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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-12-02, Page 13LEROY HARRISON URMCO• ;�r, 31 t.: c , 1 0 b u o :i e L; ilrary , 52 Montreal :3t. A r,{ t n 214 7 epu.ty-reeve candidate Sees Goderich grow to town of 1.2,000 W.hat'' specialabilities Hi h 21 h --i•s'#hebest possible solution? If this reconstruction had been done 10 or 12 years ago when it was first proposed, I would say NO. However .to make it an A -one design, it would mean that'a lot of property would •have to be acquired, which would dramatically increase. the . cost�•The one• item that is lost , in the . Highway 21 recon- struction conversations is the storm sewer. The Gibbons St. - Britannia • Road area would drain out. the Bayfield Road to the South Storm sewer and then to the lake. would you bringto the council table? • I have a background in accounting and labour which has stood me in good stead over the past four years on council. I am willing to discuss the pros and cons of any question and not afraid to say what I am thinking. I don't feel that these are special abilities, just good common sense and being' realistic. Do you, as a candidate, feel you have the time necessary to attend 'all. meetings of council and its committees and to be in attendance during the whole of those meetings? • Yes. If expenditures had to be cut during the coming term,' where would you economize? Harbor, . Airport, . Parks, Works and Engineering, .or other areas? It is not quite that easy t� give an answer. You have to look at each individual budget and the programs planned in each one. Then set priorities: Alsb, you have to' take into consideration the Education and County levy • which Council has no control over.; Do you feel that the :Ministry of Transportation ,and. Communications • recommended .redesign •of EILEEN PALMER (1) What special abilities would youbring to the council table? Ten years' involvement in Community and civic affairs; 2 years' councilexperience. (2) Do you, as a candidate, feel you have the time necessary to attend all meetings . of council and -its committees and to be in at- tendance during the whole of these meetings? Yes. In receiving 1976 Council • minutes, 1 notice that the rate of absenteeism was fairly high. This creates an un- desirablesituation, when important • issues are presented. Absenteeism -reduces the input in the discussions that provide vital background information on which decisions are based. An absent elected representative naturally does not vote on issues and influences the decisions: If there are two or more absent elected reps and one other person abstains from discussion and voting because of a conflict of in- terest, Council, becomes 'a weak structure. (3) If expenditures had to be cut during the coming term of council where would' you ' economize? Haarbor, airport, parks, worksand engineering or other areas? All areas Mentioned. g waty rough •Goderich .The Mayor's inaugural address promised Suncoast Drive would be paved during the 75-76 term. This has not been done. • The Inaugural• address also said the main priority for the .75-76 term wouldbe road improvement. Do you think 'this promise has been fulfilled?' Where does road improvement stand in the order of priorities for the new term? The . Mayor is responsible for the inaugural address, not Council:. Thepromise of road im- provement has `:been kept. Storm . • sewers - and -or pavement have been put .down; on, the following roads,. Eldon, Blake, .MacDonald, Raglan, Keays, South,. :Nelson, Cambridge; Walnut, etc. Road: improvement and storm sewers are 'tops in priorities. At present assessment in Goderich stands at about 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial. Ideally this should be reversed. How could this be achieved? Again there is no easy answer. When industry is looking to expand, they are lookingat more than one site and are negotiating with more than one municipality. All you can do is answer their questions . honestly and en- courage them to come. In what terms do you see Goderich 20 years fr#om now? How, during the upcoming term, can the new council prepare for the future Ifr terms of long range financial planning, servicing, tran- sportation, land acquisition, ',etc? I see Goderich in 20 years. with a 10-12,000 population. Council must continue to upgrade the storm sewers and road system. The P.U.C. is already planning for a second wafer tower. Council has already set upa sinking fund for an upgrading and -expansion .. to the: • 'sewage plant. Council must also see to it that the Industrial Storm sewer is installed so that the present industry may expand and that other industry may be attracted and thus expand the industrial and com- mercial base. Do -you :feel.. public par- ticipation is desirable? If so what •would you do toincrease public participation in . the .affairs of the municipality? Yes, I +feelpublic par- ticipation is desirable and is shown by my -suggesting four years ago at the Committee Appointment time that the town advertise the: vacancies on the various boards. This came into effectthree years ago. Also, approximately three and one half years ago, I was.one .of the proposers of the motion which