 countries supplying milk and dairy products, fruit juices. vegetable-based products and bakery -goods. NHL official citizen of the year PARKHILL - National Hock- ey League official Don Van Massenhoven is Parkhill's .1997 Citizen of the Year. At a • ceremony last Friday night in. Parkhill, Van Maslen- hoven was recognized for. his outstanding achievement and contributions to the community,. reports the Parkhill Gazette. After 10 years of service with the Ontario Provincial Police, Van' Massenhoven . advanced from his part -lime career as a hockey referee in• amateur hock- ey -to a referee in the NHL:,Dur- ing his tenure with the OPP he 'initiated community policing in Port Franks. Proceeds from the banquet will be presented' to the Diabetes Association, the charity • of Don's choice. Dublin farmer returns from world tour DUBLIN - Dave Kelly of Dublin •has returned from. a 56,000 mile trip. Kelly left home last Remembrance Day . and made his way by plane, train and bus around the world. ' In the Huron Expositor, Kelly described his journey to Austra- lia, New Zealand. Indonesia, To- kyo and of course, Dublin, Ire- land. Kelly celebrated St. Patricks Day in Dublin by attending the St. Patricks Day parade with his sister. mother and two brothers. New Zealand was his favorite country where he climbed mountains and milked cows. Crowds flock to Clinton Spring Fair CLINTON - The Clinton News -Record reports th.; town's spring fair on June 6 and 7 was a success: The demolition derby got the fair off to a solid start with one of biggest crowds in years. The businesses supported the fair with a window decorating con- test. The fair also included a downtown farmer's . market which will be expanded next year. The Queen of the Fair compe- tition, midway, parade, baby show and mini -tractor pull at- tracted many people. The . Youth Talent Search closed out the fair with 84 con- testants in 50 acts. Step dancers Black Magic won the junior competition while acrobat Erin Bowers of Crediton claimed sec- ond place. Local strawberries debut More that 500 people attended the Thames Road- Elimville Strawberry and Ham Supper on Monday at Thames Road United Church. This was the first year for a supper of the amalgamated 'United Church Women. More than 220 quarts of local strawberrieswere served. Above, the Kosi family former- ly of Thames Road returned from Coldstream to enjoy the famous desserts. Mary Row- ' Cliffe; left, has served at'65 strawberry and ham suppers at Thames Road United Church. Grant for sewage system tza mor Continued from front page Bylaw 22-1997, to close a por Police lay charges in Aggressive Driving Campaign_ NORTH LAMBTON - Ontario Provincial Police continue partici- pating in the Aggressive Driving Campaign that began on Junc 9 and will end on Junc 22. The North Lambtor9 Detachment advises that 106 vc+hicles have been stopped since the campaign start- ed. Four people have been charged with impaired driving or operating a motor vehicle with over 80 milli- grams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Forty-seven of these drivers have been charged with speeding violations. One person has been charged with failing to yield to traffic on a through highway and two people have been charged with scat belt vi- olations. Five other people have . been chargedwith various High- way Traffic Act violations and two people have been charged with Liq- uor Licence Act violations in a motor vehicle. Police investigated 11 motor. ve- hicle accidents over the past week and remind the public to "control the monster and drive friendly." Battle looms •e- Continued from front page voice. Council sees this as a nec- essary step, and i hope you will' work cooperatively with us. We're not aware of any objections - fi- nancial or otherwise - to •this re- port." Livingston: "I sincerely hope that you've accepted some of our views. are here to assist; you're going to need our expertise. i hope there are no hard feelings." Although the meeting ended am- icably, many questions remain un- answered. tion of theroad allowance hetweeri Lots 5 and 6, Concession 5-6 was given two readings and formally adopted. As well, a public hearing is scheduled for July 8 at 5 p,m. in council chambers. Council agreed to write the Min- ister of Municipal Affairs • asking that he clarify his letter of May 1 concerning local restructuring- Council is posing the question - it surrounding municipalities proceed to develop a local solution, will the minister honor it or impose his own solution? . The township is also 're - questing a time frame that is ap- propriate given that the• solution • may affect county boundaries and a' .new municipal 'council will - be elected in November. Council agreed to attend the June 18 restructuring meeting in Grand Bend and will advise the village to consider inviting the Township of McGillivray. Council passed a motion sup- porting the proposed Grand Bend Air Show in Huron Park scheduled for August 22. Writing teams produce transition • years curriculum CLINTON - As elementary students prepare for the challenge'of completing secondary school in four years. new curriculums being developed must require them to produce more, sooner. ' "We've moved into a different era," said- Goderich District High School Principal Dch Homuth at the Junc 9 Huron County Board of Education meeting. As a member of the curriculum writing team, Homuth presented transition years reports to the trustees. The teams were asked to create a curriculum for grade 7-8-9 Math/Sciencc/fechnology and grade 7-8-9 Canadian Studies. • Homuth described .the programs that will have a higher expectation level in order to prepare students for a faster -paced secondary curriculum. • "The writers were excited about what they were able to pro- duce,"she said. • For example, in