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PAGE 10, WIUTBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBlER 2, 1988 MUNICI1PAL ELECTION '8 MEET THEM CANDIDATES WESýT WARD JOE BUGELLI - 41lyears old - Resident of Durham 25 .years, Whitby 20 years - Vice President and General Manager of Computer Composition of Canada - Post secondary education - Married, 5 children Fre. Press: What do yen thlnk are the main issues of thla election? J.B.: 1 arn neyer one ta create issues. I have always been one to address and try ta resolve issues as they arise. So I'm nat the right persan ta ask what they issues are because I believe issues change an a day- ta-day basis. Free Press: Wliat do yen feel have been tii. major- accomplishments or failures of council durlng the. past three years? J.B.: Despite mome rough rides on some ,of the issues, Deconi, Iroquois Park expansion, ail the sensitive issues in ternisaf plang, I thiuk council in fact has dane quit well. fit handled the tremendous growth pressures with a considerable amount of skilI. Net ta say that we night not have slipped up on mome things. But then again counicil has nat clairned the infallibility the papacy does. But I think on a scale of one ta ten, council la probably iu the aine range.1 Free Press: Are there any issues li the last, three years that you thlnk shonld have been hsudled dlfferently? J.B.: If I knew three years ago what I know today I would have purchased three or four more homes 'where I arn living right aaw. 1 daont know how fair it is ta comment. I can't think of any specific issue, la retros- pect, from my own persanal perspective, 1 would have done any differently. Fre. Pres: .Wiat do yen thlnk wil be the meut contentions issues dnrlng the. uext tliree y.ars? J.B.: One thing that will have ta b. addressed, and it la certainly my intention ta introduce in my, next terni of office, is equalized assessment. Oshawa and Whitby are the oaly two municipalaities in the Region of Durham that have not applied for an analysis of equalized assessment. And with the growth that we've had, with the variaus needs that camne with growth, and the pressures on the tax burden, the press- ure is goiag ta b. on counicil ta address equalized assessment at least from an analy- sis standpoint. It's not very equitable when yau have a good portion of the town being addressed an 1940 values and another portion an 1975 values and the balance on 1988 values. The ongoing pressures of develapment will always b. perceived as the angoi*ng issue. 1 do not look at that as one major issue but as a series of issues ta b. addressed as they camne about. Free Press: Do you feel Whltby la growing too fast? J.B.: 1 don't think it's growing any faster than the peripheral municipalities around Metro withiu the Golden Harseshae. I don~t thiak we, as a council, are ding anything ta attract the tremendous growth. You and I know the offlicial plan has been in place since 1973 and there -have been pockets reserved fer residential commercial sud ladustrial growth. What yau are seeing 18 the reflection of the economny which everybody braga about. And let's face it, we're not building hauses for Martians. We're not putting dogs la them. Thiey're being bought and accupied by people mo obviously there is a combination of twe things. It's a good siga of the economy and the perceived need fer home owaership as opposed ta resideaces la ternis of a place ta live. Fr.e Press: It iia b.en brought up.by other candidates that the. services are net k.eping np with the. growth? J.B.: sure. B ut then again it's a question of, you can't suck and blow. You csu't say on one haad tint you are going ta keep dewn your tax base ta as low apossible sud at the same time expect the W.~ level services. Specifically, the softer services, the recrea- tional service, which whea yau put aside the capital cost that you cau't accommadate in somne fashion through developmeat funds. The operational fuads will corne frorn the tax base. And it!s ro big secret that any recrea- tional faility Costa aud costs aud costs. Sa it's a question of how counicil perceives the needs vs the waats. Free Press: Trafflc la an inereaalng problem. Ar. there anY initiatives YOU, see thatcould %duoe-theprobl.m lity, not increasing them. To give you an example, this year we received less than $1-million ini transfer payments ini 50 per cent dollars. That doesn't give you very much ta do a lot with. The Province and the Regi on collectively rècognize the pressures on the traffie flows. Some major strides have ta be made but- not by this municipality certainly. It has ta be the Province that recognizes and addresses that. Free Press: ls there nothlng the Town can do to get a botter flow of east/ west traffic such as opening up Manning Rd? J.B.: Sure we can but there is two ways of addressing that. You can do it 100 per cent tax dollars or you can do as the priority cornes up from te provincial perspective. What is the responsible way to d oit? If you need $5 million to build it, are you going to go and say we are going to increase your tax base by 20 per cent this year because we are going ta put Manning Rd. through or are you going ta say we are goinq to have ta wait five years because if we do it that way it's only going ta affect you by $10 a year. I guess that ia the decision that is going ta have ta be mnade. Free Press: As Whitby grows, traffic becomes an ic. 