made .1 Council' and Commit e meetings open to the press and the public. Goderich has one of the most open Councils in Ontario, if not the most , open. Can :citizens fully and ac- curately understand the dealings of council through the local press? No, but it helps. The only way to fully and accurately understand the dealings of council is to be in regular attendance at its . meetings. The press should be commended on its coverage. What motivates you to seek election to Goderich Town Council? A deep interest in public affairs at all levels of government, Deputy -reeve candidate Goderich-won't ever be highly. industrialize (4)• `Do you feel that the Ministry of Transportation and Communication's recommended design for the widening of Highway 21 through Goderich is the best possible solution? No - but no alternate ' solution has been found as yet. However, in view of the municipality's financial position, by the timethere are funds available to proceed with this proposed project, an alternate route may . be 2iedided upon. (5) The Mayor's inaugural address promi§ed `Suncoast Drive would be paved during the 1975-76 term. This has not been done. The inaugural address also said the main priority for the 75-76 term would be road improvement. Do you thi,,k this promise has been fuifil►ed? Where does road improv anent stand in the order of priorities for the new term? No Road improvement must be given top priority. The million dollars proposed for the Industrial Park would cover a lot of ground! (6) At present assessrhent in Goderich stands at about 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial, Ideally this should be reversed. How could this be achieved? In discussions with clerks in neighbouring municipalities I appreciate thht while our assessment situation is not ideal, it is better than most small towns. I agree that more industry in Goderich will eventually reverse these 60-40 percent but it is not feasible at' this timeto stick our necks out on new industry. This statement is based on the fact that our Municipal financial .,position is precarious to say the least. (7) In what terms do you see Goderich 20 years from now? How, during the up- coming p •coming term, can the new council prepare for the future in terms of long range financial planning, servicing, transportation, land acquisition,, etc? Progress means different things todifferent people. The new Council should take a long hard idok at the Goderich of today, set its priorities in order and act accordingly re above men- tioned points. It • is highl unlikely that. Goderich tlil ever become a highly., in- dustrialized town and I feel the municipality's first loyalty is to its taxpayers. We should not have to entice industry . to Goderich by handing industries gift wrapped package deals at the taxpayers'expense, (8) Do you feel public participation is desirable? 0 so what would you do to in- crease public participation in the affairs - of the municipality? Yes. ' , Encourage citizens to serve onboards and committees. • Forums could beset up where elected representatives are put on the hot seat by tax- payers who have, insufficient information on issues or by taxpayers who have u "beef to -air"• and wish to present their. views • and -or com- plaints. (9) Can citizens fully and accurately understand the dealings of council through the local press? No. The press makes an.- • excellent effort to , present facts to the public. Newspaper space does not allow for all the details pertinent to ,full, com- prehension. However, a combination of attending council meetings and the press reports would be a better situation conducive to understanding council dealings. (10) What motivates you to seek election to Goderich Town Council? I am genuinely concerned at the direction of events at the Council level. I feel that I have a contribution to make in returning common sense government to Goderich and would appreciate the op- portunity and 'privilege of participating. NO*, • -4 Mondcy, December 6•• Municipal EIection Dai '" �. . a..'«: .:.4 oberirtj 129 YEAR -49 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1976 SECOND SECTION Mayor Shewfelt steals the :show until candidates The Goderich Lions Club Meet the Candidates' Nigh got off on the :.right foo Thursday night but graduall evolved into Grill the Mayo Night when Deb Shewfel accepted an offer to say a few words to the service Club. The mayor, by virtue of his ac-:- clamation, was not part of the candidates' evening but was invited to' speak to the club members after ..the can- didates had finihed their comments.. The mayor fielded a variety of questions thiat stemmed from some of the issues raised by'. 