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o > ; f " y OPINION yz3 THE NUMEER 0C 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 Ian onv er Pu.blis her The Oakvile Beaver, published every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, at 467 one of the Metrol Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Y Norman Alexander Edifor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager In no hurry t seems to us that the bureaucrats at the Halton Board of Education need to take a few lessons on time management. Of the three major bodies that affect ur taxes, only the Board has been dragging its feet on presenting details of its $300â€"million budget. It now says the budget will finally be ready for trustees on Feb. 15th. The Town of Oakville has had its budget committee hard at work for weeks, poring over budget details outlined in a four inch high stack of documents. There has been debate about specific items and the process has been going on for some time, and councillors continue to look at costâ€"cutting measures. It seems the town‘s department heads had no problem in producing budget documents last month. About oneâ€"third of the total tax bill comes from town costs. And over at Halton Region, our elected officials have had similar documents to look at and they‘ve been reacting accordingly. The region‘s portion of our tax bills is about 14 per cent. Councillors recently asked the police to chop $400,000 off their $40â€"million budget and the regional finance director has been told to slash the proposed tax increase from 3.6 per cent to 1.5 per cent. His report is due Monday. ‘And so we come to the Halton Board of Education. Their spending represents about 60 per cent of our taxes yet our trustees will still have to wait another 10 days to get their first look at what is always a pretty complex document. ‘This means our trustees will have barely six weeks to digest, debate and recâ€" ommend action on the budget before it must be passed on to the Ministry of Education in Toronto. It‘s not a lot of time to deal with such a document that repâ€" resents about 60 per cent of our total tax bill. Why the delay? THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, February 5, 1993 â€"6 I g’ll ce j ND C C 2 \Q\‘\\\\ w ym C Â¥. E> /2E 22L SSSEH _ c .31 Mass sSS3 Ce [ 235 LAz J LJ (‘ ZiP PPHP 14 \ y The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. WEEKLY FOCUS Ultraviolet Radiation Ultraviolet rays reaching earth have decreased since 1974, contrary to what one would expect if the earth‘s ozone layer was thinning. Of all rays only radio and visible light waves reach the earth essentially undiminished. $ $ S \@\Q xd" # yÂ¥ fi%fid‘\\@ @‘é\c-@ Q-@\ws?@ép Infrared Visible Ultraviolet Xâ€"rays Dear Sir: I attended my third Finance Committee Budget Meeting at the Halton Board of Education this week. There IS NO BUDGET MATERIAL YET AVAILâ€" ABLE! One trustee, during question period, made referâ€" ence to the fact that they have last year‘s budget to go on! Last year‘s budget was also late â€" as another trustee pointed out â€"â€" and there was no better planning involved in the presentation or format than there is this year. Need I remind anyone that this is February 19937 The budget has not yet been presented in written format! Would a private corporation with a $300â€"million budget be considered credible if it went to the bank for another big chunk of money without any guarantees, projecâ€" tions, or forecasts? Would a private corporation with a $300â€"million budget survive if it budgeted like this? Another trustee requested the appearance of financial documentation that he had requested back in November, so that he could make an informed decision! In my opinion, we are dealing with an institution that does not wish to become accountable to the public! The administrators, from the Director of Education on down, appear to make it very difficult to obtain information about the budget! From all that I have observed and heard, there are no Gamma| Cosmic rays rays Wavelength Radio .! « Depthof **, . _» penetration * Mount Everest **. If a federal which party would you vote for â€" Liberals, New Democratic Party, Progressive Conservatives or The $) Reform Party? Give us your opinion on this topic by calling 845â€"5585, box 5008 and registerâ€" ing a yes or no answer. _ â€" Callers have until 12 noon Thursday to express their opinion. Results of the poll will be published in â€" the next Friday edition of the Oakville [~ i wrosource __| CALL845â€"5585 Beaver. RESULTS OF LAST WEEK‘S POLL Are you in favor of spending $10â€"million to expand Town Hall? Yes â€" 7 No .â€" 73 u> n Dear Sir: ‘The Oakville Beaver‘s Home section of Wed., Jan. 20th, carried a feature on antiques. In it, a couple of downtown Oakville shopkeepers managed to rather blaâ€" tantly blow their own homns at the expense of flea marâ€" ket dealers. Putting an "antiques" sign over a store does not autoâ€" matically make the owner a paragon of virtue, honesty, and knowledge. Selling at a flea market does not automatically mean that you are ignorant, or not to be trusted. Many an antique store owner started out at a flea market. Many an antique store owner has gone out of business in less than two years. We at Harbourview Antique and Flea Market have * been, in business for over 10 years at the same location t * ww n n mt All letters must be signed and include the writer‘s address and phon number. Letters should be typed, doubleâ€"spaced and addressed to: Abolishing school boards can‘t come too soon oc t % mt tm w n Letters to the Editor, e The Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 354 projections, no forecasts, no preamble, no HINTS. Could it be that there is a callous lack of concern for the taxpayer? Perhaps, it is because of the ABSOLUTE POWER given to school boards, through the Education Act, which enables them to bypass municipalities and regions, and go directly to the public purse to collect taxes, if they so desired. This ABSOLUTE POWER can demand millrate increases from the municipalities, « and allows this entire institution to budget without accountability to the citizens of Ontario. It is, also, my opinion, that the taxpayer who attends these Board meetings is considered a thom in the side of the administrators, rather than a help. Why should this be... since everything that the institution is â€" is a direct result of our tax money footing the bills! This institution has no other sources of revenue other than our pockets! Personally, sir, abolishing the school boards is lookâ€" ing better every day. We cannot guarantee that there will be accountability from the administration. There is gross repetition of services and costs within each individual school board. Therefore, I believe abolishing the school boards would be an effective way to balance the Municipal, Regional, and Provincial budgets and still do plenty of good works on behalf of citizens at all those levels. Arleen Reinsborough Flea markets got bad rap from antique dealers (99 Bronte Rd., Oakville). We consider ourselves a fairâ€" ly decent lot. We buy our stock in the same places (at auctions, or privately) as most antique store owners. Many of our vendors have been here for years. Some of them do several quality antique shows a year. Granted, we sell many things that are not antiques, but we do not knowingly misrepresent ourselves. I think our many repeat customers would verify that. So, if you are looking for an antique, nostalgic, or collectible item, or something just plain, pretty, or useful â€" go visit a flea market. We even sell to antique dealers with their "own shops". Emmy Jensen Proprietor: Harbourview Antique and Flea Market P c . un io ie e ces o 00 c e s c e en ht c M cce uy o e ts ols io t ho Oe y on qed : on i o oX oAAAE Cw o in n oldb S As l o Loo