'iasing p robl.m. Do you s.. any necessary changes? J.B. One of the things the Town has recognized and'it's being addressed, is the use of traffic control signals to discourage the use of less frequently travelled roads that have the throughway elTect. And again we have ta move rather cautiously when you start going that direction because traffic control devioes should not be misused or abused ta do other things than what they are mean't ta be. They are there for safety first, convenienoe second. As long as we temper the conveni'enoe with the safety then there should be no problem. Free Press: Do you feel Whltby has a good record when it cornes to affordable houslng? J.B.: Affordable housing has become the catch phrase- of the mid-80's. 1 don't know who can give me an adequate description of affordable. The real type of affordable homes can be achieved one of two ways, through co-operative housing with assistance from the federal and provincial governments and through agencies like Durharn Region Non- Profit Housing. You cannot, on one and, sa ta the developer you have ta corne up witý aIl these dollars ta develop the property and then expect them ta seil it for less. Sa the cost ofe housing reflects the cost of develop- ment. Who's responsibility is it in the final analysis? I believe it fals squarely on the laps of the Province and the federa overn- ment. I think the policies they have put in place ta try and attract affordable housing and rental units has been geared in the wrongq direction. The thrust has been ta provi Le ax breaks and tax shelters for those who can afford ta invest in the construction of affordable housing only ta turn around and flip them. over and malce considerable profits and you end up with rental units but they are oertainly not affordable which was the situation with the Perez development. Free Press: Planning la a balance between the rights of a landowner and the rlghts of a commulnity. Where would you draw that lin.? J.B.: We as a municipality employ the servioes of professionals ini the field of planning, short and longterm. We also have the services available ta us of the provincal ministries and guidelines. We as paliticians have to find smme kind of a balance between that professional advice and the sense of political vibes you get from the commumity and try ta temper the planning process ta achieve what you perceive as the best possible use of those lands. Free Press: Council seems to have adopted the policy of letting the mar- ketplace decide when it cornes to com- mercial developrnent. Do you thlnk that's aRpropriate? J.B.: lot of factors have ta be viewed when you make a decision ini terme of commercial establishments. 1 have ta go back. and say that the banks and financial DAVE WALL - 41lyears old - Resident of Whitby, il years - Representative of a Toronto computer &- communications firni - Active in Whitby Minor Hockey - Married, 2 children Fr.. Press: What do you thlnk are the, major issues of thia election? DMW.: I think with respect ta the west war d in which l'in running, l'mi looking at sorne reasonable coatrol of the developmeat. The west ward is goiaig ta face sanie exten- sive developmeat, 1Ifeel, over the next three ta four years. And I think council needs ta take a real close look at how we do that and what we do. I also think we need ta encourage some non-polluting industry in this town ta feed the tax base. And we have ta take a look at sanie of the aider areas of the ward and do sanie develop- mental construction there, sanie storm sewers and that type of thing, things I understand have been promised for a long tume but for sanie reason have neyer taken place. I'd like ta find out why and maybe speed up the process of getting theni a little inta the 20th century. Fr.. Press: Referrlng te development lu the west ward, can one learn from thedevelopment whicii has occurred li the east ward? D'.W.: inm going ta have ta say I caa't ansWer that one because I haven't really paid a lot of close attention to what's gaing an in the east ward. Free Press: What do you feel were the major accomplishments/failures of the. last three years? D.W.: 1 think this council has allowed Whitby ta grow at a reasonable pace. In sanie areas, perhaps a little too fast, but 1 don't think it's going rampant. I think one of the major failures of counicil is their lack, on certain issues, of listening ta the people in the tawa whea they speak.Oune of mybeliefs is that councillors should be listcning very carefully ta the people who pay the bills. This is municipal gaverament, we're not federal, not provincial, it's aur owa backyard so that's where I believe the people should have a voioe. I. don't think tMhil counicil, an certain issues, bas listened care- fully ta that voioe... One, close ta my heart, la Iroquois Park. While we did get sanie of what we wanted at Iroquois Park and what the town people wanted and asked for, we didn't ~et it aIl. In keeping with that I know there s plans for another camplex la the Rossland Rd. and Hwy 12 area. We have ta very cansciaus of what goes la there, and be sure that the right facilities go in there that the people will la fact use. Fr.. Press: What do you feel wiIl b. the moat couteutieus issues on council's agenda for tiie next three years? D.W.: I think the affordable hausing. issue is going ta corne right up