The Goderich Signal-Star, 1972-11-23, Page 51
iv
1
1
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Gives flg'ro
Dear Editor:.
I am asking the privilege of
replying to a Batter in your paper
of November 16th, 1 do not in-
tend to indulge in a mud-
slinging campaign 'but 'rather
state the facts as ,clearly as
mummummin
possible.
...�,.,-,.....,
On March, . I6th, 1972, the ocular, as reported. elsewhere,
Huron County Board of the only fair thing to, everybody
Education received from Calvin is to declare our motives and in- -
Christian School Board a tentions .publicly. .To avoid
request to cooperate .in transpor- duplication of narration and
tation. This was referred to our 'there being essentially one kind
transportation manager, Bob of explanation, for both of us,'it
Cunningham to discuss with the would, not seem necessary to
Calvin Christian School Board issue separate statements.
any area that , could be On Friday, November 10th, I
beneficial to both Boards. After noticed in that day's Globe and.
considerable study and meetings Mail a detailed description of a
with Calvin ,Christian School situation in -the Toronto
Board by Mr. Cunningham, he borough of North York where
presented a recommendation for Controller Irving Paisley (also
Board approval on August 21st prospective candidate for
"That this Board enter into a mayor) 'resigned and withdrew
transportation agreement with his candidacy, as it was found
the Calvin Christian School that he violated the Municipal'
Board for ;a trial period _from Act which prohibits contracts
Sept. to Dec. 1972. To transport between council members and
the studenta involved providing . the municipalities in which they
that the students live on Huron . serve. The contract in question
Huron • County -Board of
Education routes and thereby
no additional" miles accrue and
that the Calvin Christian School
Board re-irnburse this Board
their proportidnate costs on the
routes involved." •
,At this meeting a delegation
from Calvin Christian School
Board with Cecil Bruinsma as
spokesman stated they were 'not
interested in a cost sharing
agreement but expected the
Huron County• Board of
Education, to provide them with
transportation free of charge.
The Huron County- Board of
Education voted unanimous to
iejec't` this -re est --"The- h 1 -'—fees, so-it--wa's-reasprrahle to
believe, that his -subsequent ac --
tion indicated he had no choice.
By the way, .I .. believe'. there
are more than 50 copies of
Globe and Mail read in,
G oderich.
Next day (Remembrance Day
service etc.) .I was unable -40,v
was a subdivision agreement
signed with the borough when
Mr. Paisley was ,in office. Mr.
Paisley is a partner in the group
of developers who own that sub-
division and has direct financial,
interest. Mr.' Paisley had duly
refrained from voting on the
matter and it was not a conflict
of interest question. ,. rr
It struck me (and when he read
it, my husband) that Coun.,Deb
Shewfelt, via Delbar Sub-
division (agreement signed
earlier this year) might be in an
identical situation. We. further
considered the fact- that Mr.
Paisley spent .$1,000 in legal,.._
-Act- states- that ;a Board may
transport students to and from a'
school ' they operate.•
I, also stated that it is costing
the Huron County Elementary
school ratepayers $28,955
because 19,3, students living in
the county do not attend our
schools: The Provincial grant locate the Town Administrator
structure is such that the larger until late in the afternoon. I
the .student population in thought it necessary to have Mr.
relation ' to equalized Walls look at the matter, par -
assessment, the larger the grant.
Our grant for ordinary expen-
diture ,for the elementary
schools in 1972 is 70.7 percent.
If the 193 students were atten-
ding our.schoolys our grant for
1972' v 1d='be °'7130 percent.
Qur elementary school budget
for ordinary, expenditures for
1972 is $4;294,495. Add to this.
hot d►f,.*3'
4014440, .e ur ^ 'sand$,stab
tract fromthis the difference in
grants and you will get a reduc-
tion to be raised by levy from
the taxpayers of $28,955.
In conclusion, may I say that
the .Huron County Board of
Education have the 'smallest
Administration staff of any
board its size in Ontario.
The ordinary expenditures per
student for the elementary
schools in this county are the
fifth lowest in Ontario.
Trusting. this will clear up
some of the misunderstanding in
some people's mind.
Thank you
John Broadfoot.
Brucefield.
Position clarified
Dear Editor,
As Mr. Haydon and I play a
certain part in the controversy
concerning the Town Council
and Coun. Deb Shewfelt in par-
r
4.
ticularly in consideration of the
shortness of time left before the
filing of candidates' papers
would close at 5 p.m. on , Mon-
day.. Mr. Walls was 'going to
make . sure on. Sunday that
Coun. Shewfelt would have
enough time to prepare his
position. He had declared he
was going to run for Deputy
thearefoxp for Count!
kH-a,lt'��t �.31��uii't vIe ,1.,., '�.7`''�:R i •:v � ;-�y�• ..
P010.9.
We had all (except Coun.
