Emm Whitby's Regional Coun-, cillor Gerry Emm feels that there should be as little busi- ness as possible done in con- fidential meetings. In an interview with the Whitby Free Press, on the controversial subject of 'con- fidential meetings' Councillor Emm said that he feels con- fidential meetings should be restricted to matters of a per- sonnel nature,, union negotia- tions, and certain land negotiations. "There have been many items in confidential meetings which probably should have been public,",he said. Councillor Emm contin- ued by pointing out the problem. "What the manage- ment committee is supposed to be is a select committee picked by the mayor to handle internal problems, but what it has turned out to be Town WiI Finance Study In a committee-of-the- whole meeting on Monday, Whitby Council rescinded a decision made in June of 1974 to accept developers' money for a development study of Brooklin. Instead, the director of planning will conduct a resi- dential development study of Brooklin and the surrouMing areas in consultation with area residents, the region's planning staff and the appro- priate provincial planning authorities, this to be under- taken with money from the municipality and assistance from any available provincial grants. The decision came three weeks after'a special informa- tion meeting was held at the Brooklin Community Centre to explain proposed develop- ment in the area, at which council was told that its decision to accept developers' money was "unethical". Mayor Des Newman re- butted this at the special meeting, saying that most municipalities do the same thing. However, council changed its mind because, as Council- lor Don Lovelock said, it was necessary to "clear the decks" of the stigma brought about by the acceptance of developers' money to carry out the development study. Many of the town's citizens felt that if council accepted developers' money', the study would be prejudiced. is the whole council now meeting in management com- mittee which is by custom an in-camera meeting. Before there were only three coun- cillors on the management committee, now all the coun- cillors are on this coinmittee and now can pass anything and then gointo council and Vol. 5 No. i1 adopt it." Speaking on the recent Rossland/Brock land pur- ehase, Councillor Emm said, "I enquired (of council) early in the stages of the recent negotiations on the municipal building when the public would be invited to comment Fewer and was told 'not until the- proposal was signed and sealed' ." But Councillor Emm wouldn't tell the Free Press who told him that. "Knowing that certain councillors get very touchy about certain confidential WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1975 Secrets items being supposedly leaked out of closed meetings and reported in the Free Press (i.e. recent Free Press firsts objected to by Councillor Goodwin), I didn't want to agitate other councillors into thinking certain items were leaking out against their wish and it was council's wish to TEN CENTS REALLY BIG SHO0W Anderson Collegiate and Vocational Institute of Whitby took an adjudicator's award of merit recently at the Durham Region Collegiate Drama Festival in Oshawa for its staging of "Colors in the Dark". Left to right, front row, are Helen Daigle, Marlene Foran, Henry Van Den Hoogen, Margo Bergevin, Wally Baker, Ray Pardon and Colin Taxpayers Durham Regional Council counter-parts in Oshawa. In ;nclud is presently studying a report 1973 Whitby's average bill for is pr which if adopted would bring 53,600 gallons of water was throug some relief to Whitby taxpay- $51.52 (not including a On ers. charge for fire prevention) payers The Gore and Storrie re- port to the region works committee proposes a region- ai scheduling of rates for water and sewer charges which would help equalize charges across the region. Whitby residents are pre- sently using less water and paying higher rates than their whereas Oshawa's for 66,250 gallons was only $38.66. If this report and schedul- ing system is adopted the average charge in Whitby for 1975 would be about $54.61, while Oshawa's charge would jump to about $60.53 and these figures would break. charge while Under Whitb in 19 Oshaw The straigh keep certain items confiden- tial," he said. When asked whether he felt his obligation was to his constituents or to other councillors, Councillor Emm replied "If we had a completely open door policy it would be fine to take part- icular problems to the media and hence the constituents, but since we don't we are obliged to live by the wishes of the majority of council members wishing to keep items confidential. People are much more educated and more knowledgeable than ever before and want to know more about certain items. They also react much more intelligently than ever before. Hence we should refine our our meetings to be as open as possible." (Editor's note: his confiden- tial story will self destruct in five seconds!) Joy Wonts Discussion Period "Headline hunting" would be prevalent at council meet- ings if a motion proposed by Councillor Joy Thompson was passed, according to Councillor Tom Edwards. Councillor Thompson moved "that the procedural bÿlaw be amended to provide for a period of 30 minutes during which the introduc- tion and discussion of matters will be permitted, which matters will not require a motion." In the past, she and many other councillors have been frustrated when they tried to bring up important matters for discussion only to be reminded that a notice of motion was required before this could occur. Councillor Thompson's motion was tabled for the time being. Mcllwain. Center row from left are Robert Ellis, director Joe Pengelly. Kit Greaves, Rebecca Vos, Liz Greaves, and Luigi Mastroianni. Rear from left, are Lynda Wilson, Keii Greenwood, Joanne Priest and George Moorcroft. May e fire prevention which esently being billed gh the general mill rate. sewage, Whitby tax- would again get a Whitby's average in 1973 was $49.00 Oshawa's was $22.00. the new system y's charge would drop 975 to .$34.30 while a's would jump to $40. e report further suggest tening out the discre- Free Press Photo by Gisele Sequin GetM paid $4,172 in 1973 would pay $17,000 in 1975, while Dunlop would drop from $15,086 to $3,400. Local companies would benefit by decreased water charges. For example Stokely Van Camp would go from $29,636 in 1973 to $16,431 in 1975. Dunlop would go from $12,148 to $8,922. Regional Councillor Gerry Emm (a.inember of the re- gion, works committee) told pancies of industrial charges. Presently some industries, like -municipalities are using less than others and paying more. For example Whitby's Dunlop plant (Whitby Tire) paid more ($15,086) for sewage than Oshawa's Du- plate ($11,538) and Pedlar People ($2,124) put together. The new system would charge for usage.. Whitby's Stokely Van Camp which JOY THOMPSON Bre«k the Free Press that "if adopted this system of cost sharing would certainly bene- fit the users of water and sewage services in the Town of Whitby as compared to what they would be paying under a local rate. The rea- son our (Whitby's) rates have been higher (than Oshawa) is because our systems are more expensive to operate locally because the costs are shared by fewer people and industries." Wants PR)