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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-10-21, Page 12PAGE 4—E ODERZGH SIGNAL -STAR,.` THURSDAY; OCTOBER 21, 1976 • Debatable motion it. was, most interesting to hear council members debate a proposal initiated by Councillor Leroy Harrison to reduce the size of Goderich Town Council by: two: The "suggestion was that town council pass a motion for a council to consist of a mayor, a reeve, a deputy -reeve and four councitltirs,,and that the question be put on the ballot this December for decision by the voters. If approved, a smaller council would be elected for the first time..in 1978, for the term 1979 and 1980. Councillor Harrison obviously believes such a plan would work and so did three other council members. But four councillors had doubts, at least until a thorough study was made on the matter,^and the motion was lost when the vote of,councit was tied. However, decisionwas .unanimous that a •com- plete survey be taken to determine as' closely as possible the effects a smaller council would have in all areas, especially where. proposed workload and financial savings were concerned. Generally, concern centred around the workload of individual councillors, Some members felt they could handle more work; others stated emphatically-' they could not. It ,does not necessarily mean that some counciflors.are:lazier. than others, or that some have less. time than others.* It simply indicates that individual councillors have dif- ferent impressions about how involved one needs •to get where council business is ' concerned - how thorough is thorough, how informed is informed. This newspaper has attempted in the.. past two years to show the :present council as it; really is, with all .its' strengths and weaknesses. There is little .doubt in looking back over the actions of council in the term just ending that some members are more effective than others. it would also be _ safe to suggest that some members of council work harder than others; come to the., table better prepared than others; give. more 'direction . than others. In an. editorial last" weekr this newspaper pointed out the need ,for• a more business -like approach to council business. It was stressed that hard work is the essence of most successful business ventures. `It was even .hinted. , that this council and previous..councils'- may not always have worked to capacity, in a situation -where all, members were equally pulling weight and sharing burdens. . Councillor Elsa Haydon touched on. what could be the key issue in "the argument: it . is _better to have nine council members when one ortwo aren't functioning -effectively than to have seven council mernbers when one or two aren't functioning effectively. Somebody else has to do the work in that kind of a situation. Who else, Mrs. Haydon wanted to know. Council work • Ts increasing with every passing. year. Much more is demanded of council member:. on each succeeding council: Fewer. members may well be able to handle the load, but. will it be an improvement for the citizens of Goderich? That's the question to be answered by the study to be undertaken in the corning months.-- '' S J K Citi Lens! .Alert! The Town of Goderidh'is. looking for persons interested in becoming poll clerks and deputy returning officers for the'upcoming December municipal election. • •Administrator Harold Walls says training will be of- fered' prior to the.election for all persons who have never served in these capacities before, and a brush -up session will be held„for men and women who have had some experience but will require a refresher course. - •.As well, Mr. Walls is searchingforhorpesandbusiness ' locations in Goderich where polling booths may be set up ' for the day of the election. For' further information, just call the town.•ad- ministr ator• at the municip al building - 524-8344.... . osfiesce—eperaflen welcomed Thea telephones at the Goderich Signr1Star office on the previous two Thursdays have been humming with calls from disappointed subscribers in the town who did not •receive their newspapers until late Friday in some cases. There will : be no calls . this Thursday morning like- that. The Problems which plagued Signal -Star officials;' the post office and the sub: scribers .in Goderich have been solved - and according'to.Signal=Star Publisher R. G.;Shreier,heis''extremely pleased” by the way in whichthe solution .was reached. Readers may have noticed that their -.Signal-Ster is increasing in size. It is getting bigger - and heavier. To put. it .plain; the postmen in Goderich were having areal problem carrying the newspapers on their walks. To demonstrate their corn -plaint, they came to the Signal -Star office and • actually showed Publisher Shrier their difficulty. A mail' bag •was stuffed with 40 40 -page newspapers, a clear witness to the fact the mail •bag was filled, leaving no room for other mail. Then as a further point of proof, the bag was "^- placed on the of Publisher •Shrier who had-to-adn-i•i4 it was a heavy load to " carry even..a short