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Volume 72, Number 41 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday October 28, 2009 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Clarington ditches vote-bymail Clarington voters will have to leave the comforts of their home to cast a ballot in the next municipal election. On Monday night, Clarington council voted to return to the traditional style of voting, with a paper ballot cast at polling stations in the November 13, 2010 municipal election. All Clarington electors who publicly addressed council regarding this issue requested a return to traditional style voting. The general message from these residents was that the traditional style of voting was the only secure method of voting available. While there was much talk about misuse of the vote-by-mail system by various candidates and their election workers, Municipal Clerk Patti Barrie said there was no fraud involved in past vote-by-mail elections in Clarington. Clarington used a vote-bymail system in the past three municipal elections, beginning in 2000. The Clerks Department recommended a combination of internet voting and traditional style voting for the upcoming election. The switch was made to a vote-by-mail system for the 2000 election to increase voter turn-out and save money. "My feeling is what's good for the federal and provincial government is certainly good for us,' Mayor Abernethy VOTE see page 5 Four-year-old Aidan Brennan and his sister Teagan, two-and-a-half, were making the most of the fine weather on Sunday afternoon at the Orono Park. Save Santa from budget cuts Emergency chopping of Clarington's budget has left some community groups in the lurch. One of the cuts made by Clarington council on August 31, at the special council meeting dealing with the $2.1 million budgetary shortfall, was to eliminate after-hours and weekend service by the Operations Department. Community groups who required the services of the Operations Department on weekends were to be billed for the service beginning on October 1st. In mid September, the Newcastle BIA was notified by the municipality that it would be billed approximately $1,000 for municipal overtime services for its Fall Festival, which was held on October 3rd. According to Karen Bastas, events coordinator for the Newcastle BIA, their total budget for the Fall Festival was $4,000, and it was set at the beginning of the year. "To all of a sudden send us a bill of $1,000 is unfair," Bastas told the Orono Times reporter on Monday. "We don't have that kind of money sitting around," she said. The municipality closed the road, and distributed picnic tables and garbage receptacles for the Saturday October 3rd event. The BIA with the assistance of volunteers, removed the picnic tables and the garbage from the street after the event, and opened the road themselves. Bastas is hopeful that their efforts will help to substantially reduce the bill from the municipality. The Newcastle Santa Claus Parade Committee is facing a similar problem. The parade, scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 22nd, has received a $1,500 invoice from the municipality for the staff overtime for the necessary road closures. The budget for the parade of $5,000 was set many months ago, according to committee member Martha Hendrikx, and there is nowhere to cut $1,500 for the event. "We will either have to cancel the pre-parade fireworks or the number of bands," Hendrikx told the Orono Times. But with so few bands participating, it is hard BUDGET see page 4 Daylight Savings ends "Fall Back" one hour on November 1st