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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, O ct ob er 2 0, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Our pick for mayor THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America The Oakville Beaver is a division of Oakville residents have a difficult choice when it comes to picking their next mayor on municipal Election Day Oct. 25. They have two qualified and experienced candidates to choose from former mayor Ann Mulvale, who served in that capacity for 18 years, and Rob Burton, who has held the posi- tion for the past four years. We have always believed a mayoral candidate should gain experience on council first before running for the top job. Its too important a position to be learning about it on the job. For this reason we cannot support a third candidate, John McLaughlin, although we do appreciate the issues he has brought forward on excessive municipal government spending and Oakville Transit. But for us, the choice is one between Burton, the current mayor, and Mulvale, the former mayor. Its a difficult choice because both candidates bring different, but effective, styles to the council table. First, credit must be given to the mayor and council for playing a key role in stopping TransCanadas 900-megawatt gas-fired power plant from being built in Oakville. The Town effectively delayed the project by throwing up legal roadblocks, while Citizens for Clean Air (C4CA) applied pressure to the Province to kill it. Together they blocked this folly from being built in Oakville and we applaud them for it. On the other hand, we are concerned about the mayors spending record. One of the main differences between Mayor Burton and Mulvale is their spending philoso- phy. From 2009 to 2010 the Towns debt has sky- rocketed from $29M to $74M. Of this total $22M is tax-supported debt, while the remainder is non-tax supported debt mostly to be repaid through development charges. At the same time, Oakvilles development charge reserve fund has dropped from $64M to just over $800,00 since 2007. Mayor Burton sees no problem with this and points to the $28M per year the Town will receive thanks largely to his councils 60 per cent increase in development charges. Ironically, a mayor who has promised to control growth is now dependent upon growth paying off the Towns debt. Added to this concern is the Towns finan- cial commitment for the new Oakville hospital. Burton wants to spread $135 million of this share from 2015-2045 adding further to the taxpayers burden. We are reminded of a homeowner with a large mortgage, numerous credits cards and a growing line of credit, who is never concerned about the future until their house of cards comes crashing down. If the economy fails to continue its recovery or development falters, were in a lot of trouble. Mulvale is promising a more prudent approach to overseeing the Towns finances. She wants to hire an auditor general to exam- ine the Towns books and identify any excessive spending. She has promised not to raise taxes or hire more staff until this audit is completed. She wants to spend what the Town can afford now, rather than mortgaging its future. We are more comfortable with that approach. Mulvales critics point towards the higher average tax increases that occurred during her term in office. They also point to key losses under the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) under her watch. This comparison is unfair in both cases because the rules have changed since Mulvale was mayor. In her last term, Halton Regional Council was still paying pooling costs for Torontos social service costs and funding GO Transit. Last year, with those two costs removed, the Region tabled a zero percent tax increase reducing Oakvilles overall property tax. As for the OMB, shortly after the new coun- cil took over, the Ontario Liberal government changed the rules granting local councils more control and making it harder for developers to win. We also believe Mulvale would foster an atmosphere that welcomes participation from both its residential and business communities. For these reasons we are recommending her for mayor. At the outset, we said this was a difficult choice. Oakville voters are fortunate to have two well-qualified candidates on the ballot. We are confident that either Burton or Mulvale will provide good leadership for the next council. We would also like to thank all the candi- dates for putting their names on the election ballot. Campaigning for an election is a time- consuming task that is not possible without sacrifice. Now its your turn, please vote on Oct. 25. Re: Laura Elliots letter to the editor, Election signs are bad for the environment, Oakville Beaver, Oct. 6. As a candidate and one of the guilty par- ties, I agree with Laura and other commen- tary regarding election signs. One possibility is imposing a maximum square metre of signage per candidate, per square metre of ward/electoral district. An all-out ban on signage would be ideal, with a restriction to biodegradable/paper pamphlets/flyers only. It will substantially reduce campaign costs and have us focus one- on-one with voters. It will also reduce the costs that the Town incurs enforcing the sig- nage by-law. Until such time, candidates must vie for the best vantage point. (Location, location, location). It gets costly when individuals go around destroying candidates signs, especially those of the school trustees. While successful candidates for council- lors, regional councillors, mayor, etc., get a salary, please consider the school trustee can- didates. Their biggest compensation is serv- ing your school board and you, the students. Give them a break. Most candidates are using the Internet, but must find a means of drawing voters to their site. Not everyone, especially seniors, are connected or at ease with the Internet or have access to computers. Regarding Lauras comments of being less interested in choosing/voting. That is of great concern, especially when only a third of citi- zens do exercise their vote. I encourage Laura and others to volunteer their time, as a community involvement activity, in the election process (e.g. scruti- neer for a school trustee) and get an appreci- ation of what some of us are going through to get our message across and to get citizens out to vote. ROSS BRAGDON, CANDIDATE FOR COUNCIL, WARD 6 Candidate welcomes sign restrictions