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4 < <¢ Editorial Comments "A Regional Home We would not hesitate to suggest that most citizens of Scugog Township really don't care one way or the other whether the Durham Region administrative HQ is located in Oshawa or Whitby. The Region is now in the process of seriously examining pro- posals to relocate the HQ building and last week, a joint committee of the Regional council gave the nod of approval to a new site in downtown Oshawa. The committee based its decision on an exhaustive report prepared by senior Regional staff, a study which compared four alter- natives to the status quo. That status quo, by the way, has the Region now leasing some 88,000 square féet of office space at several dif- ferent locations in Oshawa and Whitby, over and above the office space it has at the administrative building on Rossland Road. What the report concludes, after a detailed examination of all the factors was that if the Region is to relocate, the Oshawa package is the best one financially speaking. It's better than maintaining the - status quo, better than trying to expand the éxisting building, and bet- ter than a proposal to build at another site in Whitby. The issue is now out of the hands of the bureaucrats and squarely in the laps of the Regional council, it is now in the political arena, and no doubt there will be considerable bouncing around before the issue finally is laid to rest one way or another. What is interesting about the staff report on relocation is the com- parison of costs over the next 20 years. If, for example, the Region opted to do nothing (i.e. continue leasing office space and maintain the present building) the cost to the year 2009 in 1987 dollars would net out at $20.9 million. In inflated dollars, the figure is $62 million over 20 years. If the Region opts to build a new structure of 170,000 square feet in downtown Oshawa, the net cost in today's dollars is $12.9 million over the next 20 years. Those are big numbers, any way you cut it, and no doubt many taxpayers in Durham will gulp once or twice. After all, it is the people of Durham who pay the shot in the long run. oo What should also be kept in mind is that Durham Region is here to stay. Regional government is a creation of the province, and there are not hints that the provincial government is about to allow the dismantling of the Regional system. : A A 'The fact that many of Durham's major departments are scattered all over Oshawa. and Whitby is costly and very inefficient, not only for staff but for the general public. it makes sense to consolidate these departments 'under one roof." In today's dollars, it would also save about $1 million annually in rentals for office space. Senior Regional staff have concluded that relocating in downtown Oshawa is the most attractive alternative of Durham. The politicians who must now respond to that proposal should keep in mind. that Regional government is going to be around long after they have left the scene. . . Relocating to Oshawa may not make sense politically to some members of the council, but it is the best alternative over the long haul. "IT WAS A FRIGHTFULLY BUSY DAY AND I THINK IT JUST WORKED TOO HARD." Port Perry STAR ¢ 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY. ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 PO Box90 LOB INO J PETER HVIDSTEN Merrit Publisher 1nddan (Comm Advertising Manager J.B. McCLELLAND Editor CATHY OLLIFFE "News & Features Subscription Rate In Canada $20 00 per year Elsewhere $60 00 per year Single Copy SO * MY TAXES HELPED BUILD THIS CAR, THE COMPANY THAT FUELS IT AND THE_ROAD THAT TAKES ME TO MY GOVERNMENT STORE ear AN' YOU SAY | NEED A LICENCE ? | Ta PETRO-CAN NN Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe ONE OF THE BOYS Weil, lookee here. Seems like a court in the United States of America. has ruled the Rotary Club, historically a men only organization, must allow women to join. Goll-ee, I can't believe my ears. It just never crossed my pretty little head that womenkind might be permitted access to the hallowed ranks of the boys' room. But there it is. Now, I'm not sure as yet how this ruling is go- ing to effect the Rotary Club in Canada, but I have a sneaky feeling that Canuck Rotarians are go- ing to have to open their doors to females too. _ Not only that, I think the court's decision is going to have immense ramifications on other men-only or women-only clubs as well. So what does this mean? Well, it could mean all clubs, of any description, will be forced to allow _any person to join, regardless of sex, age, religion, "race, or financial status. Which is great, on the surface. Just think, no more exclusive golf clubs. But taken to the ex- treme, some good old-fashioned traditional clubs will take on whole new forms. The Rotary Club, for instance, will no longer be divided up into Rotarians (men) and Rotary- Ann's (women). You could eliminate the Rotary- Ann's and just call everybody Rotarians, but what about children, who will undoubtedly be able to join as well? You could then call the club, Rotarians, Rotary-Ann's, and Rotary-Kids, but can you imagine how much space the name would take up on letterheads"? I think the best solution would be to call them simply Rotary Jack and Jill's, or possibly, Rotary People. The same goes for other clubs. The Kinsmen Club presently has a female off- shoot called the Kinettes. Because of the change in law, it could now be called the Kinsmen, Kinet- tes and Kinchacha's. Relatives could be known simply as Kin, and in special cases. Kin-in-laws. The Lions Club would be easy to change. Presently, we have the Lions and the Lionesses. All you have todo is change the name to the Lions. Lionesses and Cubs Club. The Knights of Columbus could change to The Knights, Maidens and Elves of Columbus. United Church Women, of course, would have to allow men and children to join, so that group could simply become United Church People. And the Catholic Women's League could be known as the Catholic People's League. Just think how much easier it would be to arrange bake sales and fashion shows with men and kids helping out! Beta Sigma Phi. a sorority for women, could be known as Beta Sigma Phi. Pho and Phum But what about groups for kids like the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts? Will they have to allow adults to join? If they do, the clubs will be forced to conglomerate, and could be called, Girl, Women, Boy, Men Guide-Scouts. Quite a mouthful, but fairly practical, don't you think? Or why not just eliminate all these different c¢lubs and make one big club? I mean, since each club won't look or do anything different than any other, why not just consolidate every club in the world? : We could wind up belonging to the In- terdenominational Club of Men, Women and Children of All Ages, Cultures, Interests. Abilities and Everything Else. Mind you, the world wouldn't be very in- teresting. but it sure would be simple. Wouldn't it? . HART'S HEART Tsk. tsk. Looks like Presidential Candidate Gary Hart is all washed up. Seems like he couldn't keep his zipper zipped and now he's paying for his indiscretions with his political career. My husband blamed the media for Hart's demise, saying if camera crews and reporters had kept their noses out of Hart's love life, Hart would still be in the running. > I pointed out to my husband that it wasn't the media that ruined Hart's chances, it was Hart himself. . Hart was the qnly one who couldn't resist an extramarital fling. Perhaps the temptation was too much, but he should have thought about the consequences of dallying with a model when he's trying to take Ronnie Reagan's job. Most politicians know they have to keep their noses clean and to the grindstone if they want to get anywhere. They know their competitors will latch on to any skeleton in the closet in order to smear another person's campaign. They know this in advance of their decision to run for public office, just as they know any wrong move they make will be picked up by the media and transformed from a molehill to a mountain in record time Gary Hart knéw this before he discovered' Close Encounters of the Modelling Kind, and yet he went ahead with his dallying anyways. He shouldn't be surprised that the ultra- . conservative American public and media turned against him He made his decision, that a love affair was more important than his career. and perhaps a few lustful memories will be some consolidation when he watches someone else take the Presiden- tial Oath '