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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, November 26, 2003 EDITORIALS MD LETTERS THE OAKVILLE H E R 467 Speers Rd,, Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext 224 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER P ub lish e r NEIL OLIVER A ssociate P ub lish e r TERI CASAS O ffice M anager JILL DAVIS E d ito r in C h ie f MARK DILLS P roduction M anager KELLY MONTAGUE A dxertisin g D ire c to r RIZIERO VERTOLU P hotography D ire c to r CHARLENE HALL C ircu la tio n M anager ROD IERRED M anaging E d ito r Metrotmd Pratrig. PuGWiq} & U strtu tn g U d . ndudes N n n M o n a * . AJWon MerakVCDtfW. k l u Enterpme News. Barrie Advance. Brampton Guardon. Birtngton Post. BurHnglon Shopping News. Catedon Emarprtse. Off Parent. CoWngwod/Wasaga Comec&on East W ( M ttcr. Ertn A<VcaJft'Q M «ry ftxHes. Ettbcofce GuarOan. Ftarrfeorough R m w .. Georgetown MapandenVActon Frae Press. Hamster Afwow. Hurona Busness Timas. Undsay Thb WaeK. MarVum Economist & Sun. U dand'P enetvgutsftne Mirror. MHon Canadan Oam pioa Maon S o c p n g Npws. N Times, Mississauga Maws. VCA Mkror. Q * v * e Beavar. O aM te Stopping News. Ofcftmers Hockey News. OnMa Today. Oshaw VW t«lva»ington Pon Parry The Week. Owen Sound Trtwne. Palmerston Otaener. Peterborough The Week Pfcton Oourty Guide. Refimond NumiomhftVaugtian Lbem . Scaifcorough Mrrcr. StouffWteAJxtndge Tribune. Forwer 'toung. Oty o» W t Guardan THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association i H a lto n H ealthcare / v T \ r a Canadian Community Newspapers Association T Uartad W ay of O atoda YHCA | o a k v ille g a n trie s '] m Jntge BeM Fund n T * i I 'O M r lt rA O O N o » m m Kmv u m K iw « n x n n n ffli O V K M IX E SK Suburban Newspapers of America TV AUCTION i csmani & i The 0 # w « e . War and O w nd RIAL ItT A T I BOARD 0*$- P U B L IC 1 IR R A R Y B What price for security? N o b o d y lik e s ta x h ik e s. S o w e c a n u n d e rs ta n d w h y th e H a lto n R e g io n a l P o lic e S e rv ic e s B o a rd is d o in g a b it o f h a n d w rin g in g o v e r th e h e fty b u d g e t in c re a s e b e in g s o u g h t b y C h ie f E a n A lg ar. T h e p o lic e b u d g e t fo r 2 0 0 4 h a s c o m e in at $ 7 0 m illio n w h ic h re p re s e n ts a w h o p p in g 1 3 .4 2 -p e r c e n t in c re a se . O u c h ! " W e ju s t c a n 't k e e p th e se s p ira llin g c o s ts g o in g ," n o te s b o a rd m e m b e r Ja c k B rew e r. " T h is is s ig n ific a n t. E a c h y e a r it in c re a s e s ." W ell o f c o u rs e w e a re g o in g to se e b u d g e t h ik e s , a n d y e s, th e y a re g o in g to b e s ig n ific a n t if w e w a n t s e rv ic e s to m a tc h d e m a n d . T h e R e g io n o f H a lto n 's p o p u la tio n is g ro w in g -- 1 2 ,0 0 0 -1 5 ,0 0 0 p e o p le a n n u a lly -- a n d w ith th a t g ro w th c o m e s m a jo r e x p e n s e s . F ro m h e a lth to so c ial s e rv ic e s to w a te r to p u b lic w o rk s iss u e s, o u r re g io n is u n d e r p re s s u re to p ro v id e a d e q u a te s e rv ic e s to its re sid e n ts. U n le s s H a lto n p o lic e p la n to sla sh s a la rie s a n d la y o ff sta ff, th e re is v ery little w ig g le ro o m fo r th e c h ie f. A lg a r e x p la in e d to th e b o a rd th a t h e h a s v irtu a lly n o c o n tro l o v e r th e c o s ts a s s o c ia te d w ith th e R e g io n 's la w e n fo rc e m e n t. H is s e rv ic e h a s to m e e t p ro v in c ia lly -m a n d a te d s ta n d a rd s , p a y s a la rie s a n d b e n e fits a n d c o v e r u n e x p e c te d e x p e n s e s s u c h a s th e A u g u s t b la c k o u t. If n o n e w p e rs o n n e l w e re h ire d , s a id A lg a r, th e b u d g e t w o u ld still b e $69.1 m illio n re p re s e n tin g a 1 2 -p er c e n t b o o s t o v e r th is year. E v e n th o u g h th e p o lic e s e rv ic e s b o a rd a p p ro v e d th e b u d g e t, R e g io n a l C o u n c il h a s th e fin a l say. O u r g u e s s is C o u n c il w ill b e fa c e d w ith s o m e v e ry d iffic u lt a n d u n p o p u la r d e c is io n s · W e w o u ld b e s u rp ris e d if th e H a lto n H e a lth D e p a rtm e n t, w h ic h h as s lip p e d fro m o n e c ris is to a n o th e r (i.e . S A R S a n d W e st N ile v iru s ), is n 't lo o k in g at s e c u rin g a d d itio n a l f u n d in g , to o . A lg a r m a k e s an im p re s s iv e c a s e fo r th e b u d g e t in c re a se . T h e re is a rise in v io le n t c rim e , p ro p e rty c rim e , c a r c ra s h e s a n d im p a ire d d riv in g c h a rg e s. O th e r c h a lle n g e s in c lu d e a d e m a n d fo r ta rg e te d p ro g ra m s s u c h a s tra ffic e n fo rc e m e n t, s tre e t g a n g s a n d d o m e s tic v io le n c e . " N o th in g s e e m s to b e s im p le a n y m o re ," A lg a r la m e n te d to th e b o a rd . H e is rig h t. * H alto n r e s id e n ts w a n t th e b e s t p o lic e s e rv ic e p o s s ib le , b u t h o w fa r a re th e y w illin g to g o to p a y fo r it? