whtby Volceo f the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, 'Ibe oniy Whltby newspaper independently owned andoýperated by Whit * Published every Wednesday ' by M.B.Ml. Pubilshing S and Photography Inc. Phone 668-611Il Tlhe Free Press Building, Publlsher..Managlng Edîtor 131 Brock Street North, by residents for.Whitby residents. P.O. Box 206, Whitby, On CommurrityEditoi - Miko Knel C-ontrîbuting EdItor -Mm QÃŽ uaif Production Manager *Marj Burgess Print & Prtomotionalt.-oi yn« Manager RbnLo Classitied Ad ;Crôle Bortin' Mailing Permit No. 460 Botte ,r Bustness Bureau of Torontb Whitby Chamber of Commerce mt. Ife 1i1ree 1'ress l,,ooks at the nation M A/ME0A1ý il Where is te1pritorityhmspendin? The money we have ta pay as taxes represents, for the good majority of us, a goodly portion of aur incarne. But, the same malarity knows very -littie of how -it is -spent. This is especlally true at the municipal -level. 0f every dollar raised, the Tawn of Whitby only gets 234 cents -- less than a quarter., *The biggest chunk of the tax dollar. goes towards educatian., A whoppi.ng 55.1 cents out of every tax dol la r raisedwhether by direct taxation or provincial grant. In their operating budget for'1978 the Durham Board of Educatian alloted 78 per cent of the money for salaries. lnterestingý statistics, especially when experts frorn business, labor and government are saying that the quality of education is going down inthis province. The schools are not turning out a quality product for the investment on the part of the taxpayer. Quality 0ýf'educatIan aside, giving 55.lper cent of aur tax dollars ta the board of education talkes away from ,he.ather things the taxpayers demand. One af these, as an example, is better police If $500,000 was diverted from the baard and-given ta the police force, would that not give us better protection? This' becomes a question of priorities. Education may be aur of the mast valued services that gavernment provides, however, we can not allow that ta get mare tax money at the expense 0f other valuable services such as police and f ire protection, water and sewage, roads, and everything else that the town or the region provides. The educational1 system in Ontario has a great deal1 of capital, they have fi!ne buildings, highly qual if ied staff, excellent equipment and declining enrolment. Yet, If is highlyunlikely that the decline in enrolment will produce a decline in the tax bill. And that is exactly 'What It should mean. Il there was a public autcry about the high taxes we pay the school board, just might have ta cut costs. But mast people do net pay any attention ta the Durham Region Board of Education. This body of people spends mare of aurtax money ADDRESS LETTERS TO: THE EDITOR, THE WHITBY FREE PRESS ]POST OFFICE OX NJMER 206 WHItBYý than the Town of Whitby and the Region of Durham cambined and no one really knows,,what the school board ls ail about. If our concern.was.reflected at the poilis we would have a 100 per cent turn aut. As it is less than 40,per cent of the electorate' vote at, miunicipal and school board elections. The school board does not'need 55.1 per cent of every tax dollar cal lected ln the town of Whitby, but those.we et ect ta off ice, don'tknow that and the on ly .way ta fell them is at the poilIs-ln December, 1980. If any candlidate is flot cost consciaus when running for' the school board, if his (or her) platform is not ta, reduce the cost of educat ion then hé (or 5he) shaulld not be elected or returned, ta office. The anly level of govern ment that does not seem fita be, interesfed in cutting costs Is the board of educatlon. Weil, they certainly cen -be made ta be at the, next electian. But anly if the voter takes enough interesfta get ouf and vote. Letter'of thanks-tO local fr The President,. Whitby Dodge Chrysier, 200 Dundas Street West, WHITBY, Ontario. IDea r Si1r: I *auld like ta express my sincere thanks for the service your company, and especially your ser-* vice manager, Mr. Deen, Knight affarded my cus- ~tomer, Mrs. Sally' Bradley, during a break- down. incident which .accurred ta aur rentaI1 vehicle, a 1979 Dodge Di- plomat License Number, C1J 358, on l4th August, 1979. Mrs. Bradley, and three' passengers, were en route f rom Toronto ta Ottawa, via the Hi1gh way 401, when struck by a large boulder, which rup- tured the gas tank ta the car. Your deaiership's staff, not oniy pravided excellent and prompt ser- vice, fhey also went aut 0f their way -ta give Mrs. Bradley and passengers transportation'ta. and from the Oshawa Mail ta "while away" the seven hours it took ta make th e necessary repairs'ta the ca r. It is alwayspleasanf ta hear of such kindnessess, and encouraging ta see that the Ontario "We Treat You Royally" Campaign is having a__ positive effect. Again, MY gratitude ta, ail of your staff who helped ln making mfy cus-, tomners' unfortunate delay into a more plea-ý" sant one. Yaurs very truly,. D., Oldham". Manager. ý Thrifty Rent-A-Car Ottawa, Ontario Reader has sympathy for Crawford Dear Sir: 1 have much sympathy for Mrs. crawford and her daughter re. stolen bicycle. We had a similar experience. Our son's car was stolen from aur driveway' by two juveniles; one cf four cars they had stolen that night. It'caused us much frustration, incon- Callous terrorism t is ail fao obviaus ln this- period that terroism of every king is becoming more callous and unre- strained. The notoriaus l.R.A. probably with _Marxist support, and out lawed much folate by a gutless' Dublin . govern- men t, will go down in history, with their Arab counterpart, as the snea- kiest, cruelest band of assassins. To them the venience.and money as aur son was doing a course in Toronto and needed the transportation urgently. The car was recovered a week later at a considerable distance fromn here. We had to cot i and pay the towing charges. It needed many -repairs before it could be used. We have no idea who Ii-conceived end whally ju-stifies any devil-inspi- red means. The shor-siglTrecsand unrealistic .British the juveniles were, or how, or If they were, punished. One thing is for sure aur son received no compensation from themn. t Is time the law make the juveniles and their parents more responsible for thelr action. Responsibility -cannot be learned uniess it is practised. M.J. Keelin gavernment should begin« ta regret -their ,voting down the relnstatement o f -capital punishment CÃ"NT'D ON PGE17 1 mmý --.a 9. nt.