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1AE4. WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26,1 979, HIBYFE R ç~Whitby r"mO VOlce Of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher.-Mana ging Edîtor Ihe only Whltby newspaper lndependentîy owned and opera ted by Whltby resldents for Whitby residents. Fublshed every Wednesday Sby M..B.M. Publisblng and Photography Inc. Phone'6684111 Thue Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, Better Business Bureau 0f Toronto PO. Box 206, Whltby, Ont. Whltby Chamber 0f Commerce CommunitY Editoi Mike KneiI Contributing Editor -JiM QuaiF* Producion Manager -Mari Burgess Print & Promotional Manager -Robin Lyon CI8SSUOdAd &ole Bertin' Mailing Permit No. 460 Member of the: IJncondition ai grants may be a'dis as ter due to good intentions Some regional counelllors, .Including'ý Whitby's Gerry Emm have corne out recentiy In favor of the Ontarlo government gIvlng the munIipalîties un- Conditional gra 'nts. They say the money that the province gives them, shouid flot have strings because the local counclîs, have a better knowledge of what their aree needs. 1Their efforts are we Il founded, they desire to, give the munIcIpaîîty more control over Its affairs. SThe province, on the other hand, desires that the munlcipalltles maintain a level of service. This leveL of service ls an effort to ensure *that thé municilpaîlties have, good roads, adequate water and sewage,ý waste disposait, social services, pollclng, fire protection, library servIcesý and that the com- mun ity doesnfot lack any0f these.. If tKhe municîpalîties received uncondifional gran- ts there ls on e greatdanger. That le, the couneillors (be they 0f the region or of the town) might have a tendancy M~ot to treata aIl of the. above mentioned projects wlthi the same attitude as' the province. One year, they might go on massive road bufîdina projecte and leave-other services aimost* untouchec[. Another year the same thing mlght 1 happen wIth homes- for the aged.. They wouid flot do this out of male but out, of good Intentions. Local govemments do not have the resources to ailocate this money with fairness. Emm and the others are right, the municipaîîty does have a better Idea of what the 'communîty needs but the province ensures that councîls do not go overboard on a project. The province has sald that the munIcIpalîties muet make sure that every service they provîde le adequateîy funded. They do. have the resources to Di know what money sho uld be spent on what projects and In the needed amo unt. cIl if the local municipalîties had the- resources 'to P determIne where money should be spent, they d< should have that control. d For the most part, local councillors are flot full- hie time, professionai politicians. They are people who do are sIncerely interested ln their community but do abi not brinq gInto their poli tical life the expertise needed i to spend m oney wiseiy. They need the guidelines the te province sets, slmpiy to prevent any grave humanth error (whIch even the provinceisc caable 0f). cor Councii's hIre professionai staff to assist them 'suý but, once again, because of the iimited resourc est sut the staff le not able to do the research needed-In a lot 7 -of these epending projects, thereby becomlng the e admînistrators of provîncîaîîy set programs.be This ls at no fauit of the staff or the councîliors, it aret ls Just< indicative of the resources at hand availabie ioný to the municipalities. baci Emmn and his collegues are n g ht, the municipaîîty derT doee have a better idea of w hat the communîty tw needs but gettlng uncondItIonal grants may prove ato dîsaster and not a step towards greater autonomy bucl from the province. nr ADDRESS LETTERS TO: THE EDITOR, THE WHITBY FREE PRESS POST OFFICE BOX NUMBER 206 WHITBY teen biock area In- ciudlng the four cor- ners shope and the residentiai tree-llned streets, around them. Turning downtown Whitby Into a new and viable inner communlty wlthin our town, will flot be an easy task and it certairul y can flot be accompiished by cosmetic half-. measures, to remedy those recognizE elements probiem parking, cleaning and lmproved signage. What is needed most, is a long term redevelopment plan for downtown. Whitby a strategy for planning and impiementation of our ne.w downtown, al ln keeping with the of- f iciai plan for the town Of Whitby -,t should be ln writing, wlth easly Bd indîvidual of the le. off street iandscapi ng, heritage Down >town re-development ilot lear Sir:, , ln the light of coun- Ilior Barry Evans$ ap- rehensive outlook for owntown Whitby and s expressed desire to Deom ,ethIng soon Dout the- decline of %Onomic actlvity are, May i offer a few )mments and gg9estions, on this ibject.. The- malaise that Sets our centre town )a today, has been g9 ln comIng - golng zk to the graduai fiIse of those centre vn industries "the 0kie", thé King Tan- y' and the Samuel el blanket factory tprovided much of economîc base for Itby as a whoie, ln past and substan. employment down- 1 ln years gone by. y brought a solid perity to what is th 'e -centrai ness district, a fîf- Tre< that the Whil the tial towri They prosi now busir reference guIde-lune mape and not the other way round. We would be probing for a strategy that would bning a new and viable commercial ac- tlty along with a hlgh and appropriate level of population to the' cen- trai busfiness district. It Is the wniters view that an enlarged population base for centre town may prove to be the essential Ingredient for success. The mayor and counicil should en- deavour to articulate the development goals for the town of Whltby to the year 2000 giving careful attention to the reasonabie aspirations of developers ln the Brooklin ares as those concerned with the redeveiopment of downtown Whltby proceeds with their work. There shouid be an economîc analysîs of our municipal resour- ces, ln order to ldentify, the potentlal for development ln new sub-divlsîons, the ln- dustrial park, shopping mails and the redevelopment of Perhaps councilior. Barry. Evans might per- sua de major JIm Gar- tshore and his elected colleagues 'that the timne 1for. the revitalization and redeveiopmnent 10f downtown Whitby le now. A 60 day il project review committeei" mlght report on the status, the probiems and prospects for-the central business district. This would be Eugene M. Henry Charles St. Whitby. a n easy task reader says