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Volume 73, Number 15 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday April 14, 2010 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Rental tools sold for profit An investigation that began after a jackhammer was rented but never returned to a Bowmanville store has led to the arrest of four individuals incluing a Newcastle man. On March 15th, Durham Regional Police Services detectives from East (Clarington) Division began an investigation into the theft of a rental tool from Pineridge Rent-All, located on Highway 2 East in Bowmanville. A male suspect had rented a jackhammer with a pre-paid credit card then never returned the tool. Police soon identified two male suspects and later located one suspect driving a stolen U-Haul truck. Police continued the investigation and learned that the same male suspects had attended several Home Depot Stores in and around Durham Region, renting tools which were later sold for profit and never returned to the store. Police then discovered one of the suspects and two females had purchased a John Deere riding lawnmower, several Weber barbecues and a Campbell Hausfeld Air Compressor using fraudulent cheques at several Home Depot Stores. The merchandise was later sold to arranged buyers throughout Durham Region. The goods are valued at over $9,000. TOOLS see page 3 The O.M.H.A. Juvenile Championship Orono Leafs celebrate their win the Orono way, with a traditional ride down Main Street on the 1935 Bickle Fire Truck on Sunday. Team members paraded their new trophy to a small crowd of onlookers. Council rejects Regional Chair recall mechanism Councillor Adrian Foster was unsuccessful in his attempt to add an accountability mechanism into the position of an appointed Regional Chair. Foster introduced a motion at Monday night's Clarington Council meeting requesting the Region of Durham amend its by-laws to allow for the recall of the Regional Chair. There is currently no mechanism to pull back the Regional Chair under extreme circumstances, Foster told his fellow councillors. He said his motion would give the Regional Council a tool to remove an appointed Regional Chair from their position. "If the Regional Chair is dealing in such fashion that is heinous to 75 percent of council, they should have an option," Foster stated. "That option does not exist now." Recall, which has a history dating back to ancient democracies, is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote. According to Foster, as the Regional Chair is appointed rather than elected, there is no mechanism in the Region's Procedural By-law to, under extreme circumstances, remove the Regional Chair. The Regional Chair is currently appointed through an election by the 28 Regional Councillors at their first meeting of the new term of office. Regional Coucnillor Mary Novak said the word "recall" was "in-appropriate." In her opinion, Foster was trying to tell Regional Council what it should do. Mayor Jim Abernethy also had a problem with the word "recall." "It sounds as if the person is a defective automobile you are going to recall back to the manufacturer," he said. According the Mayor, it did not make sense to amend the Region's Procedural Bylaw, which outlines how meetings are run, to allow for the removal of a member of council. The Municipal Act, which is the bible for all municipalities, according to the mayor, allows for a judicial review process to be used for the removal of council members. In a recorded vote, Clarington's three members of Regional Council, Abernethy, Novak and Charlie Trim, were joined by Local Councillor Gord Robinson to defeat Foster's motion. There will be a Regionwide referendum on the municipal ballot asking electors if they think the Regional Chair should be elected by all voters in the Region. The earliest a Regional Chair could be elected at-large would be in 2014. What's Inside See page 6