the past students learned about government struc- ture in ' grade 9 or 10 but under the new curriculum will gain an un- derstanding of the Canadian political system in grade 8. According to the team reports, the Canadian Studies program is fully integrated to include Geography, History, Civics and Econom- ics. Science and Technology are also fully integrated and the pro- grams are classroom ready and activity -Lased. Homuth explained the curriculum is independent of textbooks and makes use of new technology for resources: including the World Wide Web. The teams have finished writing grade •7 and 8 Math/Science/ Technology and Canadian Studies and grade 7 teachers have been in -serviced. The grade 8 teachers will receive their in-service this month. The grade 9 writing teams will be established this month and will begin writing the curriculum in September. N. , -I Homuth and her writing teams have received provincial recogni- tion for their work and according to superidtendent Chuck Row- land. have been asked to share their Canadian Studies curriculum with the rest of the province. Have a news tip?,, Call the Times -Advocate 235-1331 CIVIC CORNER HOW IMPORTANT IS LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO YOU, We all take certain Things for granted including: • the flush of a take; • the road we drive on; • the water we drink; • police and fire help a phone call' away • recreation services and so on. itis entirety understandabk that we take such services as givens in Canada. Likewise, it isexpected that your Town Council will be fiscally prudent (and. as the newspapers reported recently, the Town's auditor has concluded precisely that). At the present lime. town politicians are grappling with the difficult issue of local government reform. As with most other matters. the public has more or less left us to act in your best interests. And -what do we hear the public wants? Three Things: • First. good services, like the ones mentioned above. at a very good price; • Second, sound fiscal management; • Third. tax -savings and/or tax reductions. The public says. in effect, we elected you , Council. to make sure those three Things happen. Indeed. we are doing our very best but we have come to the conclusion that we cannot guarantee those three goals without more help from the general public. In short. we need two things from our citizens: • First: we need the public to better understand the importance and nature of local government; • Second. we need the public to become more involved in the local government reform movement. Exeter Council dogma control the reform agenda and the three things you want out of local government are at risk if reform is badlydone. If we have caught your interest, if you are willing to learn some of the basics of local government and if you are inclined to get involved and stand up for your rights. continue reading. WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT LOCAL GOVERNMENTIN EXETER? - 1) We are one community with needs and interests in common. The first principle of good government is to match community and political organization. In Exeter, we have such a match. 2) We are accessible to the public 3) Factors 1 and 2 make council directly accountable and responsive to the people who elected us WHAT'S WRONG WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN EXETER AND AREA? if you•listen to the Province, there's a lot wrong. but the government also makes a lot of smoke. Here is what we see wrong. 11 the town can be streamlined -in its political and administrative organizations. 2) There is too much duplication in service delivery between the County and local municipalities (we do not need 2 -tier local government for 60.000 peopk). 3) Some services can/should be delivered for larger geographic areas. WHERE.DO WE START IN MAKING LOCAL GOVERNMENT BETTER? If you listen to the province. and recently to the County. the starting points are'. • 19 reduce the number of politicians. and • to merge municipalities (regardless, apparently, of how different they are from each other) and to thereby reduce staff and costs. Exeter Council concludes that this line of thinking is seriously flawed. We argue that The best. indeed the only logical starting point, i; to establish the political organization based on community. In other words. the Town of Exeter is distinct from the surrounding rural areas: from Grand Bend and from The rest of Huron County. It therefore needs a Council to do the follow .r - to plan for the Town and to respond to its needs; - To manage and to be accountable; - to find ways to cut costs Please hear in mind That good local government comes out of a Council serving a community's needs and interests: it is no accident nut Exeter's municipal taxes have. for years, been kepi below the rate of inflation. We know This community. We are very careful with your money. We ask two basic questions about any project. . (1) is it a god idea? (2) if yes. can we afford it? J. • But, you may say a larger government will manage in the same way and will ask the same two questions. Perhaps. But, we say "perhaps noir' Consider Ihisscenario: ( I ) Assume we have eliminated all local municipalities and are left with just Huron County 0 provide local government. (2) In Ward I' in Norah Huron. the Council respresenlative wants a new bridge. it's a good idea. The representative lobbies other ward representatives. 