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fiz:uh- h-t;-di controversy at during past six months. a direct spinoff â€" council K rarely a middle ground. ‘Ihwmthmmrmdfiuh in alphabetical order to ensure fairness. Today, Andrew Telegdi is featured, and the next councilior to appear on these pages will be Brian Turnbull. A youth worker with Youth in Conflict with the Law, Telegdi has been vocal in his opposition to what he sees as the "clubâ€"like" atmosphere of city hall and huhkmnwpmfileinnmmputo open up city s In response to some of your statements at council, it has been said by other councillors that we live in a representaâ€" tive democracy, and you are elected to represent voters, not to take all decisions to the people. What is your response to of making decisions â€" there‘s no doubt about it. I think there‘s a misconception on council that we all have to be one team from the bottom to the top. I think the whole idea of debate and public discussion in the chamber is very important, because you are accomplishâ€" ing two things â€" you‘re informing the public about the factors you are taking into account. You are also allowing for public feedback before the final decision is made. Most decisions are made the same evening. I guess in some ways that‘s the tragic part. If you look at Waterioo as a community in Canada, you‘ve probably got the highest per capita brain power of virtually any community, yet the inâ€" volvement of the community and their expertise in the formal decisionâ€"making process of council is very limited. I think that‘s a grave mistake. In terms of making decisions, I think that to the extent that you can bring more views forward to the discussion, the better the final decision is going to be. There has been an inclination not to debate because it‘s almost equated with being disloyal to the city. I say that‘s I think the best decisions are made when you can have open, frank discusâ€" sions and do it in public, because the public‘s got a great role to play. Of all the governments, city council is the one most accessible to the public. Certainly we could be a lot better city council by utilizing that more and more. To give you a good example, when the Futures Committee report came in there were 50 involved people from the comâ€" munity who came into council with very forwardâ€"looking document. K it had any negatives to it, it was the fact that when we set up the committee, I suggested we have someone from Labor Council to represent that part of the community. And certainly labor has always taken a role in speaking out for the less affluent members in our affluent tivuinfi'omthatpm‘x&lbfiamthq have a viewpoint that be considâ€" ered when we plan the future of our community. I think the Futures report is a great step forward. But, if it has any negatives to it, it is things lg;'h‘" is the working poor going to find accomodations in Waterloo? Are they going to fit in to the life of the city? Z.Mnndmhnnidmmd boat for the sake of rocking the boat. How do you respond? Well, I’mnotpinz:nqmdtom questions of motives other members So that was one, and the other thing I I think that‘s a loss that didn‘t have to You‘ve been called a headline hunter n PnA SAAA AANAINTSILIILSISTNSTIIIIT My perception of council is that everyâ€" body‘s are honorable, and getting into motives does nobody any good. I think what one should do is deal with the issues before you, and debate the merits of the issues instead of getting that. the tax increase was zero. I think when you get into that, it is We really have fallen behind. very debilitating and destructive. That‘s one of the biggest dilemmas I have whenever I think of something What do you see as your role on that‘s going to cost some money. You council? know, how does this affect...Most people are able to bear it because it is not a great Sometimes that treads on some toes, and that‘s too bad. It‘s too bad that we cannot have debate without getting into personalities, because I think that takes away from the whole process. I did not get elected to council to become a member of a club. I wanted to get on council because I think some things should be done. I think council has been not as open as iteouldhnvebecn,andcu-tainly?;the kind of community we‘ve got it‘s been very very closed. But beyond that, I think we have some probiems that‘s come from the tremendâ€" ous growth the city‘s been undergoing. into why is somebody doing this or doing I think if you look back to a benchmark, say 1957. That was when the university started up, and the population back then, 30 yean-n’o, was 17,000. Now, we‘re a community of 70,000. Certainly that kind of growth is going to create all kinds of problems, we‘re finding, in terms of the capital forecast. Quite a huge tax increase we‘re going to have to go with. lt.hinkit'flm‘ntndoflnddnu. and do it in . Because one of the Cambridge‘s. But I think it is important forthomnwtth-.vhohmto be on a income, who receives old age -fi-n-t,flntvimliawdntbin a tax credit in terms of cushioning the increase in taxes. did not get elected to council to become a member of a club, but because he thought things needed doing. Andrew Telegdi is a very vocal firstâ€"term council member who says he I see my role as to respond to issues as I Telegdi seeks improved, open decisionâ€"making Council Profil Municipal tax in Waterloo is reasonabâ€" ly small and people will pay for services they think we should have. Certainly in the recreational area. .