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Ratepayers representatives say the Town of Oakville should seri- ously consider reducing staff levels to cut expenses and keep future mill- rate increases at a reasonable level. Oakville Beaver Stafl' By SAL BOMMARITO Cut staff â€" not services urge ratepayer groups “The growth of bureaucracy (at AIOakuilleToyatawem pmudtobethewl'nneraf W19” Bronze Quality JfimTw WW accountants and consultants rovide a full range o/jJ‘inuncial and busmess services. yamada Tn;stRea_l£; r--..4- 1.... 9-4... I... n- ‘ér OAKVILLE TOYOTA 842-1095 HAIR DESIGN ESTHETI cs CATHY SMITH 181 CHURCH ST. W 18 Years Coopers 8 Lybrapd Claudette Smith, sales rep. recognizes Sarah's initiative and supports her involvement with Class Afloat Canada Trus Rally Inc/Ream}, A Proud Sponsor of the Class Afloat project SIUDIO' 201 City Centre Drive Misissauga, Ontario [SB Zl'4 (416) 2734611 Coo rs L rand ST. lAWRENCE CEMENT 1091 Speels Rd. 338-2201 letters horn e from Sarah Crolhal a grade 12 student fiom Oakvifle currently spending 10m onths aboard the S/Y Concordia vism'ng 40 portsofcadon 4 continenm’ Until next week, Dear Oakvifle: The following day we started our tour of Belem with a visit to the fish market. It was curious to see piranhas piled up for sale, looking good to eat without any evidence of their razor sharp teeth and ferocious jaws (see photograph). In the neighboring market place, many of us bought hammocks. Harnmockâ€"maldng is one of the principal local crafts. In this market we On our first day of shore leave, we all went out to try the local cuisine. One of my favorites was the deep fried plaintain. Then we visited a huge department store, the first since leaving Canada However, although most of us needed to make some purchases, this visit was stressful because everything was in a foreign language. No one understood us when we tried to ask where something was, and all the brands were different. The Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries that we visited in Europe were much more used to anglophone visitors than Brazil. I guess this language challenge is one of the important learning aspects for our self-reliance in foreign countries. Belem, Brazil was the first landfall after our second crossing of the Atlantic, and our first South American port. Brazil’s language is Portuguese and their cumency is cuzeros. The exchange rate was 8,000 cuzenos for one dollar. This tumed some students into instant millionaires when they exchanged their money! Our Oakville head office staff, branch staff and associates wish Sarah more memorabie adventures, and_c_ontinued smooth sailing. The town currently has 738 employees, but that figure would grow in 1993 if the budget commit- nnnnn the town) is our main concern,” said Lakeside Residents Association repâ€" resentative, David Johnstone, one of four residents’ representatives who spoke before the town ’5 1993 budget committee last week. Mget Committee told stafiP levels too high That evening we set ofl‘ up the Amazon in the Concordia. The representatives stopped short of asking for immediate action to tee approves the hiring of 21 fire- fighters to staff the new Glen Abbey fire station currently under construcâ€" tion. The committee will deal with the issue as pan of the fire depart- ment’s 1993 budget request on Jan. 25th. A Proud S nsor supporting h on her voyage A Proud SI [Ram LEPAEEI selling baby sloths as pets. The young animals were soft and cuddly, but somehow I couldn’t see my parents very happy with the idea of a full-gmwn sloth hanging upside down over the kitchen sink. p00ple “We should make some start in the Town of Oakville to do a reason- able job to get maximum efficiency However, they questioned whether current staff levels were necessary to deliver essential ser- vices to taxpayers. reduce staff levels through layoffs or a hiring freeze, Seminars Feb. 3 Feb. 10 Italian Specialties At Truly Modest Prices \Mth Warm Friendly Wishing you smooth sailjng throughout your travels lnyestment Glfgup :AA I-Ar -I1r\ n Featuring fresh seafood or ifs best, as well as a variety of other dishes. Bronte Harbour 49 Bronte Road, Oak. 8252727 570 TRAFALGAR RD AT OEW Service 165 Cross Avenue 842-1581 Oakville Callformore 849-4700 Suite 505-710 Darya] Dr. Oakwlle (OTIS Bunldlng) Oak-land R.R.S.P. LINCOLN MERCURY REST-u RAH “I’d like to see the town look at the overall delivery of services rather than an item-by-item analysis (of the costs),” Tumbull said. He said the town should consider introducing incentive bonuses simi- lar to ones used in the private sector to motivate town employees. “The town’s staff complement is increasing to provide services which are diminishing.” If they aren’t, then the town should look at ways of reducing costs to achieve that goal, or if that’s not possible, hire private firms to deliver the services. Federation of Oakville Ratepayers Groups (FORG) repre- sentative, Ian Croskell, called on the town to hire an outside agency to conduct a viability study to examine whether it would be more cost effec- tive for outside firms to provide essential services currently being provided by the town. “We need to get the best possible bang for the buck,” Croskell said. Croskell said the town should show more fiscal restraint by freez- ing non-union salaries and conduct- ing a review of staffing levels, or it may face a financial “crisis” in the future. Thmbull called for an “ongoing” review of town finances by a com- mittee of citizens, councillors and town staff. “The town can’t keep growing into the future without a change 1n direction,” Croskell said. Glen Abbey Residents Association representative, Warren 'Ihmbull, said the costs of providing essential services should be compa- rable to those of other municipalities and companies in the private sector. DiBon said the most significant finding in the survey relating to the town’s budget was that “87.4% of those surveyed do not support any tax increase even to remedy areas which are currently inadequate.” “Between 1984 and 1992, town staff grew by 60.4%,” said DiBon, who presented the budget committee with the results of a survey conduct- ed in West Oakville. The RANCH in co-operation with IVORY FARMS on Burnhamthorpe Rd. are offering riding lessons this winter which will be conducted in the comfort of the indoor arena at 1354 Bumhamthorpe Rd. Oakvllle For more information please call The RANCH at â€" 876-4511 IVORYFARMS at - 257-0631 West Oakville Ratepayers Association representative, Eini DiBon, said the town puts too much emphasis on cutting services, while costs relating to staffing continue to Johnstone called on the town to freeze all future facility expansions until a “total analysis” has been undertaken of municipal staff levels. That analysis should be conducted by town managers, who have the best insight into department staff levels. out of the organization. Governments are the last organiza- tions to have undertaken the d0wn- sizing exercise. Other industries have experienced 20% reductions,” Johnstone said. WINTER RIDING LEssoN§ INDOORSH