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6 Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, November 1, 2006 OPINION Marshall, Bonnette offer best choice Several weeks ago when the municipal election campaign officially began, we urged residents to find out all they could about the candidates, their platforms, views and plans for the future of this town. As the campaign winds down, we hope voters have heeded our words and done their homework in order to cast an informed ballot Monday, November 13. As is our practice, we will be offering our opinion as to which candidate we, as the leading source of local information in our community, believe is best suited for the job. We do not make this selection lightly, and we do not offer this opinion to influence the electorate. In each edition in this space-- the editorial-- we offer an opinion on the issues of the day that affect the residents of Halton Hills. To remain silent about the individuals seeking to lead this community for the next four years would be shirking our responsibility. Today, we offer our view on who we consider are the best candidates for the job of Halton Region chair and Halton Hills mayor. We will list our choices for the other positions in Friday's (Nov. 3) edition. There are four candidates-- Brian Burton, Gary Carr, Brent Marshall and Robert Plaschka-- running to replace chair Joyce Savoline. Burton dubs himself the "businessman/engineer with the green disposition". Carr is a former provincial Tory MP , turned federal Liberal and now seeks a municipal seat. Marshall is a 30-plus year employee of Halton Region having served the past eight years as Chief Administrative Officer. Plaschka is a Burlington businessman. In our view this is a two-man race between Carr and Marshall as Burton's environmentalist bent (his idea of waiting until 2029 to build an energy from waste facility at the region landfill is simply foolish and short-sighted) and Plaschka is a virtual unknown. Carr has proven to be a political opportunist and with his history of flip-flopping parties we wonder whether he truly has a desire to serve the residents of Halton or simply keep a job in the political arena. Marshall, a longtime Acton resident, offers the best choice for region chair. He has an intimate knowledge of the workings of the Region, is well-connected politically, has been a major front man and behind-the-scenes worker at the Region for many years and as a Halton Hills resident will ensure the needs of this town will not be brushed aside at the regional council table. As for the "race" for the job of Halton Hills mayor there simply is no other choice than incumbent mayor Rick Bonnette who has had a solid first term as mayor and a distinguished 24-year history on council. He has shown to be decisive over the past three years, led the charge to save Georgetown Hospital's obstetrics unit, restored calm to what was a fractious town staff and, when he erred (as in not consulting farmers during provincial Greenbelt Plan discussions), quickly learned from his mistakes. He is passionate about this town, cares about its future and fosters a team concept to council instead of a dictatorship. Challenger Robert Heaton has run an unfocused, bizarre, conspiracy-behind-every-door campaign that is simply not credible. www.independentfreepress.com Phone: 905-873-0301 Fax: 905-873-0398 Steve Nease STAFF DIRECTORY Publisher Ken Nugent Advertising director Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager Nancy Geissler (distribution@independentfreepress.com) ADVERTISING Retail Sales: Jennifer Spencer (jspencer@independentfreepress.com) Adam Spinney (aspinney@independentfreepress.com) Brendan Louth (blouth@independentfreepress.com) Andrew Key (akey@independentfreepress.com) Michelle Wan (features@independentfreepress.com) Real estate: Sue Spizziri (realestate@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds: Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) ACCOUNTING Rose Marie Gauthier, Jennifer Christie, Michelle Wimmer EDITORIAL Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) PRODUCTION: Mary Lou Foreman, Kevin Powell, Shelli Harrison, Dolores Black, Debbie MacDougall LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Mayoral candidate should speak to voters Dear editor, Mayoral candidate Robert Heaton did not respond to several requests from the Independent & Free Press to be interviewed for an election profile. However, he had the time (60 seconds) as did all the other candidates for the mayor's job, to speak on CFRB 1010 AM radio last week, but he could not find the time to let the voters of Halton Hills know what he would do if he was our mayor. How are voters of Halton Hills supposed to know where he stands if he won't respond to our local newspaper-- the Independent & Free Press? When the paper arrived on Friday (Oct. 27) and the headline read, "Candidates' meeting gets off to a raucous start", I immediately thought Mr. Heaton was going to be in this story somewhere. To no surprise, I was right! Mr. Heaton, I have some advice for you. If you really want to be our mayor, then I suggest that you find the time to speak to your voters on issues you feel are important to you. P.S. Any response from you would be welcomed since there hasn't been any from you so far. Kelly Leonard, Georgetown Pay increase for trustees `obscene', says reader Dear editor, Re: Big pay hike in store for trustees (Oct. 18 Independent & Free Press). Under the above headline the article stated "...will be getting a raise... In my opinion they will not be `getting' but `taking' a raise. This whole idea of allowing servants of the community to set their own `honorarium' really is ludicrous. Most of us are volunteers and would not dream of asking payment. In this case, once more in my opinion, the increase is obscene! We really should do away with school boards AND with property taxes. This would be a relief to us seniors who are on fixed income. (The slight increases of OAS and CPP, at times, can hardly be construed as indexing). Hank J. van Goch, Georgetown Something bugging you? Send us a letter! Letters to the editor must include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1 E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS The Independent & Free Press is published every Wednesday and Friday at 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown Ont., L7G 4B1. It is one of several newspapers published by Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the acceptable rate. In the event of typographical error advertising goods or services at wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell which may be withdrawn at any time. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Price: Store copies 50¢ each; Subscriptions $26.00 per year by carrier; $92.50 per year by mail in Canada; $130.00 per year in all other countries. Plus G.S.T. Second Class Mail Registration Number 6869. The Independent & Free Press is a member of The Canadian Community Newspaper Association and The Ontario Community Newspaper Association. Outgoing trustee wrong to endorse successor Dear editor, I appreciated the recent letter "Trustee wrong to offer recommendation", in which one of your readers identified a concern that Ethel Gardiner is using her current position as Halton District School Board trustee to promote candidate Mike Parkhill in the upcoming election. I had the same concern after seeing Mr. Parkhill's campaign pamphlet and website, both of which prominently feature Ms.Gardiner's endorsement. Mr. Parkhill's website states that Ethel Gardiner approached him a year and half ago about becoming "her successor". Surely in a democracy it is the electorate which gets to make that choice. Lisa Irwin, Georgetown