'the ,candidates dud thetb ee mvnute tarns and t roug'i. the timing of his arrival; managed to )Dint out several unsolved discrepancies. Mr. Shewfelt arrived .late at the meeting and missed most of . the t' t Y r candidates' speeches and when he answered questions from the floor, his answers differed from some of the statements made by -can- didates. Some of the questionsput to the mayor revealed some personal types of problems relating ' to •individual situations in . town. Some people were concerned about street paving but related the problem to their own streets. Others were concerned about the arena but •were more or less voicing their own opinion- rather pinionrather than raising questions that concerned the entire town. The chairman forthe evening eventually ruled out questions about roads and the arena and gradually halted other discussions that ap- peared to be someone airing his own beefs rather than 'worrying about things . that affected the town as a whole. out QUESTIONS FINANCES Eileen Palmer started off the candidates' forum with some heavy criticismof council's handling of town finances' over the past two years. Mrs. Palmer, who is seeking the deputy -reeve's chair, said she felt' council was mortgaging the future of. the children in Goderich for present'. excesses- She said .,--her investigation into the town's finances showed that Goderieh owed more. than $2 million and was debentured. until 1990. She said she was -.;not alo a an pp ntixl, .. t t the .iown's ;de'tf i° -. Ontario Municipal Board had limited -the town to $1 million in future debentures. Mrs. Palmer told the Lions she felt the timing of projects council is now involved with may jeopardize the future of the town. She said tine Industrial Storm Sewer and the Council's encouragement of Borg-Warner to.locate here may force the town tospend the remainder of its money for limited benefits. She said the storm sewer would cost the town all. its debenture moneyand the costs to provide Borg-Warner with necessary services would not be worth the investment for •• • the return in jobs fQr people here. "I opened a can a worms at the last candidates' meeting," .she said. "I was glad to see the Borg-Warner motion defeated at council." The deputy -reeve can- didate said she was not op- posed to either project but. objected to the• timing. She said she realized tfie needs of the town and was a not anti - employment but felt the town i on Issu couldn't afford to offer gift-, Wrapped packages such as the one. they ,offered Borg - .Warner for 30 jobs. • "There is noguaranteethat 30 people that live here will get the jobs, or that the people. who do take the jobs will live here and buy homes here," she pointed out. She. said Suncoast Drive Would have to be extended at the town's expense,to • ac- commodate the industry, adding- she knew the -street would be .built in the future but •• not through the town subsidizing. an_in.d.uatry and • the people who 'owned real estate in the area. "There ::are still 206 people in Goderich that ar., :.:t septic tanks and • I resent the package to Borg-Warner when those long. time residents are being deprived of services.". She said she was. in favor of the -town getting caught up on the 'provision of services .for. residents here and rebuilding streets and roads that are in disrepair and . then setting their priorities for the future. Sheadded•Borg-Warner could come back in five years and then possibly council could' look at the situation. "It's not progress to spend money on •Borg-Warner and Industrial Park because it would be , years before the town: realizes the in- vestment," she said. • HARRISON DISAGREES Leroy Harrison, the 'only other candidate for ,deputy - reeve, disagreed with Mrs. Palmer and told the Lions he supported, the motion to accept the offer to purchase' from Borg-Warner. • Mr. Harrison said the main issue in this election --"had to be finding jobs pointing out that 110 people had been laid off in Goderichin the last month. Mr. Harrison said that if everyone: is working in a municipality the affects are beneficial to everyone. He said the industrial base of the town would be broadened and would /benefit Goderich by providing ` a better em- ployment field and by relaxing the demands on residential' taxes. He claimed the sanitary sewer and power lines needed to. open •.the extension f S.uncoast Drive werealready available„ adding the street was in tbie town's five year road 'r ra iri anyway. -'Re said the new street would open needed land in town and would benefit the. Industrial Park. The Industrial Park Storm Sewer is not going to be as: costly. ,as Mrs. - Palmer _claimed; according to Mr. Harrison. He said that if his opponent hadread the town's construction bylaw for the sewer she would have seen that . the sewer will cost $794,000, not one million dollars. He said he felt the sewer was vital to the future of the ' park 'and was also vital to industry already 'located there. He said the sewer would drain the entire park. . and would rectify many water problems industries are currently having. He added if the park was drained other industry would no doubt locate there. Mr. Harrison added a third expense the town may face in the near future when he outlined the Neighborhood Improvement Program the town is investigating. He said tax dollars- may be spent • (continued on page 18A1 Teachegrs at GDCI held a day long seminar Friday with resotireepeople from around Goderich to deal with a variety of subjects all of which pertain •to education of young adults In the secondary school. The teachers divided themselves into ;;groups and consulted on community relations, business and management, literacy, °discipline and resources that are 'available here in Huron County. (staff -photo) • ti