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

IEEEiEEE Convention plan is a betrayal of public trust With surprise I have read the article "Spouses may go to conventions on taxpayers" that appeared on the front page of your paper in the 19, February 1986 Issue. Aids. Andrew Telegdi, Brian Turnbull and Lynne Woolstencroft have my full backing in refusing to agree to that proposal brought forward by personnel director Terry Hallman and chief admin- istrator Don Roughley of the City Council, of the City of Waterloo, to foot the bill of husbands and wives of elected officials and city staff, attending conventions, confer- ences, seminars, etc., etc. It is hardly believable that suggestions like this one (a few others possibly existing on the federal and - maybe - on the provincial level) originate with people who have been elected into their office by the public, i.e. taxpayers, to carry out the municipal business entrusted to them. And as such they are expected - one is inclined to believe so - to do this job thoroughly, efficiently and in a trustworthy manner. To me the indication is that people responsible for a suggestion like this seem to have abused the public trust empowered to them. It may well be concluded that it could have happened in a moment of impaired power of judgement when one did not realize that taxpayers' money will directly be involved or one may have arrived at a "couldn't care less" attitude when a point is reached meaning it was straight taxpayers' money and the amount would only be as 'low' as $i,0o0.00 per annum. . Regardless of how low the amount is does not actually make any difference, it is the principle that counts. Taxpayers' money ought not to be used for any purposes. such as the one outlined above and I am positive that quite a few fellow citizens will agree with me. in other words: If we let things like that ride at the present time one can almost be sure that there will be more and. therefore, it wouldn't be surprising when taxes rise by $250.00 in the next two years for instance instead of as they have done in the past three years. Speaking of amounts of as "low" as $1,000.00 per annum each one would apply to an undetermined quantity of people. Le. if 100 persons would attend a gathering as mentioned in the beginning the necessary "low" payment will total an amount of There are only a few months left until disguising winter coats will be shed for spring and summer fashions. If anyone is serious about firming their fanny, the next 10 to 12 weeks will he crucial. Aerobic activity, particularily jog- ging and skipping, would get the rear end in shape quickly. Many people however are just too heavy to do these heavy duty aerobic activities. If this is your particular problem you should begin to shed the fat in a subtle yet effective manner that is not too strenu- You think I exaggerate. Not so. All you have to do is walk around a school, a mall, or downtown and you'd be amazed at the number of rear ends that should carry "caution-wide load" signs warning pedestrians of the danger they may have in passing. Better yet, go on a spring holiday and see some of these rear-ends in full glory. One such exercise which will do this is one performed while lying on your stomach on the floor. Cushion under your hips with a rug or a towel. Relax I want to write today about the luscious behinds so many women are sporting. Not that having a nicely shaped derriere should not be sensual, because on man or woman it definitely ranks as something to Be noticed. It will not be luscious, however, when it begins to sag further behind, joining the back of the knee. Fitness Forum Kathy Hammond Fitness instructor When you have the style mastered you can increase the repetitions and speed. Beginning with one leg, point the toe and raise the leg straight up behind until you feel your buttock tighten. (Some may have to reach for the ceiling.) The trick here is not to just form your toes into a pointed position, but stretch the entire leg from buttocks to toe. Keep the knee straight when raising the leg. Don't go like a madhat- ter. SLOW, TIGHT movements will work the muscles more effectively ini- tially. Switch to the other leg. Do both legs 25 times each, then change your foot position to flexed (toes down to the floor with the heel stretched to the wall behind you). If you don't have vast amounts of excess fat all over yet have a droopy behind, you need to do some aerobic activity. The movement will shake the fat, breaking it up, enabling you to tighten the muscles. The faster you move it, the faster youll lose it. your upper body Another easy exercise can be done thousands of times throughout the day, while brushing your teeth, driving your car, or just sitting. Simply squeeze your buttocks together as hard and as tight as you can for a hold of 10 seconds or longer. My above arguments have nothing to do with a rebellious behaviour or a hostile attitude towards spouses or elected or not elected omeials but they are meant to After all let's not forget that as well as the city the provincial or federal govern- ments are sustained by the public. Le. their voters, and as such are obliged to give the service and not cut it down gradually while at the same time raise taxes. which amounts to: More money, less service. This generous offer of footing the bills of husbands and wives of elected officials attending various meetings as outlined in the beginning may also indicate that the city is able to dispose of a surplus of taxpayers' money - it is presumed that the footing of bills was not meant to have an influence at any time on future tax assessments - at which point it is suggest- ed that the general public rather than a few individuals should benefit from it. In this connection wouldn't it be nice and a pleasant surprise to everyone concerned if city council decided - without an extra charge whatsoever, of course - to use that surplus money to remove from the drive- way-exits onto the street the snow walls that had been piled-up by the passing snow-ploughs and their occasionally smill- ing operators? I can already hear the "Hurrahs" by the house-owners finding themselves relieved of the vicious cycle, i.e. to clear the drivway-exits, have them plugged up again by the snow-plough and then have to start cleaning the exits again. Doesn't make sense, does it? And, besides, what a waste of time! Well, I have been told that the automatic cleaning of drive- way-exits by the city from snow, after the snow-plough, has been the general prac- tice a few years ago and, nowadays, reinstating this wouldn't that be a gener- ous gesture? As a matter of fact, I personally have seen this happen only once during the past two years. And _ think of the elderly and handicapped! $100,000.00 per annum, a surely not very “low" sum. And this raises the question whether or not the people behind such a