\ In many ways it‘s very beneficial for them to have those services, because if you look at a racquet club, it costs you about $250 to be a member, and then you have to pay $14 an hour to use the facility. A lot of mle cannot afford that, but they can afford to pay something in taxes so they can use a city facility. That‘s one dilemma I always have with it. I think municipal taxation is a rn%re-ive form of taxation. ou might have somebody who‘s reâ€" In some ways it‘s too bad because we should have done better planning over the long term so you don‘t come to a situation where you have to come to a 30 per cent increase in taxes. But now we‘re paying a price for all those years when inflation was in the double figures and tired and living in a house now that they could no longer afford to buy. But then they have to pay the taxes on that house. So I have a problem with the tax system, but be that as it may, I think you try to plan in such fashion that you don‘t send people a shocker. I think the chickens are coming home to roost because we have neglected capital expenditures for a long, long They mx‘uy I‘m hunting for headâ€" lines, but reality is I‘ve only been on council for two years and virtually every report that comes forward says that we as a city are deficient. You know, the library report was a :Ln uph,m dcvu:utiu lvn-t. was a report. You have the fire task force report mtfwhv;t&muhunr? coming out soon, and that‘s going to be a WATERLOO CHRAONICLE, TUVESDAY DECEMBER 22, 10987 â€" PAGQE 56 lan Kirkby photo l“\chfid‘h“ hn.i:! ndu-hhna years of the fire department‘s report. In the time period when we grew by 50 per cent in population, we have not increased our fire fighter strength by one man. It totally blows mind. Y plnhl:thu-thh.,ny'udn't:n?: consultant coming in and telling you %Ymmt un.oJ corresponding & pfh _’°“_ like fire mmmm:hmmmmw' imesy ond ot ns ie ied ho mbodiynw 3 .wo ve of what the community was feeling. When I ran, I ran for council three times before I got elected. And quite frankly, the only reason I got elected was because there were some people who dropped off council. If they had chosen to run again, I can tell you the three people who wouldn‘t be on council right now. What‘s your stand on wards? There is a perception that council is divided into the "old guard" and the I think what it is is that you‘ve had a large majority of council who have been on for quite a number of years. They are used to doing city business in a certain fashion. Waterloo over the last decade or 12 years has been probably one of the most apolitical communities you can think of. The reasons for it are a couple. We have had acclamations for mayor down the line. We had our councilliors run at large. It is very difficult for new people to get on council under the present system, and by not having a race for the mayoralty, you do not have the corresponding debate that goes on at election time. I think council did not have a good read We both like open gt t, we tend to think we should E more progressive than we are. Now, she‘s a Conservative and I‘m a Liberal. And the same with Brian Turnbull. We can disagree on a lot of issues, and we can agree on a lot of issues. We deal with that on an issue basis. I have no interest in the position of being mayor, no. I think it‘s not so much old guard and politics. I belong to one of the three mainline parties, and I‘m active in that, and it‘s no secret that it‘s the Liberal Party. But I certainly have no problem in bo%tothoCmntinPutyafor the NDP. It‘s not there on council; you will never see those connections. I work with Lynne Woolstencroft â€" she and I think in some wgfilnthomw.y. e both like open government, we tend When I ran myself, I thought members of council would be more accountable if they weren‘t insulated from the real electorate. Certainly, now that I am a member of council, I can see the benefits of an atâ€" large system, personally. But I think in terms of representative government and trying to be more reâ€" sponsive to the electorate, I think the ward system is probably the way of the future. I‘ve heard rumors that you intend to run for Mayor in the next election. (Laughing) I‘m sure you hear all sorts of rumors. No, I‘ve said publicly I think we should have an election for the mayoralty and I think it is very important from a debate viewpoint. It‘s not something I‘d ever aspire to, nor would I want to do it, but it‘s something I think there should be a contest around, because I think there should be that kind of an election to be able to debate issues that should be Are you saying you have absolutely no interest in the position? "newcomers". What is your view? What political party are you affiliated with? let me first state that to me filiations are irrelevant to mu!