thHERALD News At A Glance Hydro Commissioner all wiredupfor election Lifetime Acton resident Roger Haggelt 39 is the first Haiton Hills Hydro Commisioner to declare his candidacy for the up coming Nov municipal elec The four current commis sioners include Allison Bill Smith Jim Fisher and Town Mayor Miller The Haiton Hills Mayor is appointed to the commission automatically Vying for a commissioner post in Acton Ward I Mr Hag says if elected he would be prepared to take on the position of Commission Chairperson This position is rotated between com missioners once a year For the chairperson position will ho held by the 1 si talivc I feel the position requires so meone with the dedication and experience to see the commission through what will certainly be very trying times with Ontario Hydro s announced 10 per cent in crease to its electncit Municipal properU tax rebate application deadline is September 1st Just a reminder anyone who received this rebate in should have received an apphca tion form in their Tax bill If this is your first time to claim or you t receive the application you can call 244 or if you have any questions or need help completing it please drop into the Acton Social Services at 19 Willow Street North Acton or call us at 3310 Our office hours are Monday to Friday to Big Brothers of Haiton have free tickets w hich have ben donated by local individuals and businesses jilable for needj families to attend their upcoming event Date Satur day September 7th Time m Location Georgetown School Lois and Walker arc pleased to announce the graduation of their son James Anthony Walker at the sity of Toronto receiving his Master of Arts in Anthropology He is presently working as research assistant to a pro fessor of African Linguistics at the University of Toronto rates The commission buys power from Ontario Hydro Mr Haggett predicts the total increase to Haiton Hills residents hydro bills will total per cent when the commission counts for increases to its ex other than electricity Mr Haggett who is married and a father of three teenage daughters says the role of the commission chairperson is to steer the commission in a way that is beneficial to local tax payers He belicv the commission should lobby Ontario Hydro to reduce its price for as well as continue commission forts to promote censer v in Town commission came tinder public scrutiny last ye when he Her revealed the five torn missioners spent approximate the same amount on conventions in 1989 as 55 elected municipal politicians and school trustees in Haiton Region did during the This show features magicians comedians jugglers and more Please call Acton Social Services at for more information and to place our ticket requests Disabled services approved A recommendation to complete a strategic plan for services for people with physical disabilities in Haiton Region was passed by Regional Council This recommendation resulted from a request by Bonnie Commissioner of Haiton Social Services Department and D Robert Commissioner and Medical Officer of Health for to set up a contract with Ernst and Young Management Consultants of Toronto to look in an over ill plan to provide residents of withadequ services Approv was given lo ippK fir funding UK pr cent from the Minislrv of am and Social Senilis MCSS Health and Support ices ision to undertake a joint study with the District Health Council In 1991 Zanana Minister of ty and Social Services announc District Health Council and Regional Council would receive lo develop a strategic plan for persons with physical Subsequent lo that announce ministry staff informed and Ms an addi tional would lie iv would be flowed through On ino irchuf Dunes rnst and Wmif in ints i for tl understanding of the experience qualifications emphasis on com munity consultation and mnova and creativity of their pro according to the report Ernst and Young is a consulting firm specializing in serving health and social service organisations in Ontario The upset limit for the project is 65 Roger Haggett same year Joining the commission halfway through 1989 Mr Hag Area food By BEN The Herald The economy may be on the upswing but local food banks are serving more people than ever Laura Ellison Executive Director for Georgetown food bank Love and Christ says more than GOO people or approximately families are currently using the food bank at least once a month with an average of five new people applying weekly to use the food bank The number of people relying on the Georgetown food bank has doubled over the last year and Ms Ellison attributes the in crease to the recession and its continued impact Most of thfe people using the during the last 12 ths said Ms Ellison are those who have been laid off because of slow economic times They are not the poor who are used to being poor those who come from a history of poverty she said I m glad the experts are say the economy is turning around but we don t see it she satd Acton Executive attended one conference that year spending of Commis sion funds Comparatively his counterpart Murt Allison spent almost of Commission funds over 12 months in The commissioners spent a total of just over 33 to attend conventions and conferences ing 1989 Mr Allison was the big spender followed by Bill Smith who spent Miller who spent 144 Jim Fisher who spent and Mr Haggett Mr Haggett said he acted responsibly at the time and con tinues to do so At the end of July Mr had spent SI 2H to attend two conferences commissioner he receives a monthly stipend of ac cording to commission records Following the Herald expose on the commissioner ding habits the utility s tion policy was changed disallow ing commissioners to take their wives to conventions at the ex of the commission Director Joan also said the supposed ending of the reces sion hasn been reflected in a significant decrease in the number of people using her food bank Approximately families it is estimated will have used the by the end of the month which is slightly less than the average number of 120 families that normally use the said Ms Ms Waldie explains the cur rent number using the foodbank is lower than normal because it s the summer and not as many peo ple are in town However she ex the number to equal or pass the figure starting in September Both Ms and Ms Ellison agree the majority of peo ple now using their food banks are pt in We had people today Aug 20 and these people had no hope they were desperate said Ms Ms Ellison satd most of the people using the foodbank these days have run out of unemploy insurance and are now on welfare They are finding the Mr Haggett said he favored that policy when he arrived on the commission and he supports it now The public shouldnt be re quired to cover expenses of any elected official s spouse incurred as a result of attending a tion or conference he said Asked if a cap should be impos on commissioners concerning how much they can spend on con ventions per year Mr Haggett replied no Each commissioner should be responsible for himself he said Ironically when interviewed in 1989 Mr said he favored a ceiling being applied to the number of conferences each com could attend yearly The other four commissioners have spent the following amounts to attend conferences during the past seven months Allison 793 Jim Fisher 2 544 32 Bill Smith and Miller welfare benefits don t cover the bills they incurred when they were working she explained Compounding the problem said Ms Ellison is the lack of donations Love and Christ Food bank is receiving said Ms Ellison The lack of donations shows a lot of people are still feeling the effects of the recession People have to get their house in order before they can think about donating food she said Ms Waldie said she has suffi donations to meet the cur rent demand but her fear is that a lot of people using the may never stop relying on it even when full economic recovery hap pens A lot of people using Acton don have the tram ing to qualify for the type of jobs that are now becoming available and if they don t get it chances for a job will always be minimal ex plained Ms Waldie Ms and Ms Ellison agree the number of people using their will decrease as the economy improves but Ms Ellison predicts she won see any significant decrease for another six months at least New business welcomed Hills Mayor Russ Miller centre drove Garry Spurvey far left and his wife Sheila far while Spiderman flew to Legends and Superheros a right also participated in the official opening new sports card collectibles and comic stores at 116 ceremonies The store has been operrfor business Mill Street Georgetown to participate almost a month and business has been very good the business official opening Store co owners says Mr Spurvey Herald photo ACTON SOCIAL SERVICES AND INFORMATION CENTRE Tax rebate deadline banks need support