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6 ·The IFP· Halton Hills ·Tuesday, January 17, 2012 OPINION Survey says... There were smiles all around the Town council table recently when the results of Town's citizens' survey were revealed. To paraphrase Sally Field, councillors could have shouted out: "You like me, right now, you like me!" Based on the survey of 434 residents, "you" like Halton Hills and the services both offered and delivered by the Town. "We didn't fix this, it's the real result. I think it's an amazing result," said Wards 3&4 Regional Councillor Jane Fogal, who said kudos should go to the Town's employees. "With all the (financial) issues that we have, we're doing really well. People are really appreciative of what we've been doing." While some may argue a survey of 434 of the Town's 55,000+ residents may not be a big enough sample to accurately gauge the public's perception of the town and the services offered, it is interesting to note some of the findings nonetheless. In particular, 74 per cent of the respondents mentioned on a spontaneous basis wanting the town to maintain its `smalltown' atmosphere with only 50 per cent suggesting the Town needs to attract more commercial/industrial growth or provide services to keep pace with growth. Given the Town's recent decisions to add fire halls, libraries and arenas (and pressure mounting for seniors' centres among other facilities), it is a difficult balance council faces in providing services the public wants, without expanding its commercial/industrial pool, which this survey indicates they don't want. Other findings from the survey indicate a cooling towards a publicly-funded transit system (36 per cent in favour) and the need for more services for youth (only 57 per cent current services are adequate). The former is not needed; the latter is. Overall 70 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the quality of Town services and delivery of those services although snow plowing/sanding garnered only a 69 per cent approval rating. Certainly, one way of improving the plowing issue is to have a winter like the one we are currently experiencing, but it's doubtful the Town fathers had a hand in that. 905-873-0301 Publisher: Ken Nugent General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@theifp.ca) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@theifp.ca) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@theifp.ca) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@theifp.ca) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@theifp.ca) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@theifp.ca) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@theifp.ca) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@theifp.ca) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@theifp.ca) Letters policy Letters must include an address and daytime phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. Email: jmcghie@theifp.ca Steve Nease Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. Letters to the editor Christmas dinner a rousing success Dear editor, The people of St. Alban's Anglican Church in Glen Williams, extend a heartfelt "Thank You" to the many individuals, groups and businesses-- from across our community-- who volunteered time and talent, donated food or money, or brought gifts to help make the Christmas Day Community Dinner a huge success again this year. The spirit of friendship, generosity and love was palpable in the room as more than 90 people, both guests and volunteers, sat down to share an excellent meal. A particular thank you to those angels who appeared anonymously, dropped off donations and good wishes and disappeared without recognition, and to the many people who called to volunteer only to find that all the jobs were filled. Thanks, also, to The Independent & Free Press for publicizing this event. The avalanche of volunteers that we received was largely due to the story and photo that the paper ran. This outpouring of generosity reflects the best of the Christmas season, not to mention the best of our community. Fr. Aaron Orear, Rector, St. Alban the Martyr, Glen Williams self look forward to working with the Light Up The Hills team and contributing anyway that we can. DJ Nascimento, Acton Light Up critic offers apology Dear editor, Re: January 10 letter, Feel free to pitch in. Thank you to the Penrice family for responding to my letter regarding Light up the Hills. As a volunteer myself, it is always nice to receive compliments but I also listen and accept feedback and/or suggestions. Please accept my apology if I have offended anyone, as this was not my intention. My intention was to raise the awareness of the lack of trees that were lit up in Acton and to find out why. Thank you for letting me, and the residents of Acton, know there is a dedicated group of volunteers. As I mentioned, Dominion Gardens looks amazing and the volunteers should be very proud of what they have created. The residents of Acton and my- Good service gone? Dear editor, I would like to know if it's just me, or does it seem that quite a few of our local Georgetown establishments seem to be slower and slower at serving customers, and less friendlier? More often than not, I have found myself standing in long lineups to pay for items I wish to purchase while several employees are seen talking amongst each other in the aisles, or simply just standing at a cash register not helping. When you do ask if they can serve you, they say it's not their job or they are on break. It wasn't that long ago, that I worked as a cashier to put myself through college and I was trained the customer always came first whether I was doing the cash or stocking shelves-- and it was done with a friendly smile. What happened to friendly, courteous service? Or are those days over? Sandy Smith, Glen Williams The Independent & Free Press The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.