WIIITBY FREE PRESS.WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1985.PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson THE I '1 CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell Emm's absence puts council in an ackward position Last week's meeting of Whitby Town Council was one of the most, if not the most, interesting I've attended in the six years or so that I've been pounding a reporter's beat in this community. We had deputations coming out of our ears - champion skaters, proper little boy scouts, heritage homeowners, budding young politicians and a little skullduggery. Skullduggery, you say? At Whitby Town Council? When usually the height of hilarity is when one of the councillors forgets exactly what item he's speaking to? Well, we saw it. Those boys can play the game.They gave us a good show. You see. Well, perhaps you don't. There's this little piece of property in Ash- burn, a nice, peaceful place to live, on which two gentlemen named Kahn would like to build 17 rural, estate type homes. All of these homes would sit on one acre lots and would be a great addition to the community of Ashburn and Whitby as a whole. However, the damn thing rests in a 'T'-shaped cul-de-sac which practically anyone (especially those who live on one) will tell you can be a right pain in the you-know-where. Cul-de-sacs produce headaches for snow ploughs, garbage trucks, fire engines and neighbourhood parking. Well, it seems that the whole idea of a cul-de-sac in Ashburn doesn't rest too well with North Ward Coun. Ross Batten, himself a resident of the hamlet. Rarely in the five years or so that I've know Ross, have I seen so vehemently opposed to anything that's come before council. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Reg. Coun. Gerry Emm is also a resident of Ashburn. But unlike Ross, Gerry is adament in his support of the Kahn proposai. Gerry says this is just the thing for Ashburn. It's about time that the hamlet started to grow, started to look alive. The time comes for this little matter to come before council for final ap- proval. Almost everyone has something to say. Someone asks for a recorded vote. Saying no are Ross, Joe Drumm and Joe Bugelli. Saying yes are Marcel Brunelle, Tom Edwards and Bob Attersley. So, the vote is tied 3-all. Under the rules of procedure, a tied vote is lost. Have you caught on yet? Oh, yeah. Where's Gerry's vote? Well, he wasn't there to cast it. He was off somewhere, doing something. He sent no word of ex- planation to council for his absence. But in an effort to save a few building permits, Mayor Bob Attersley leaves the chair - passing it to Tom Edwards - and puts forward a reconsideration motion. Now, a reconsideration motion must come from the majority and in a tie vote there is no majority. Because a motion that is tied is considered lost, then the majority must have been those who cast no votes. Guess what, Bob voted yes. Both Edwards and the clerk were wrong to accept his motion. However, what really makes me angry is that Attersley: a) put the motion in the first place; and, b) was forced into doing so simply because Gerry Emm was not at the meeting tocarry out the responsibilities of his office. Never before has council put off a decision (let alone accepted a motion for reconsideration) simply because a member of council was not present at the meeting to cast his vote. Now, please consider these facts: 1) in putting forward the reconsideration motion, Bob mentioned that Gerry lived in Ashburn and before any action was taken council should avail itself of his counsel; 2) Gerry is a member of the administrative committee, and in committee was strong in support of this development; 3) the committee deferred decision on the Kahn plan twice, but never received any new insights or information; and, 4) Ge·ry knew the matter was coming before council and was not there. It is not the fault of any other member of council that Gerry Emm was not present to cast his vote at the meeting. If he believed this matter to be of so serious a nature, then he should have been at the meeting. By not being present, he not only embarassed Whitby Town Council but also performed a great disservice to the applicant and his own constituents. Gerry Emm was elected to attend council and make decisions concerning the smooth operation of the municipality. He was not there to exercise his duty. The Kahn application has a great deal of merit. If I were a member of council, I would probably support it. It is obvious that Gerry Emm did not see it to be all that worthy of his support or he would have been there, being fully aware that it was coming before council. Bob Attersley was also wrong to bring in the reconsideration for no other reason than Emm's absence. When council makes a decision, all members, in- cluding the mayor, must stand by it unless some new information can be brought forward to cause a change. This application has not changed substan- tially since it was first submitted. Waiting for Gerry Emm's return will not change anything. All it will do is change a 3-all vote to a 4-3 vote. It's pretty shabby politics. But it could have been avoided if Gerry Emm had have been here to do the job he was elected to do. A perfectly good application will be approved, but Whitby Town Council will have lost a little of the respect I have for it. Liberal candidate Brian Evans and wife, Linda Tories are practising the politics of cynicism: Evans EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of three articles profiling the candidates of the three major parties seeking the Durham West seat in the Ontario Legislature. Through these conversations, we hope to give Whitby residents and voters a better insight into what they stand for and what they believe.. This week, we profile Liberal party can- didate Brian Evans. By MICHAEL KNELL Free Press Staff As far as Brian Evans is concerned, the Progressive Conservative Party and the governments it has formed over the last 43 years have done nothing less than practise the politics of cynicism. And that, as far has he's concerned, is the major issue in this election. "The most important issue in this election," the Liberal candidate says, 'is the apathy, the bitterness of the electorate." . And that apathy will probably return the Tories to power. The 35-year old Whitby lawyer goes as.'far as to claim that the Tories capitalized on that apathy when Premier Frank Miller refused to debate Liberal leader David Peterson and NDP Chief Bob Rae on television. With that said, Evans then waded into an attack on the Tory government's record, bringing up such issues as rent control, the funding of the Roman Catholic school system and the controversery surrounding Dr. Henry Morgentaler and his abortion clinic. The Liberals, he said, were the first to in- troduce rent control legislation back in 1975. The Tories flatly rejected the notion but later introduced their own bill which Evans says contains many of the provisions sought by his own party. However, since then, the Tories have not been effective in dealing with rent control because their hearts aren't in it. Evans notes that ail four aspirants for the Tory leadership and 60 per cent of their convention delegates are fundamentally opposed to rent control. He maintains that if properly managed, rent controls can be a boon to the economy, especially when it is considered that many tenants are spending as much as 40-50 even 60 per cent of their income on rent. Landlords are not suffering ail that much, he adds noting that they have won rent in- creases as high as 14 to 18 per cent after ap- pealing to the Residential Tenancies Com- mission. "There are provisions for landlords to justify increases based on the costs they will have to bear." While rent control must be expanded and the machinery to police it must become more efficient, Evans said that "clearly the em- phasis has to be on providing affordable housing while being fair and equitable to the landlord." As do both Tory incumbent MPP George Ashe and NDP standardbearer Don Stewart, Evans supports the complete public funding of the Roman Catholic separate school system. But once again, it is the method chosen to implement the funding, not the funding issue itself that has created problems. "This province has reduced education fun- ding from 60 per cent to 47 per cent to local school boards over the last few years," Evans said, "They have increased the tax burden on the municipalities and the property tax- payer." He also said that when he announced the decision, former premier Bill Davis not only failed to consult the school systems, teachers and parents, he forgot to consult his own education minister as well. The Liberals have supported separate school funding since 1971, and would strive to ensure that those principles on which the separate system is based would be preserved. "We have to respect their right to maintain the integrity of the system." He also says that if the concerns of the public school system were fully met by the provincial government, then the issue of ad- mitting non-Catholic students and hiring non- Catholic teachers wouldn't be an issue. In fact, if there was adequate and proper fun- ding the public system, then the entire issue of funding for the Catholic system wouldn't even have to be addressed. "We have to ensure that both are preserved and that both are adequately funded." The trial and acquittal of Dr. Henry Morgentaler and the entire abortion issue is for Evans just another example of Tory ('ONT'D ON PC. 17