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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,
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Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St.,
Exeter, Ontario, Nt)M1•1S6 by J,W. Eedy Publications Ltd.
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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