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Page 2, Thursday, May 11, 1972, WHITBY FREE PRESS Editorial ...Introducing the Electorate The opposed sector in any public i s s ue is always the more vocal. Or so the saying goes. But when the opposed in any issue are sopainfully articulate, committed and resigned - and sti l1 are not heard - one can truly wonder at the commun- ication system between politician and taxpayer. 'Message to the Electorate' which appe ar.ed in the last issue of the WHITB'Y FREE PRESS, soliciting opinions of the electorate for its im- pressions on the chosen site for the municipal complex is today one week o I d. Since the message appeared in p r i n t , votes "a g a i ns't Ihave been mailed in, driven in, and in the case of some of our older citizens, walked in to the 'Free Press' office by per- sons who have not been able to go out walking during icy winter months. "This i s a sell-out of the downtown core area and an unneccessary ex- penditure when taxes should be kept within reason, "says one return vote. "How about ten years from now, t h e n m a y b e we'll need to spend $1 m i 1 1i on on a municipal buildi n g ? is the query of another. "W e do not need a new town hall after the police move out. If there is a n e e d for space, a s m a i I addition to the present building can be built, " sums up a Byron Street South resi- dent. "If you want to make the new mun- i c i p a1 building technically central, w h y not build in Brookl in ? ", points out a spry and remarkably ai ert Whitby gentl1 eman who served in France in 1915. "Money should be spent for down- t o w n rehabilitation,"" is the concise advise of another resident. "Survival of the central business core is dependent on the catalyst spur of a new municipal complex downtown, n o t in an un se r v iced rural area, ' reads another. "Not at this time due to water and s e w age pipe construction which will put taxes too high for the average wage earner, " writes a breadwinner from Garrard Road. "L o c a t i o n asinine; should be in downtown area, "writes an advocate of downtown W hi tby. "A bui Iding like this isn't needed for several years, the increased tax- es w i Il hurt Whi tby merchants, " of- fers a concerned school teacher. "I f e el my taxes are high enough now. Give the police the whole muni- cipal bu i lding and re-do the Centen- nial building for municipal offices. " "The m u n i cipal building woul d be tooremoteat Rossiand Road. If space isrieededHeydenshore Pavilion could be used in addition tothe present good building. " Opinions of those in opposition to t h e complex go on and on, and could fil pages, let alone an editorial of the Whitby Free Press. Of ail submitted returns, only one recognizable name from the Whitby S t u d y Group is apparent, and only oneof tho se i n possession is not signed. 'So where were these people when thecomplexwasfirst proposed in May, 1970 and when our plans were outlined in theMunicipal Bul letin in July of the 6 A An Open Letter to the Whitby Free Press Sir; i hop e you will print this letter, a n d hopefull y not in the bottom cor- n er of thel1 ea st read page. The P ic k e r ing air port should be bu iIt and as soon as possible. Ge neral Motors hasdominated this area long enough. When anything goes wrong at the Motors everything for m i I e s around goesdead. People are laid off left and rightfrom grocery store clerks togas station attendants to h air d r e ssers etc. Even the banks slow down. THE WHITBY FREE PRESS 1 (Voice of the County Town) Hometown paper of Whitby, Brooklin, Myrtie and Ashburn. Published every Thursday in and for the people of Whitby. Offices - 301Byron St. S. Whitby - Box 206. Whitby - 668-6111 er - W. Bill-Durkee - Judy Durkee Il sing ion Ail the letters I have read against the airport are from people who have comfortable homes on l arge I o t s w i t h steady incomes. They can afford to make a goodpriceon their p r o p e r t i e s and move out a little further if they want to. Why don't they do it and give the rest of us a fighting chance? Asfar as noise and pollution, i have enclosed an article from the TORONTO STAR. How about printing it and telling peop- le the facts for a change, or does the WHI TBY FREE P RESS believe in showing onl y one side of the issue? Sincerely, M. Baker, Whitby, Ont. EDITORS NOTE: EXCERPTS FROM THE SUBMITTED ARTICLE FOLLOW ON PAGE WE WERE UNABLE TO ACCOMMO- DATE THE ARTICLE IN FULL BE- CAUSEOF SPACE. - J. Quail - Ron Winstanley - Barry Schroeder letters to the editor box '206 whitbY same year ?", our elected represen- tatives would ask. At th a t time, 3 per cent of ail of W h i t b y, not just the opposed, were recording their feelings on it with the WHITBY ARGOSY. One month after c o un c i 1is plans were exposed to be e x a c t . Proof exists in the June 11 , 197 0 edition fro'nt page story of the Argosy, 'Citizens Disagree With New Complex, when76 per cent of200 h o m e s contacted said "no" to a new town hall. Perhapsthe question put forth by one member of council, "Where were these peopl e when our pl ans were out- lined in the Municipal Bulletin ?'", can be best dealtwith in this fashion. It is o bv i ous that the people of Whitby in choosing a vehicle for their opinions between the glossy town bulletin or the local newspaper, chose the earthier, livlier and perhaps more direct Whi tby Argosy. Perhaps too the average citizen, a little less educated than our politic- ians at town hall,doesnot fully under- stand t h a t notice of intention adver- tised in a newspaper means a carry- through of that intention. Yes. The opposed to the new muni- cipal complex have always been stri- dently vocal and full of feeling. The on 1 y ones who haven't heard are the local politicians and it would a p pear that some of them are far too remote to concern themselves wi th in- significant "feeling". DOWNTOWN Downtown Whitby, sad to say, has plainly seen a better day. Stores are closing week by week; the exodus has reached its peak. The County Town we call the place, has a downtown core that's a disgrace. Shabby buildings, closed-up shops, shopping traffic seldom stops. Very few will shop downtown, they go to plazas ail around. And who can blame them in this case - it is a most depressing place. The creek that flows neath Dundas Street, makes the downtown scene complete. It winds its trash-filled way through town, it's water stained a dirty brown. And yet few people seemn to care, not our council or our mayor. They're too concerned with other schemes, Mail Phone Publish Editor Editoria Staff Display Adverti Circulat and multi-million dollar dreams. And so the downtown core decays, a shadow of its former days. Who can tell where it will end? Who cares enough to change the trend?. by Bruc Duggan 353 Rosedale Dr.