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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-08-12, Page 4Page 4 fifties-Aitatk'ate, August 12, 1998 . Publisher & Editor: •Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord advei1ssine; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy !ifemsi Kate Monk, Craig Bradford, Katherine Harding,. Scott Nixon;•Ross Haugh • •.-• -Producudn; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce -Weber, Laurel Miner Transpprta,ioJ AI Hodgert front Owe d Accounting; Sue Rollings, Carpi Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth Slagle, 011/ es NOME .2 The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of c.ommunity newspapers Providing news, advertising and.information leadership EDITOR 1A14 PubljcatiosUISCns Mad 111MPTIRegistratioOqn *ANumbe'Tas1E; 07511 One year rate tor Canada subscribers - $36.00 + GST Two year rate for Canada subscribers - $63.00 + GST QIHEs-BAT/ Outside Canada - 5102.00. Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, Nt)M1•1S6 by J,W. Eedy Publications Ltd. .Telephone 1.519-235-1331 • Fax: 5192350766 emalr:taeeedy.com G T 1R105210835 Rodeo success calls for- "third annual" Witii-the. exception of the annual fall Mir in Exeter it has heei: -a rare oc-- casion to hear the words "third 'annual" describing. a coninillnity c\'fttl. With two successful rodeos now the books the rodeo,comtnittee has al- . ready booked A Bar K Rodeo •Produc- . tions for. 1999. It -promises iii be an-. other popular event to brine: people t� town.•Last weckenfl' was an indication -of the kind,olSuecess you -can have when you take a good idea and run with it. The comnttitec who work on .the ro= deo practically year round and the vol- unteer; who. pitched in on tlie'weckend deserve credit. Chairman Don•Richard.- son is,quiek-to praise his committee ' calling it the "best`conunittee in towel." Thanks to- their efforts, Exeter is once again on the inap.,- • For whatever reason. Exeter'hiis al- ways seemed to. he in the shadows.of the Dashwood Friedshurg Days and the Zurich Bean Fest when it comes to sus- taining an.annual`event. We otten'hear the phrase Exeteris •"Too small to he big, and too big to he sniall.' Perhaps it Means our town haS - reached it size where it is difficult t� get • the majority of residents on board to. make an event a success. Some feel'it is only in -small communities where .. --enough dedication and effort can be mustered to'make an annual event worth • repeating: This theory -has been completely de- stroyed with the second successive -ro- deo where people came to:support it and •lett with a feeling of.,getting their mon- ey's worth. •-. Two good runs in is many years .should create a foundation. that can be built upon for years to come. Yes, you can have fun in a -small town, -Yes, we will hear the next rodeo de- -scriheil"as "third annual." Your Views Letters to the Editor Efficiencies needed :"I believe it is time to act and to eliminate the duplication that is present. • [)car Editor: Uptiii reading. for two weeks in a row, articles on property tax hills -1 -believe that it is tithe -ti' clarify important issues that affect all of us as propertyias-. payers. -'Etre issue ofwhois respunsihle.tor increases -. in individual or cunimere al tax bills appears to Iv .11 ' • the. -crux of the issues. - . - • .The province nt Ontario through its assessment. • ...The assesses the current market value of the;, prop- erty and fiat seal out assessmertt .jiotices. if an'indi- vidual or. hustness•helhcvcs-(hat the assessment is • incorrect they have •until August flit() get in touch with the assessment office in Go derich and appeal the valuation (Ilse municipality has no_ability to influence assessed values.) • • • The municipality or town. on the other hand, decides on the arnuunt of money they need to oper- ate the town or township=and provide the.services - that -Are desired by their constituents. This money is then allocated to-the.assessrnerit that the town or township has at their disposal. (The province has no Ability to reverse or atter municipal councils dcci-. signs on the dollars required -to operate the town.) - lt-is true that the municipalities have been asked to find efficiencies as a result of the provinces desire to take. e ntrol of the excessive spending that has happened in the 70's. •MO.s and. early 90's: The same request was made 01 the provincial Members. MPP's were required to reduce .office expenses by ''0 per - cent. eliminate their gold plated pension plans and consolidate regions •moving from 13(1 MPVs to_ 103. in Huron County despite the hard work of -some council members and the Warden, there has been no ctnsolidation.'Wc have 26 clerk -treasurers. tiver2(0 municipal politicians. road superintendents. secre- - tanes. et( .,td we all know that the. years Of swelling gu tramcars are over and n is time that we (took long and hard at the Municipal situation. ` - - in a report. paid for by the taxpayers of Exctcr, Stephen. 