Shewfelt) voted in favour of his
subdivision agreement. There
was nothing wrong with it and it
went through proper channels. I
had not known until Friday
evening that the Municipal Act
specifies disqualification in case
of such contracts. It ° was
reasonable to conclude that
others, including Coun.
Shewfelt, might be unaware and
would want to take the
necessary steps to clarify the
situation for their own benefit.
Had the situation fitted another
councillor, including myself, my
reaction would have been the
same.
The Town Administrator and
Coun. Shewfelt saw the Town
Solicitor first' thing' on Monday
morning. Mr. Murphy has made
it clear, repeatedly, in the past
that he only indicates the legal
possibilities and does not wish
to influence the Council's policy
decisions.
Happening to begat the Town
Hall that morning I had a very
thorough talk with Mayor Wor-
sell and Mr. Walls. The ' latter
made some 'telephone enquiries
in connection with his position.
in the Matter as relating to the
nomination and election,. The
Mayor's final position was that
the matter is nobody's business
and nothing'at all is to be done
or said.
I felt that I no longer could,
with respect, be part of a council.
proposing, ' to look after' the
town's business without even
the slightest attempt to put its
ownrhouse in unquestionable or-
der suitable to a public in-
stitution. My impulse was to
. resign. I talked about the rnaatter
to a small number of respected
citizens who' are. in no connec-
tion with the case and whose
judgment I trus d4 I quickly
discarded the idea of' my.
resignation: it had been
emotional and would simply be
of no help to anybody at that
stage.
. From' the 'beginning -my
husband 'had wanted to ap-
proach the Council,in his right
as a private citizen. of Goderich.
At first I had begged him not to,
as those who do not know us
well may regard it as my hiding
behind my husband's back. The
-subsequent events made it ob-
viat hrat. the onu,s...was;
however, on a private citizen.'
My husband and I are no car-
bon copies of each other. He at-
tends many council meetings as
a spectator to have first hand
impressions. He made his
enquiries in this matter indepen
-dent'ly.
We believe that is a citizen
has a doubt, request or criticism
concerning his' duly elected
representatives on the Council,
he should take the matter just
.there -- to the Council.. -My
husband is, specific and to the
point. On Wednesday he asked
the Town Hall to put him on the
agenda and on Thursday he 'ap-
peared before the Council, with
a carefully considered
statement,
.There ' was the expected at
.t, toy n.. hirx►�. ., ri ht La,.
..�:. �1� .� -�., y the., g .
,present his case. It would. have.
been fair and human for Coun.
Shewfelt to be upset, although -
he was, as pointed out, by no
means unprepared. What sur-
prised us was the emotional out-
burst on the part of two other
councillors, who (we thought)
were not ?nnected with the
case, Mr. Haydon was not. at-
tacking .a boys club to test their
solidarity;, he. wast addressing a
responsible public office of his
elected representatives.
If the treatment Mr. Haydon
received. (with no 'attempt fl'ou'r
the Mayor's chair to bring, a
note of reason and good
judgment into it) is an in-
dication of what a Goderich
citizen can expect if he' ,ap-
proaches the Town Council to
express his concern or to clarify
a situation of some reasonable
.doubt, then one cannot be really
surprised that people prefer to
"whisper in the streets" as the
expression was used.
Reeve Paul Carroll was in
favour of handling the matter of
public concern in an open ap- .
proach. Coun. Frank Walkom
suggested discussion in commit-
tee. The latter suggestion was.
accepted and followed. ,
The other thing that surprised
Mr. Haydon and me about the
outburst at him was the fact - -
Basking questions and getting an -
that after one or two terms ion •
the Council some members had
apparently never clarified in
their own minds the most basic
principle, - the' elected represen-
tatives are answerable to •the
people who elect them. If a per-
son insists on being a completely
private personality in absolutely
every respect, he should not rim
and cannot in. 'fairness hold
:public. office. This is understood Brad but krwws_r.hixn_.onlY_ b�!_-.�
on other �levels'�ot',`; government""- " `
and apparently in many other ' titght from council meetings at
municipalities as a fact of life. A which they have been spectators.
citizen has a right to question I had `spoken to Mr. Brady
his public representative; the briefly three times before. Some
latter has no right to make use time ago I .had asked him
of his office to,;.attack a private whether he had ever considered
running for the. Council as a
of openness ' in public .9affairs.
Behind -the -scene wheelings and
dealings make people (myself
included) suspicious, often un-
necessarily. It is simply good
and sensible policy to use the
open front door approach. I
have sponsored it in every
respect, from the beginning. The
old and slightly comfortable -
policy at councils everywheke is
no longer efficient and very ef-
fective in modern-day com-
munities where neighbourhoods,
groups and individual citizens
have started to assert their
rights, as their due.
This is all that Mr. Haydon
and I wanted and tried to do.
There was nothing personal
against Mr. Shewfelt, but there
was concern about Coun.