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Bronte development must be contested The recent m ayoralty race resulted in such a close win for A nn M ulvale that surely she cannot ignore the lesson that her opposition taught her on the im por tance the citizens o f O akville place on how their tow n should be planned. Town C ouncil, ably led in the past by M ulvale, can no longer ignore the view s o f citizens that developers, aided by the unelected O M B and ineffectively resis ted by Town council during M ulvale's mayoralty, m ust not be allow ed to have the upper hand in determ ining the future o f our neighbourhoods. As an exam ple o f council's ignoring citizens, I note a sm all, but I believe sig nificant. item in the recently published "N otice to O ak v ille R e sid e n ts" on "Construction o r D em olition in your area" w hich advises on how to deal with concerns regarding dem olition o r con struction in your area. It states: "As per council's direction, individual notices w ill no longer be issued to residences adjacent to con struction o r dem olition projects." As one w ho has suffered from the noise, traffic and visual im pact o f m any o f these activities over the last tw o years, I believe the T ow n's directive passes the m essage that citizens no longer have the opportunity to voice their views in such cases until after the jo b has started and there can be no turn ing back. In the larger case, it will be interest ing to see how the new council, chaired by M ulvale (and yes, she only has one vote, but the m ayor in practice has sig nificant influence on the votes o f others on the council) reacts to the proposal m ade by Palm Place D evelopm ents for the construction o f up to 1,000 apart m ents on the Shell H ouse land. M ulvale rightly m akes the point that the north O akville/M ilton rezoning by the province took place before she took office, and, therefore, responsibility for citiz en reactio n to the su b seq u en t detailed planning cannot be laid at her feet. H ow ever, d ev e lo p m e n t at Shell H ouse is firm ly on her watch. M ulvale m ust now show us that she has learned the lesson, by leading a council that is w illing to stand by the current zoning o f this land, and to stand up to the developer and to the OM B. T he d ev e lo p e r claim s th ere is d em and fo r such d ev elo p m en ts. O f course there is, w ho w ould not w ish to live on the lake? T he developer is in the business o f sa tisfy in g the w ish es o f o nly the prospective residents o f his develop ment. Responsibility for the satisfaction o f the view s o f the g rea ter g ro u p o f O akville citizens* w ho wish to retain as m uch o f the characteristics o f the Town that m ake it such an attractive com m uni ty to live in, and w hich will be destroyed by such huge developm ents, lies with Tow n council led by the mayor. The Tow n o f O akville m ust resist any further encroaching urbanization, at least south o f the QEW, and not becom e an o th e r T oro n to H arb o u rfro n t or E tobicoke w hich have, in effect, w alled off their w aterfronts. T he m ayor and council have been passed a pow erful m essage. M ore pow er to Laurie M cG inn and her fellow residents and to incom ing C o u n c illo rs R alph R o b in so n and M ichael L an sd o w n an d fo rm er C ouncillor K evin Flynn. N ow let's see if M ulvale and other council m em bers have learned the les son that they m ust listen to the view s o f the people they are elected to represent, and not m erely accede to the w ishes o f developers w ho appear to have little regard for the heritage that they are rap idly destroying. RAY PEACOCK Listen to the people's message A fter seeing the results o f the recent election and read ing the Editorial and O pinion in the Oakville Beaver (Nov. 12), I w anted to help reinforce the m essage to M ayor Ann M ulvale about how the people o f O akville feel about urban developm ent. I think as O akville citizens, we understand and back the idea o f grow th in our precious tow n, but at a m anage able rate that w on't over stress our already crow ded infra structure. I think the pride in being an O akville citizen is that we are not the M ississauga spraw l and have m aintained a fine balance betw een housing developm ent and adjoining recreation and green space. T he com m unity o f O akville is one that other com m u nities look up and