'Ushornc. Grand- Bend. and -the northern section of Bosanquet. KJ'MGstates on page- 17 that "amalgamation will save .the ratepayers in the study area about $777.000 annually. Additional savings of several hundred thousand dollars are achievable • through further rc-engineering and -consolidation efliorts." This is of course not the only study that has been completed in the county. Decisions on munici- pal restructuring have been left to the municipal -and couay-politicians-and. in Huron County they have chosen to study and consider. In other areas touch more hits been accomplished and the change,and the benefits to the taxpayer are substantial. I believe it is time do act and to eliminate the duplication that- is present in Huron's municipal governments. Taxpayers will benefit from this! Helen Johns. M.P.P. Huron A View from Queen's Park By Eric Dowd TORONTO -- Prernier.Mike-Hatris is trying new ways to inform 'the public of -his policies, but not:'winning many prizes for effective mar- keting The Progressive Conservative premier.. who is stuck in second place in polls. has said many times that his programs. and particularly his cuts in income lax. deserve Support but his gov- ernment has failed to communicate_ this mes-• sage. - Culture Mihister Isabel -Basset- decided to remedy this by illustrating how people can spend their new-found savings. She took news media to a record store where she blew $1,3851 which the government estimates will'be the an- nual savings of a family of four with $60,000 net income. on compact discs. Bassett said she likes to listen t� them "when I'tn driving around. like to the cottage." But many will not receive as big a windfall and many who do will find it gobbled up by neces- sities, as underlined by •a new poll in which more Ontarians said they find it harder to make ends meet. Some cannot afford to go to a cot - Missiles and musings By Craig Bradford Why can't common sense prevail in Lucan? Sttiletir l(Cs' report lag oin noun ICl- 'pal . politics Makes you' feel like standing • up .at . meetings - and screaming :d the counerllurs and delegations • -Though not experts on -sewer's or roads (what,nrost small inimicipali:: ties' e'Iected_ollictals are fixated on ad museum ). re -porters• arc usually smart enough to sec conuIn(m sense solutions a+protiluiis-most councils and/or their stalls usually est' around Ito ginning -up with.. Bur stiriteume.s they get hogged clown with: red tape and the process til •lctnrig'the'squeaky wheel get the grease. That's exactly. sth.►t's hap- pening in 1 -/Call with the priotuo'sed prosect to' put stormiieader's in the Wilberforce subdivtsion. , Council is looking at spending between 520.0X) -53(1.1X)12 on the protect. designed-tO end the problem - of writer from people's -basements. . ending up, on .sidewalks in the late fall/early - spring: 'Ilk, water is known to create a slippery surface during the early and - late winter treeic/thaw periods. Council has heard many complaints front, the public tin the. problem and is cors= corned tine village could he liable.if • • somcot to skips and hurt'.• thcm- se l ys. Yes. peopit have fallen. and luck-. . ily no one .has been hurt -seriously. And •yes. thy' village dries have nhoney (or the project in HS inliltr:r- ' lion Project fund, a pri►yinctal grant 'program But what IS She crux to! the proh- lent:' Though this may he sinipiil - mg the siva1ion a tilt, the water ts' `coming, from sump pump discharge- hoses •that homeowners' along Klcinfeldt •:tic Harrold et dud_, hlte:ohnc ,nye. are dircctnme towards . • their front 17,1%9 1t. or driVw ays. The ' water then.. nuts towards aitd ends up on the sidewalk;' . Always Iuokiing 1.01 the easy yvay rola. this reporter has risked 0ouncil- • lots acid staff in casual c.nnvers tion whether the problerin timid be elle- paled by the hotneowncrsam%ply aiming tote hoses towards their back yards rather than their •IrtMt yards. The answer vias a yes. ' - But this easy .solution.