distance. • Mr. Shrier was impressed by the presentation of the posties - not only, their vivid demonstration bf th • problem„ but more- important their attitude toward it. The publisher ex- pressed his pleasure to discover that the locai. postmen consider the Signal - Star one of the .most irnportant.'pieces` of mail they carry in a week - and that they were prepared to approach the weight problem so amicably, so sen- ` sibly, so honestly. .What •Mr., Shrier termed "an. agreeable solution to an 'obvious problem" was hammered out between the postmen .and the Signal -Star executive. That's newsworthy in itself., The fact that the postmen's presen- tation resentation was._made last Thur ciey - the National Day of Protest -. made it a subject for editorial comment. , • The postmen of Goderich care about delivering the mail to the householders here.' They want the, service to be the best they can provide. They proved it by negotiating di'rectlywith the Signal - Star for improvements to the good -of all concerned. Oh yes, by the way. Now the citizens of Goderich :can co-operate with the postmen and the Signal -Star. The larger newspapers just won't fit through the conventional mail slots = no matfer how you fold them: Putting. them between ,the.,'doors isn't always possible :or practical. The obvious answer. is a mai-box preferably one. large enough to handle•the paper and your regular mail. -•SJK was a verg good gear BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER Last week's Exeter Times- ., Advocate- contained a .column by. the editor, Bill Batten, which advised the comniunity.. that during arid or after the last high school dance : at South 'Huron District High School, the Exeter Police Station was crowded with young ` people who were at various levels of intoxication. `. and were being held there until their parents could come. and pick them up. "It was not a happy scene," observed the editor. He claimed ,.. ,it was downright disheartening J'to see so many." young people from the area running afoul of the law The majority of • them were under the legal age and for the :most part; that wds the real reasonfthcy were taken to. the police station: In conversation this week with a couple of Goderich: Town Police constables, it. EAR was agreed• that the method the Exeter policemen had usedin an awkward situation was, probably a good one. Too often, parents of underage drinkers are either unaware that their youngsters are. causing any problem or simply agreed - to ignore it until there is • a crisis. By holding the' teenagers at the police station until the parents came to take them home; the Exeter police staff was making certain morn and dad were confronted with the problem at hand . and forced to deal with it in some fashion. •• It would be ludicrous to suggest there are no drinking problems at high school dances • at GDCI. To date, student .monitors and staff. chaperones _have "handled" the situation.: . There may even have been times when certain parents were called down to the school to ' remove their READERS youngsters from the premises. That would seem like an effective solution; Surely the kids would be. mortified to hav& their parents called to the scene, r perhaps to beobserved by. fellow students who would undoubtedly witness the arrival and maybe even the departure. 'However, one wonders just how much more effective if any - it would beto actually have the police herd youthful offenders down to the West Street office and have their parents retrieve their . off spring from that.moreofficial setting. Would 'both parents and youth get a clearer picture of just what is in- voi-:• ad when son or daughter writes his of her own rules involvingliquor?. -1- The Exeter editor pointed out that the problem basically ' rests with theyoung people themselves .• . although he` quic1Sly- added that "their attitude and actions must,. surely reflect a neglect of parental control as well". Mr. Batten, the father of a young family, knows „quite well the value of . parental, control. Still it is' abundantly clear that' even`' those teenagers with , strong parental influence ' of, °a positive nature will often "skirt the-. law" where drinking 'is concerned. Just why, that is so,. has not ever been adequately explained but it is true that children and teenagers . - in fact,: human beings in general., do not necessarily follow good examples. More often than not people tend to mirror the bad. example . , and if parents don't provide it in every case for their children; other adults or somebody else can always be counted on to do it. For example. Not•long ago a youngster was arguing that members of a teenage team who had been accused of drinking. on the bus -while travelling to and` from games, had the example of bus -riding boozing: adults to follow. The reasoning was, of course, that if the so-called, grown-ups turneyery chartered bus into. a moving bar, it is no wonder the kids do it. When the same teenager was asked why the kid didn't follow the example of 'those adults who don't drink on the bus -end there are- some of -those, .too =