3J4 of whom have road projects .and other expenditures in mind for their wards. So. those ward representatives, wanting support for (heir pet projects in the future, vote for the Ward I project and i} is passed. ; 1 (3) Notice that the. 2nd important gdcstion, Can we afford it?" did not get asked. Bigger govemtnent does not necessarily result in better fiscal management. Again. we conclude that the first and most important step is to plan the political structure around communities. When it is designed around community and common needs, local gover thentreforrs will lead 10better government. e WHAT DOES EXETER COUNCIL WANT TO DO? Here is The ideal plan of action , (1) Two-tier government is eliminated t2) Brtsed on a review of communities of interest. Exeter is defined as a "single -tier municipality with a Council to run its affairs. , ' (3) Exeter buys services it cannot provide efficiently 'on its own (e.g. social services. inter- municipal roads) from outside (e.g. London. The private sector or Through agreement among municipalities)! (4) Exeter streamlines intemally. CAN THiS HAPPEN?, Exeter Council's ideal plan cannot be achieved through unilateral action. Provincial legislation has erected abbacies to such change and guides municipalities to "preferred" options. Certainly, if the public shows no interest, Eitetei s plan is very unlikely to happen: WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND US? WHATARETHE OTHER POSSIBILITIES? There arc three to four possibilities: ' (11 MUNICIPALITY OF SOUTH HURON -' Early on. Exeter wanted To consider a single -tier municipality made up of the Townships of Hay. Stephen. Ushorne. and' the communities of Exeter, Hensall and Zurich. That was not widely - supported by others. It still is worth considering and might be our "second choice," (2) SOUTH HURON • NORTH LAMBTON • - it will be:recalled we tried a merger of Stephen, Usborne, Grand Bend, Exeter. part of Bosanquet and parts of Hay. That was not workable, in our view. Grand Bend has asked for a Provincial Commission to decide for us. That decision has. in effect. been tabled by the Province until after the municipal elections in November. (3) THE "PARTS OF 3 COUNTIES" MODEL In the Minister of Municipal Affairs reply to Grand Bend's request for a Commission. he said why not consider an amalgamation of the south half of Huron. the north half of Lambton• and parrs of Middksex as a single municipality. (R is difficult to imagine how much time and effort those kinds of negotiations would take.) • (41 ONE -TIER HURON - Finally. there is the proposal to have one municipality (where a County and 26 local municipalities now exisll for Huron. WHAT ARE THE RISKS TO RESTRUCTURING? Exeter is not against amalgamation and we are certainly not against saving taxpayer money. However. there arc definite risks and unanswered questions attached to the above 4 "possibilities." RISK 1 - Loss of Accessible Government (Council and public administration/services out of Godetich?) RISK 2 • Loss of Accountability (while the politicians are working for the same municipality. They are fyt working for the same community). RiSK 3 - Probkm Avoidance. The Province is interested in amalgamations less for reasons of cost - efficiency than for the purpose of re -distributing costs and revenues. To explain by example. the farm tax rebate. a subsidy of farm really taxes, that used to be paid by the Province will now be paid for by local municipalities. The merging of municipalities would re -distribute that tax burden. But the basic unfairness of the Province's decision is unaddressed. of this "food policy" is a good idea. then everyone whom should pay for it. not just the people in the area where food is grown. Restructuring avoids the issue and kt's the Province off the hook. We must insist that the Province pay this subsidy. RISK 4 - Cost Savings Do Nor Materialize. What if a "singk•Iier" County does not save as much money u other ways of reforming government. A simple test can be conducted: Over the next 3-4 years. assess how well the new, singk-tier municipality of Chatham•Kent performs. That is a prudent approach. RISK S • Exeter's Needs Are Not Met (Will There Be Equity?). Will Exeter's la -generated dollars find their way in fair measure to in -Town projects? The answer may depend on how balanced the representative system is. as discussed in Risk 6. RISK 6- Reduced Representation For Exeter. During last year's restructuring talks, Exeter insisted that a vote in our town be equivalent to a vote in the agricultural areas. Surprisingly, that basic principle was a bone of contention. Others wanted a ward representation panem weighted in favour of rural votes. Such a pattern happened in Chatham -Kent and could happen in Huron. HOW CAN WE GET THE BEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR EXETER AND AREA? Exeter wants The best local government for its town and wants to co-operate with surrounding areas in providing the best service delivery system possible. Here are some steps to follow: I) For members of the public, get involved and tell the Province, the County and Exeter Council what you think. 2) For political colleagues at the County and in surrounding municipalities: i) Don't panic. Don't make the wrong decision in hate. We don't even know the Province's plans in full. Wait for all of the recti. ii) Tell the Province what's wrong with their plans. loin with A M 0. (Association of Municipalities of Ontario), the O.F.A. (Ontario Federatioo of Agriculture) and each other to get your points across iii) Take the lime to kin from the restructwinp that have happened elsewhere. iv) Think about priorities. Local politicians do a great job for very link cost. The political structure is the foundation for local government. Service delivery systems should•be planned around the political structure. That will kad ro well-managed rural and urban communities. To close. Council thinks there is too much at stake for the public to remain uninvolved and for the politicians 10 act without clearly understanding the principles of good government, the options for = jnprovemenr and the risks attached to making the wrong move.