- tine -that wouldn't'cost taxpayers a•ccnt. nev- ' er carne up during subsequent council meetings or during the pub- lic meeting where positive reaction' • to.the protect sealeditte deal; •- .:rhe_ prow::t has been called the hest solution politically. Council tun have said Wilberforec suhdiyi-- - sign residents have ' felt neglected . •hv the village ALL ins dectsions- since they -moved in. . . I agree 'a prior council nay' have contributed to. the standing water prottlein in the subdivision and they- ' - should "lix any problems- prior or : current councils get into due {t, their dcitsions. But 1 don't agree -with -- - just throwing,- -y more nnoncs at. -a problem that could he just 8 easily rectified by'hom..ucners using their iicads - Docsn't spending oyer S2(l.(00 (even if- ti's priwincial. grant mon- .cy r. on a project to- solve a problem • . -that could.hc easily airted by us- ing''soine common sense seem like lunacy" - - - . 1 implore the good homeowners -- in the Wilberforce subdivision- to - think beyond their town"situation to' the_ problems facing municipalities and taxpayers -throughout -the prov- ince: And 1 implore council to stop snaking -decisions that aretxolittualt.y . conyenieoi„ but lacking • in -small town common scow. • • (age. let alone buy discs to smooth the journey.' They will resent'a millonaire- minister's sug- gestion that they can afford such luxuries; which resembles Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake," and may wonder whether Harris's govern-. ment of businessmen is quite on their wave- length. . The spending spree backfired also because it attracted demonstrators who received equal me- dia space arguing that Harris's tax cuts are mis- guided at a time when university fee are soar- ing. This was not the positive message the Tories hoped for. - One noticeable way the Tories. are trying to market their message is by personalizing it. tell- ing it in terms of how it affects an individual, much like news media tell.major stories through the eyes of one affected person. But they came unstuck at their 'first attempt, when they dropped 64 names mostly' trying to show how well the province is doing under Har- ' ris, in the throne speech, traditionally a bald, im- personal recital of proposed programs. One identified a young offender, which broke Stunt a federal law. forced a minister to resign tempo- rarily and. worst of all, obscured several issues the Tories wanted publicized in the sante speech. . Harris also got in stormy waters when he fished for. voters at a salmon hunt in Lake Onta- rio and was pictured with his son Michael hold- ing a 257pound salmon the.latter caught. which should have endeared him to anglers. . But it also prompted reminders that the lake is sr) polluted that Harris government has warned fish from it should, be eaten in only small quan- tities at a time. and premier and son will have t� take five -and -a- half months to cat it. Harris and his ministers and even family have been seen doing strange things to further their messages. Harris has been in. furniture stotes and his wife Janet, who normally keeps a low profile, turned up at a tribute to •a motorcycle manufacturer, saying her ambition is to own a Harley-Davidson. Education Minister Dave Johnson, Harris's most reserved and reticent minister, was seen with his hair standing on end at an electronic gadget at the Ontario Science Centre as he un- veiled a new science curriculum'? Johnson was also heard saying uncharacterts- tict1l. .,IS -- his ministry was given 'more of a' hand in the province's TV network, "i1ove Pol- • karoo tons: of its best-known kiddie characters). Polkaroo and I are best buddies." . Mysterious Margaret Marland. whose critics . have wondered what she does as minister. for children:. suddenly emerged .and donated blood _at a clinic: • , But any prize for spinning a story :would go to Finance:Minister Ernie Eves, who ond:edid it literally by holding a news conference in the re- volving restaurant on the CN Tower to illus- trate that he has got the economy moving.. . Eves was pictured dropping his•dirty clthes at a laundry just like an ordinary customer and walking into the open arms of its owners. who praised him for keeping down taxes. Eves normally sends his washing by chauf- feur. but his 'media assistant thought it would attract more interest if his boss delivered it per- sonally and made sure the owners *ere on hand with kind words. Ontarians can expect matey more such gimmicks