ta the forefront la the very near future la Wlhitby. We have had changes ta the zaning ln this town, a lot of them are justified changes when you loak at the overail areas that were changed. There's harmony in the conimunities, and thase changes were beneficial ta that harmony. But we have ta keep in mmud as we're develaping that there has ta be a place for lower incomne famille s ta make Whitby their home. Hopefully, in sanie areas, we'll rezone fromn low ta mediurn (density), dependiug on where thase areas are, particularly as we open up new areas. What s.hein g built right now we can't change, it's b. foolish ta evea think about it. But as ta what's _goine ta happen iu the. future, as I say, there s a massive area in the west ward, particularly in the Otter Creek, West Lynde area, sud gaing west ta Durham Rd. 23. There's a su awful lot of land there that la available at some point in time or will become available for develapment., Fr.. Press: Do yeu thlnk Whltby la growlng tao fat? What are the limita te, growth? D.W.: From my understsuding, right now, particularly in the west ward, the services we have available, i.e. sanitary sewers for example, are reaching, with the Queen's Common developmneat, maximum capacity. Sa befare any Iùrther development takes place we have ta look seriausly at aur ather servicing ssues. rmi hoping one of the things we can da la ta canvinoe t he developerà who are going ta build on that property ta build enough industry out here. With the GO train caming ta Whitby in December, sud if the Bell Cbanada-CRtC plebiscite takes place- and the required 60 per cent say yes, with local calling to the Toronto area which is where the market really is for industry, I believe we are about ta explode in Whitby and we have ta be very careful how that happens. We have ta make sure it's a good mix, with the industrial sud attract the industry here so the people who live bere can work here. Fr.. Press: As Whitby grows, traffc wil become an lncreasing problem. What initiatives/changes would, you advocate to reduce the problem? D.W.: It's something that's been of concern ta a lot of the people I've talked ta in the west ward. 'm nat really sure what we csu do about it. But it's something about which I'd certainly be laoking ta t he operations department, saying "Here's the situation," and studyinq traffic patterns. As I under- stand, there s a plan by the Ministry of Transportation ta add a Durham Rd. inter- change at the 401, and that's going ta affect the traffic pattera great1ly... Right now we have two major intersections.-ita -Whitby, at Thickson Rd. and at Brock.- Industry wsuts ta locate near major* transportation - high- ways, rails, whatever. If Durham Rd. 23 opens up then there's another pocket for industry ta locate in Whitby. Fr.. Press: You talked about afford- ahie housing. IIow do you thlnk it should be handled? D.W.: When I say it!s going . tab a cantentiaus issue, I believe it's"one of those things in which, firat, yau. have ta corne up with a definition that meýkes sense. Either it's 25 or 30 per cent of diÉposable incornie as affordable, or a ceiling or certain amount of rent a month based on mean average of income. The biggest prablem I see facing developers is going ta be that the developer is gain g ta want ta build the houses but right now the demand is for single detached homes. That's all well and good, but. we cannot for get the folks who can't afford ta spend the $300,000 or $400,00 for homes in the Whitby area. Mind yau, in com9parison with the same house in Toronto, that bouse becomes affordable on a certain scale. But it doesn't do any good fror the people making $30,000 or $40,000 a year in famiy income. Free Press: Ther. was an area in Otter Creek that wa.s downzoned from medium te low. The reaction very fre- quently to affordable houslng la uNot li my backysrd," and yet there's pressure to supply it. How would you recoud.l that? D.W.: In the Otter Creek area yau have ta take à look at what the situation was. Ive laoked over the west ward area carefully and noticed that where they put the affordable housing, the Condominium bousin g and the rental accommodation, are mixedf into the community but they're in a certain area. I have nowhere else seen the results of a pattera of tawnhouses, detached homes and then tawnhauses right in the middle, which is what we would've been faced with in Otter Creek ... The council previaus ta this one, when the application was made ta change the zoning, could have denied the whole thing and made that entire area R4(b) and let the whole strip of land becomie, what you'd cail affordable or medium density housing. They chose ta let the section that was going ta be the achool become low density. It does not make sense, bath ta the neighboztiood harmony or esthetics, ta have tawnhouses, then 50-foot lots, then tawnhouses. rm not suggesting that the Caincastle development proposal was the ultimate, but in keepîng with the neîghborhood sud if you tok ta careful look through the area, 1 think you'd agree it daes fit. But the regional council sud Town %iuuncil aecided ta allow detached homes in that area. That does not say there area't other areas in which we can build affordable hausiag. Fr.. Press: How do you vlew the roi. of Planning li Whitby? Where would you draw the line between thi. rlghts of each landowner vs. the rlghts of the 1 1