Shewfelt's position. Those
listening with their reason
noticed that my, husband asked
for nothing more than a public
,meeting where all candidates
could present thejr' cases and the
people would have the chance of
swers. How else can the election
Wave any meaning?
Finally, there was a reference to
a "put-up" job. I am not run-
ning against Coun. . Shewfelt.
There is only . one other can-
didate = Mr. J. Brady. Had there
been none or six, it would make
no difference.
Up' to this minute (Sunday);'
Mr. Haydon has not met Mr..
citizen.
And here I 'come to the point
where I want to give Coun.
Shewfelt credit. When the Coun-
cil finally' went into committee
we were gradually able to have
a frank and reasonable talk. I
tried to show the' motives and
objectives. Mr. Haydon and I
truly had,being the kind of per-
sons we are. Mr. Shewfelt made
a sincere effort to see the matter
from. the other side. Not all men
in his situation would -force their
minds open to a viewpoint to
whiciiuthev Are not accusto,r e
and which they regarded hosthll+
to start with. r
Perhaps this small explosion
at the Council level helped clear
some air, make members and
candidates more aware of their
responsibilities to the people
who elect them, point out the
desirability of ,a greater degree
member. I asked another person
the same question. Mr. .Brady
was considering being a can-
didate. My motive was simple
and not personal. Considering
the situation of sewers and other
planning (plus different public
works projects) ahead of the
Council in the immediate future,
it seemed good sense to' have a
professional engineer on the
Council or at least among ..the
candidates for' the people to
choose from.
When Mr. Brady made up his
:kind he, had decided to:,,run for
teeve. I even noticed that his
name was up at Town Hall on
Monday as the first candidate
for this position. Coun. Shewfelt
had publicly declared he was
running' for Deputy Reeve. Sud-
denly he was running for Reeve.
All this has nothing , to do with
myself or Mr. Haydon. Itis sur -
Here are some dandy fresh
used cars just dealt in. Drop in
• today for a test drive and free
appraisal on your present car.
KEN McGEE
has just taken in trade a beautiful
1970 Buick LeSabre Custom
sedan. It's a smart one -owner car
with all of the'fine'standard Buick
features plus , custom radio,
whitewalls and chrome decor
package. Nice dark brown finish.
- A90551
AL McGEE .
has just taken an Air Conditioned
1969Buick-LeSabro Custom door-
hardtop in on a new Buick Electra.
This local car also features power
windows, full tinted glass, radio,
vinyl top and all new first line
belted whitewalls. Priced to sell
quickly.
KEN WOOD •
just recently took in this 1971 Pon-
tiac Tempest 2 door hardtop. Only
25,000 miles. It has a 350 V8, 3
speed automatic, radio, power
steering, .. 'power ' brakes,
whitewalls, wheel discs and is
finished in silver with a blue cloth
interior. its like new but the price is
,very reasonable. 'K51418
t=or the best deal in town on a new or used car sae one
of thin Salesman at Melea's today. They want to do
builness with yout ,.
would like to demonstrate this low
mileage 1968 Meteor Rideau 500
two door hardtop that he just
'traded a customer for a new Pon-
tiac. Only 45,000 miles. Original
finish. Has power steering, ,V8
Motor, radio, . rear defogger,
autoratic etc: and 'must be seen
to be appreciated. °
ELL SRO
, APPLIANCES
ON THE StlUAqe, dOGEItiCH 524.8434
prising how few goopXe are in
;lined to look at fac4 before
they jump to conclusions.
Because be. was to -s me ex-
tent involved I woiid like to
make reference to the Town Ad-
rninistrator's position as well. It
is a frequently misunderstood
job. Council makes policy
decisions; the Administrator
sees them 'car`ried .out, Councils
come and go, whilst the Ad-
ministrator provides continuity
at Town Hall. He ,has to cope
with the many different per-
sona ljties of council members
not an easy job besides his own,
considerable workload. As far
as I can see Mr. Walls has given
fair and equal treatment' to all'
of us. This is as it ought to be.
The situation', had - to be
described fully to make sense
and be fair to all concerned:
Thank you for letting me speak.
As this presentation grew out of
the necessity of a -general
situation I do not regard it as
my election speech; although it
obviously also shows myat-
titude_ and position, in some mat-
ters. The election speech I had,
planned for myself before this
came up. will be in next week's
paper. And it will be much shor-
ter!
Sincerely,
Elsa Haydon
Letters to the , Editor
are welcomed and
encouraged by this
newspaper on any matter'
of public interest,
All 'letters must be
signed but pseudonyms.
will be' permitted on the
understanding that
should any reader •
question the identity of
the writer, that. identity
wilt -be ;disclosed:—Y----.
Readers are reminded
that ' the opinions
expressed in in . the
published
' correspondence are not'
necessarily the opinions
held by The Signal -Star. „
DER
21,1
THIS SATURDAY NIGH""
NOV.. 25th
A
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