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PAGE 6, WBITYFREE PRESO, WEDNESDAY, FMBRARY1,19 Published every Wednesday 0 By 677209 Ontario Imc. Phone: Maurice Pif her 668-6111 Editor Toronto Line 427-1834 Alexandra Martin Doug Anderson Production Manager Publisher VOUCE OF THE COUNTY TOWN 131 Brock Street North, fdCasPtl The only Whitby newspaper independently, owned and operated by LiNO.S1oxe206,rallon 10Ont. C. ~~~Whitby residents for Whitby residents.ON5lWstainom The economic recession Is golng to cost taxpayers, Since àit s unlikely that the province or federal one-wF o r ta x p a y e rs' govemrment wiii suddenly decide to assumne the fulcs In January, more than *15,500 people weme on welfam F r a a e sOf fartergo ilhv ocreUp with the n DurhamRegion -- a staggering Increase ln from iast ' funding. Wfth residents almeady, bearlng the brunt -of year. The cost for that number was almost $5 million -- reheavyl taxation, we would expeot regional councl to for the month of January alone. make the necessary cuts to hold the tax Increase to an may go toward social servicet, whlch Include -local "acceptable" level. That "emergency," as Rt has been described, will have wefame costs. Abo ut haîf of the budget already goes Cu ts In services and postponed projects wiIi not be a significant Impact on the budget currentiy being drawn toward police services. Unless a big tax Increase is good news ta many. But ln tough times such*steps Up by regionai officiais. Imposed, that could leave littie f unding for other should be expected to spare the ordinary ratepayer from As much as one-third of the regional budget for 1991 requimmrents or projects. a further tax burden. *~~~. . ...*........~<: SBy James H. Priest Whitby council deserves considerable praise for the way they responded to approximately 350 concerned residents opposed to the imposition of user fees for our baseba]. diainonds ffpd soccer fielda. Council, in théfr wisdom, listened and reacted ini the only way a responsible council could. But wait ... they omly made it to second base. The motion, the dialogue and the arnendrnent to the motion, spawned some interesting anomalies. The motion cails for a study of the overail issu~e of user fees for ail facilities in our town, and that user fees not be implemented for the year 1991. Does this mean the possibility exista that a fee could be required for the following sometime in the future: To tobaggan on the élopes of our.parka To skate on our outdoor rinka (When flooded)? To cycle on our bicycle patha? To swim in the lake at lakeshore parka? To jog on park property? To fly a ite? To use the slides and swings? . .... . ... 10-- Barbara lBlack George Bush and Saddam Hussein's world confrontation is almst a sadistic reflection of our times, when oil produces death and destruction. Young men, young women, infants, children, elderly and those in the prime of life satislS the egotistical greedy whirns of rulers such as Mr. Hussein, and self-righteous, self-serving heada, of giant entities, such as Mr. Bush, whose iterest i this war is in realty saving cil and the U.S. market, not in savig the lives of those in Kuwait who, in fact, are victima of both Bush and Hussein. We bave entered an age of technocracy where evezything is cornputerized. Why weren't our clever scientiste and political leaders busy for the past few decades inventing an electric or battery-powered automobile? Surely these genlus types in government and the auto industry could foresee an oil ciiif not a confrontation with Arbc countries or others, because of a depletion of this natural source. An« automobile requiring a catalyst other than "gasil designed at an economical price, would be the answer te many of our woes such as competitive gas hikes, world markets controlling gas prices, and horrendous worldwide confrontations. To hear of young Ainerican lives beig sacrificed te "aoil greed," -- shot down or. in Irai captivity -- leaves the population at hme repulsed. It seerna we are no better off than we were in the pioneer daye of Canada or than we were during the War of 1812. I suppose Mr. Bush's theory is "al'"s well that ends well" or "oil's well that endsa well" but his theory will be blown apart by a third world war that ends in "ashes ta, ashes" ... "dust te, duat" as eulogies are preached over the mutilated, deaecrated and "bat in action" bodies of the men and women sent abroad te, save our comrnodity of oil which, in al intents and purposea, aeems te te more precious te us tban -the human elernent. We have te, return te rulers who used horses rather than oil- consuming automobiles. As an old philosopher saïd, "use before beauty," but with an où crisis, it is debatable whether the automobile has use or beauty. A horse has both and dosa not cause worldwide turrnoil and terror.* (Opinions expressed are those of the author.) To tose a frisbee in the park? Sorne of the above are ridiculous. On the other* hand, sorne are part of the reason people corne here te live. Council had atough issue to deal with, and they did, but were unwilling te go for the home run. It is unfortunate that those councillors who were originally oppoeed te user fees got caught in a double play. When the issue cornes up again; it is possible they could atrike out. Let's hope the matter is handled by our present council and flot p ut off until after the November éecton. The new council may not be willing to listen, as did this one, as they will be quite safe for another three-year terni. In retrospect, perhaps the firat pîtch should have been passed by, perhaps the staff report should, have been filed as information (preferably in the little round filingbasket). Inthe original decision te implement user fées, those ini favour were councillors Batten, Buffet, Bugelli, Drumm and Mayor Attersley.- Those councillors oppposed te the motion were councillors Bruneile,' Edwards and Fox. When did you last hear ofa council decision that required each and eVery councillor to reverse his previous position? Because of. the couraige displayed by each individual councillor on Jan. 14, the community and the young people of Witbyare much better off, at least for now. I hope the next time council steps up te the plate on user fees, they are ablee keUep their eye on the bal, round al the bases, and eliminate user fees completely. Speaking of individual councillors. Ini this column on Wednesday, Deé. 5, 1990, 1 wrote an article entitled ' Let's "Payl BaIl.' In expressing my views of some of the decisions taken by councilor Bugelli, I did not intend te exceed the boundsd of fair criticism of Borne of the postionsthat Mr. Bugelli bas taken as a Town councillor. On reflection, I. realize that sOmneo my references te deciuions taken by councilor Buglli wthout the ful context ofthe issues involved, may have resulted' in a misèleading and inaccurate impresson. I didI make it clear i my column that I regard Mr. Bugelli as a councillor with integrity. Ini a sincere effort te correct any maisinpression that the article ik« any way zmaligned councililor -Buglli'sla good character, I would like to extend te hinm ry personal apologies with repetot any of my commenta 'which cansed. him offence. That was neyer my intention, (Opinion, expreased are thoue of thée autlaor.) I . ........M--- Why add to probl me To the editor. Roeu Storage of PCBs "Putting it on the back burner" or "sweepig it under the carpet" - cali it what you like, but Town council is clearly avaiding a hazardous problem te, our cdrnrunity. Mr. Robhfiasa tire dump is already a bazard te this community, why add te the problem? I agree with councilor Dennia Fom It makes good sense no te put the matter i contraI of the person who bas created the problem. If Mr. Robinson bas not deemed it necessary te dlean up one mess (his. tire. dump.-yard . ft&- thé -Hà1ârffilé - fire), l-e certainly isn't going ta put 'himself out te dcean up another. Transferring the POBs te bis tire _ dump is putting a "id" on the ~ ~ problem until it 'boils"and- becomes ja-bigger problern down the road. Enough, time has been - wasted on this environmental problem, 'the good wreck PET,' already. Mr. Robison is. obviously in titis "game" for the inoney and is insensitive te the environmental concerna and the feelings of this community. Let's get the problem out of our community and the environment. - Dont jule it aroundl It wiil offly ....:.i-4 corne back and hit us in the face Iik again.