The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 10, Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, June 6, 1984 Letter To She Editor School Board Trustee unhappy over bussing contract The following letter was received by the "'NEWS" from Rey. Father Manitouwadge. Father Winslow has had to re- sign his position as Trustee due to his trans- fer to Thessalon, On- tario and he wished to publicly announce that certain remaining is- sues need to be aired to the public. The following is tit- led "Ongoing Con- cerns with The Lake Superior Board of Edu- cation". Old Haunts are Return- ing: Early in the tenure of this 'Board, decisions were made which re- versed the erroneous decisions of the previous Board concerning the closure of the Schreiber Winslow of: Campus of the Lake Superior High School and the disposal of Board Owned Teacher- ages. These decisions received much public approval as the initial decisions were made with little or no conc- ern for their social and/ or educational impli- cations. However, with the concern for people demonstrated by the majority of the members of this Board, these is- sues were put to rest for the time being. Now, after almost two years of work, some members of the Board are beginning to make noises concerning the sale of an apartment building in Manitou- wadge. Could this be the tip of the iceberg that will eventually lead to the return of the ill- fated suggestion of sell- ing our Teacherages with no concern for the social or educational im- plications? Further, could it be that as soon as some feel the climate is right, the issue of the Schreiber Campus could return? Some individuals have been heard to make comments concerning the money we could have saved if the closure had been effected. Are the early decisions of the Board really safe? Taxation Taxation has long been a problem with the Lake Superior Board of Education. According to Provincial Equaliza- tion Formulas, any tax increase over the Board Area results in a great be remembered. THANK-YOU Niemi - The Family of the late Elmer Niemi wish to thank their relatives and friends who helped them by their many acts of kindness during the loss of their dear husband and father. : Our sincere and grateful thanks to those who sent flowers, cards and food, and gave their support in so many ways. Special thanks to Dr. Wilkes and the staff who provided medical assistance. Our thanks also to Reverend Bigelow, the organist and choir of St. Andrews United Church, and to those who served as pallbearers. Your thoughtfulness will always Joan and Eric Niemi discrepancy. For instance, this year the average Manitou- wadge Property Tax will increase $80 while the same average Taxpayer in Schreiber will only experience a $38 incre- ase. Marathon and Ter- trace Bay will be increas- ed roughly $44 and $48 respectively. While this problem is not insur- mountable the effort be- ing honestly expended at either the Board of Municipal level is mini- mal. Further, when it came to passing a tax in- crease of about 15 per cent for this year, many members of this Board had no problem voting in favour of it, despite the total effect on the Manitouwadge tax- payer and the fact, as was shown by the Direc- tor at that budget meet- ing, that the budget could have easily been cut to an 11.5 per cent increase. This latter figure would have meant an effective 6.6 per cent increase with the balan- ce representing the pay- ing of the cost of the Board's share of the Manitouwadge Ele- mentary School Repairs. Can such decisions and actions be consider- ed to be those of a Board which is truly concerned Brg the overall effect procedures n| the citizens of tang munities it represents? The public should make serious moves to call upon its representatives on the Board and the Town Council to truly represent their interests THE CANADA EMPLOYMENT CENTRE FOR STUDENTS IS NOW OPEN To help students find work and to service employers seeking help throughout the summer. For more information, please contact: Veronica Leybourne at 825-3740 or drop into the Multi-purpose room in the Recreation Centre MON. to FRI. - 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. concerning unreason- able or unnecessary taxation! Economics vs. People As was the case in the Schreiber and Manitou- wadge situations which led to many of the cur- rent people running for, and being elected to the Board, many members are once again moving to base decisions merely upon economics and ex- pediency. Little or no consideration is given to the social effects of de- cisions upon groups or individuals in the towns. The latest example of this has been in the awarding of the bussing contract for the whole Board to a single sup- plier from Geraldton. Although the contractor to whom. the contract was awarded is pro- bably a very fine indivi- dual who is probably competent in his work, the contract was given despite the years of Service to this Board of many other individuals. For instance, the cur- rent Manitouwadge contractor, Mr. George Gray has given several years of service to this Board without one com- plaint having been lod- ged against him. Fur- ther, Mr. Gray set up this service at the re- quest of this Board and made bussing his sole business so that he could properly service this Board. : The Lake Superior Board of Education, in- -- some members from his home town, had no with- sum- suis. deatening Nae Gray. The words this Trustee heard were such as, "We must sacrifice him to get a single co- ntractor," or "His buses are too old," etc. These reasons were given despite the fact that this Trustee was told by the Chairman of the Transportation Committee, before the tender was put out, that only bidding on a por- tion of the routes would not result in any pena- Ity. Further, when mem- bers commented on the age of Mr. Gray's bus, the Chairman of the Transportation Com- mittee did not see fit to reveal that Mr. Gray had offered to supply a new- er bus if such were to be a determining factor (al- though such informa- tion is now being re- leased as though the trustees had been told about it). Of course,' the trustees were not told of Mr. Gray's comments that this Board had ask- ed him to set up his ser- vice in the first place. Thanks to the efforts of the Manitouwadge Chamber of Commerce and the intervention of Mr. Jack Stokes and other political figures along with the gracious- ness and astuteness of the Geraldton contractor Mr. Trottier, it would appear that Mr. Gray will keep his business through subcontract from Mr. Trottier. However, the peo- ple of Manitouwadge should be very concern- ed that it was even pos- sible for a small local businessman to be cru- cified for no valid rea- son by this Board. Fur- ther, the people should - be very concerned about the ulterior motives of some members of the Board in matters such as these. Excessive money was authorized in this matter despite a time of tight money when the Board was bold enough to raise taxes for education by a whopping 15 per cent. Again, can the taxpay- ers sit quietly by, while such decisions are being made? It's your money. Do you just want to fritter it away? Father Winslow went on to say that he was very concerned as to who his replacement on the Board would be. "There will be some here who say my re- placement is none of my business. However, as long as I am in office, I will continue to be con- cerned that the Mani- touwadge taxpayer is properly served. Fur- ther, I know that there is quote a move among those who don't believe that a trustee should be primarily concerned with the taxpayer's needs, to ensure that the runner-up to our num- ber three public school trustee be appointed to replace me on this Board."' "Mr. Alex Eymann was less than 1/10th of one percent behind Mrs. Cole at the polls. Fur- ther, he represents a similar line of thought to that of the outgoing trustee who was elect- ed by the taxpayers of Manitouwadge. Also, this individual who took the time and had the concern to run for the office in the last elec- tion and was defeated by the narrowest of mar- gins is still available." "In the view of this Trustee, this Board would be literally "spi- ting in the eyes of the the Manitouwadge tax- payer" if it attempts to select any other person to sit in this Trustee's place. It is up to the citizens to insure that they are properly repre- sented on the Lake Superior Board of Edu- cation."' In ending, Father Winslow stated that he ran on a platform of continued on page 13 Canadii iv Employment and Immigration Canada Céline Hervieux-Payette Minister of State (Youth) Emploi et Immigration Canada Céline Hervieux-Payette Ministre d'Etat a la Jeunesse - Cnadian citizens The North of Superior District Roman Catholic Separate School Board Due to a resignation, the North of Superior District R.C.S.S. Board will be appointing a trustee to represent the community of Schreiber. Interested persons who are: - separate school electors - eighteen years of age or over - resident within the jurisdiction of the Board are invited to contact: David C. Fulton Business Administrator North of Superior District R.C.S.S. Board P.O. Box 610 Terrace Bay, Ont. POT 2W0 Telephone: 825-3246 J. Bunkis P. M. Gillen Chairman Director of Education