aspire to. L et's keep it that way, by focusing on the existing citi zens o f O akville and not the greed o f over developm ent. GEOFF THOMSON LETTER III THE W EEK Mayor's mandate is clear One o f the candidates in our mayoralty race said he would control growth and he lost the election to the candidate who said that the M ayor o f Oakville doesn't have the pow er to con trol growth, but that municipalities should have this pow er and promised to continue working to get it for us. The election was not about w ho favours growth and who opposes it. The election was about what it takes to control growth. One candidate implied that it takes willpower and rhetoric; the other refused to oversimplify the truth. The message is, indeed, clear: Oakville's voters are con cerned about growth, want to see it controlled and have more confidence in the incumbent than the challenger. It is silly to obsess over the vote spread. Arguably, our best decisions are made in our hardest fought debates which often produce close results. Bill Davis is remembered today as one o f the m ost popular, trusted and successful politicians in O ntario's history. W ho recalls or cares that he won the leadership o f his party by a margin o f only 14 votes? And very few, today, can even remember the name o f the candidate who finished second. TOM SCOTT Oakville is controlling growth It is hard to believe that only 15 votes separated A nn M ulvale from her conservationist opponent. Looking at the controlled, intelligent (except for the tim ing o f traffic lights) w ay that O akvillle has grow n, under Ann M ulvale's stew ardship. I im agine these people, w ho voted against her, w ould w ant us to live in caves so that ducks and raccoons can have "the m oraines." T here is nothing w orse than pious, self-centered, know -it-all neighbours. NICK MARTZOUKOS Stand up to developers I would just like to follow up on D erek R am m 's excellent letter ( Oakville Beaver, Nov. 19) to our mayor. I believe that residents saw one message in her opponent's literature and voted for him based on that one message: "He claim ed he was going to stand up to developers." Is it fun driving around downtown looking for a parking space these days? Is Ford Drive to Dorval a nightmare any time o f the day? Do w e w ant to exit the 401 at Trafalgar and find ourselves in Oakville traffic one day? W here does it stop? Ask any Oakville resident if they want more growth and the major ity will say no, so when will the madness stop? There is no parking downtown unless you luck out so you risk a ticket or go shop elsewhere. We care about our city, developers don't. They ju st care about getting rich so, Ann, you almost lost to a relative unknown on one issue. Like Mr. Ramm, I hope you got the message. If you didn't and developers continue to flourish while we mere residents despair, then we will have to send a stronger message. It is actually very pleasant to get north o f Dundas and see fields and animals. Please, please put a stop to the concrete making its way north. (If you care.) COLIN ROSS Mayor should lead change R e: L etter o f the w eek ( Oakville Beaver , Nov. 19), M ayor explains N ew Deal. I am afraid I am not fam iliar w ith the 1978 O ntario M unicipal B oard D ecision or w hat grow th num bers D avid Peterson set in 1987, but is M ayor A nn M ulvale saying that these initiatives are im possible to reverse? T hat is not the political process in C anada as I understand it. I assum e the m ayor could roll up her sleeves and nego tiate am endm ents to previous provincial/m unicipal agree m ents if she w as so m otivated. T he fact that M ulvale w as not on council in 1978 or 1987 is beside the point. She is the m ayor today and should lead the process o f change if the m ajority o f her constituents favour slow er growth. STEVE LANDRY Halton MPP's column was humorous By STEVE NEASE K "sammy£ (Generic., ail-inclusive, »«. NON* DENOMINATIONAL The Oakville Beaver is to be com m ended for providing a window in w hich aspiring authors o f fiction, hum our, satire o r other, are able to show case their work. In this instance, I am referencing Ted C hudleigh's piece (Nov. 15) on budget balancing, hard choices and creative accounting. Hopefully, he has other entertaining articles for future colum ns. The recent provincial elections have provided a substantial pool o f potential authors with em phasis on fiction and com ic relief. Their previous w ork has been oral rather than print. H ow ever persons, accustom ed to hard choices, should easily cope with the transition. Again, congratulations on w hat could becom e a popular, w eekly feature in the Oakville Beaver. MILTON G. 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