suggestion which they seem to be deter- mined to carry through would be willing to pay for such a “low" amount out of their own pockets? If not there exists another alternative by possibly starting out in their own business where they can take their pouses mg anywhere for any length of .ime? i. this case they most likely will think twice before doing so, for there won't be anybody to re-imburse them for their additional expenses. Reader agrees, convention proposal is a bad idea I agree with the statements made by Alderman Telegdi and Woolstencroft. at the Council meeting. in their opposition to taxpayers paying part of convention or penses of spouses. Chief Administrative Office Don Rough- ley estimates cost to begin this program at about $1,000 annually, which he figures is a "very minor cost." Is it not conceivable that the amount will be substantially greater the A indicated? My research shows that c. Association of Municipalities of Ontario conferences. which are held three times a year, costs range from $35 to $40 per year session for each spouse. This could cost upwards of $840 if all were to at- tend. This is an example of only one such convention. In a time of financial restraint could this money not be more viable in the community where more citizens would benefit instead of a few elite at city hall? I ask you members of council, upon review- ing this proposal, to think deeply; should you burden the taxpayers with this or should you, as you have in the past, bear this "minor expense" yourselves? 1 ask you as a citizen and a taxpayer to object and reject this proposal. Last week at Waterloo council a "good- will gesture" for the staff employees was proposed concerning the partial reim- bursement of expenses incurred by their spouses who attended programs designed for them at conventions, seminars and conferences. This was to develop better management awareness to have spouses involved. This proposal was not bad management but an unsound judgement of principle. This practice is not done in the private sector and only a very small minority of municipalities have implemented this type of plan. point out the facts and future surprises - A thousand dollars ($1,000) may be pleasant or unpleasant - if you will. considered "a very minor cost" in com- Walter Knbasta parison to the budget of the City, but I Waterloo wonder if the local soup kitchen, or some other local charity would consider it a - - -__ _ minor amount. Proposal reflects unsound judgement A couple of years ago, in a burst of patriotism, my wife and l bought a Canadian built car that seemed to have everything we'd always been looking for. It handled more like a car than a Chris Craft and with a five-speed manual shift it was, and continues to be, very easy on gasoline. When I finally got the car into the dealer, however, I was told it was the imported, all-weather radials that came with the car as a factory option. The head mechanic admitted that they'd had the same problem with similar fires on other models, and that In the two years we've had the car, we have not had any major mechanical problems, and if it weren't for the fact that winter is an inescapable feature of life in this country, we'd probably be quite happy with it. But winter does come, at least once a year, and the car is absolutely treacherous on icy sur- faces. The first month we had it, in January two years ago, we found ourselves westbound on the 401, travelling be- tween Montreal and Toronto. There was a lot of ice on the road and the car was so unstable, even at 60 kilometres an hour, that we were scared into spending the night at Ganonoque. The sensation had been so sickening that l thought there was a major suspension prob- lem. wusmoo CHRONICLE. new". FEBRUARY 26. 1986 - PAGE o Steven A. Weber 36 Bldgegate Dr., Guest column Peter Trueman Waterloo, Ont. Am I being unreasonable? I bought the car because it was made in Canada. I wanted to do my small bit for the Canadian economy and Canadian auto workers. The fact that the car is treacherous on ice and that you can't see out of it in cold weather is the fault of a company which designs cars for Florida and builds and sells them in Canada, with only minor modifications for our winters. Driving a car like that is an awful price to pay for patriotism, and l, for one, am through paying it. I was furious about the fact that I'd been sold a set of these tires for driving in a Canadian winter long after the car maker knew they spelled trouble. but I let it go. When it's icy, and we have highway driving to do, we leave the car at home and take my old pickup truck instead. it had developed in a previous model year. But the car has another defect which makes it useless in cold Weather even around town. The slide windows, front and rear, fog up and frost over as soon as the temperature gets much lower than zero degrees Celsius. If you turn the heater all the way up, put the fan on high, and adjust the control panel vents to deflect air directly at the side windows, it helps, but to stand the oven-like atmosphere you‘d pretty well have to get into a bathing suit. Re: Granny flats. I don't blame the people in Colonial Acres for banding together against granny flats. These people on their half-acre lots are probably paying very high taxes. Why should they have these lovely homes, this beautiful area, spoiled by these little biscuit-box appendages? And who said they are cheap! They are not cheap! Think about it, $40,000 or so for a little 24 X 26 ft. size area. Plus the government, (provincial I think), to pick up the tab for the utilities. When the government comes into the act, you can be sure it will cost all of us. Also, when this type of housing first came to the news, they were called "granny" and "grandpa" flats. What happened to the word grandpa? Why was the word grandpa dropped? It's this constant put down of women that galls This entrepreneur who has come up with this horrible idea to put people into these little boxes, where they will be isolated from people their own age, treated as baby sitters, and probably otherwise ignored, does not understand older people. I hope the people of Colonial Acres fight hard against this bold intrusion, especially the women. Women have won a few points lately in their fight for equality. equal opportunities, equal wages. this type of housing will set women back to square one in their striving. Support for fight against Granny Flats We don't waht to be appendages of our sons or daughters. We want to be our own persons. - 7 _ P.S. Your editorial "Bad Idea" said it all, better than I could. In this area especially, where the Mennonite influence is strong. their tradi- tion for care of family is strong, why can't an elderly relative live right in the house? Why put them into a little box? Genevieve Psnth 357 Silverhlrcll Rd. EU. Pallot 171 Bristol St. Waterloo, om. Waterloo