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Orono Weekly Times Number 6368 ffice of Publication of Newcastle certainly ening at the inaugaural aking their place at the ýf but impressive with the ýctive as a suggestion to gram to some conclusion ew council. ýute to the past council Stheir efforts and tiffe ,v municipality had been r council was fitting as were resenti the new council well in their ýany knotty problemn whiclh no ýesting study to public attitude ýen in Prime Mînister yis now on the upswing d the recent election in h Canada towards that Why do we now find a and wage controls? [y change to swing public )s there is a fickleness of Letter to Editor 1 arn led to believe that there is considerable man-. oeuvering among thesqicces- sful candidates of the munic- ipal elections to ,take action to raise the pay received for their municipal duties. Presently the local council- lors receive $5,000 per year while the regional councillors are paîd $16,000. The mayor receives $21,000 per year plus extra pay for sitting on the three Public Utilîty Commis- sions in Bowmanville, New- castle and Orono. One-third of the renumerat- ion is tax free and the regional counillors and the mnayor receive mileage. The possibility of more money for councillors and the mayor was discussed at a candidates meeting durîng the course of the past election and ail candidates piously declared that they would not vote themselves a raise. In my opinion there are at least two reasons why politi- cal salaries should not be raîsed. 1. Ail candidates were very well aware what the salary scale was prior to going into the election. If at that time their opinion to the question by agreeing or disagreeing with their ballots. Tis was not doue and as 1 have stated in a previous paragraph when the subject of more pay was brought up at a candidates meeting, al candidates present rolleci their eyes heavenward and piously stated that they would flot vote themselves a raise. 2. The cost of municipal government under regional- ization which took a horrific jump from 1974 to 1976 inclusive is in grave danger of escalating greatly again in 197 and 1978 resulting in higher taxes. This jump could and probably will be brought about by inflation, policing costs, water and sewer costs and political promises made during the election campaign. Individuals elected by their neighbours on December 6th to operate the community should flot increase the. tax pressures by voting themsel- ves a raise in pay. It is to be hoped that if and Mof fa tt'sees n eed to tighten tendering It appears that the Ministry of Government Services should consult a good diction- ary as to the mneaning of the word "tender" as it applies to government contracts. If the meaning is known to the Minstry then their practices should be changed. In the attached letter to one of the Conservative mem- bers, great care is taken to point out the estimated cost of a project and the date on which advertîsing for tenders will take place. Surely the impîciation is that successful bidders will be in thîs "estitimated" range. The letter closes with the hope that the members wiil be able to "use thîs information in your Riding." We wonder "how?" It is odd that such informat- ion is given only to members of the Davis government. Surely all elected members should be treated the same, but it would make more sense and lead to more open tendering if no one had prior notice. These are public funds being spent. We ask that tendering procedures of this ministry be overhauled and these practices be stopped. In contacting various people in the community this week over their view of the new year 1977 we find that in genieral the economy is expected to remain as in 1976. There are however some interesting new changes coming up in the comimunity in '77 as well as interesting viewpoints. cioubt wi