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WATERLOO CHRONICLE 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 (A division of Southam Inc.) Publisher: Cal Bosveld 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wchronicle@sentex.net [ymn Bartol Laune Ridgw Regional Classified Classified Manager Sales The views of our columists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, a division of Southam Inc. Mailed subscription rate: $65 yearly in Canada, $90 yearly outside Canada. +GST International Standard Senial Number Caralyn Anstey Amy Hachborn The Waterloo Chromcle welcomes letters to the Edstor They should be signed with name. address and phone num ber and will be verified for accu tacy. No unsigned letters will be published Submissions may be edited for length. so please be brief Copyright in letters and ather materials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic of other forms Our mailing address is 75 King St S.. Suite 201. Waterloo N2L 1P2. our eâ€"mail address is wchronicle@sentex net. and our fax number is AB6â€"9383 Letters Policy Andrea Bailey Bob Vibanac Reporter Sports Editor lim Alexander Gerry Matuice Director of Sales Supervisor Advertising Cal Bosveld Deborah Crandall Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 136379 Norma Cyca Bill Karges Advertising Advertising Audited circulation: 26,056 ISSN 0832â€"3410 Laune Padgway ou can smell it in the air... election fever is -! upon us. And as I‘ve been forced to learn the hard way, the competition doesn‘t get more intense than at the local level. The municipal vote to elect the next Waterloo city and Waterloo regional councils will be held Nov. 13; yet a number of candidates are pulling out all the stops to ensure an early win for themselves. They will even go as far as to jump in front of one another to bribe, I mean provide, a hungry young reporter with two Oktoberfest sausages. By the way, thanks Lynne and Mike, the sausages were quite tasty. It‘s no secret, political races have as much to do with egos as with what each candidate feels will benefit the city. Let‘s face it, it‘s one big popularity contest. And if a candidate is fortunate enough to be elected mayor, councilior, regional councilior, Don‘t get me wrong, the hours of work they put into their campaigns to earn these positions are long and strenuous. And in the end, most times anyway, a win is wellâ€" deserved prom queen, whatever, he top of the social mountain. Don‘t get me wrong, the into their campaigns to e But, from my own experience, the road cerâ€" tain candidates take to get to victory is less than desirable, or hanourable. The upcoming election is only my second to cover as a reporter. My first came three years ago when 1 was a college intern at another newspaâ€" per. The strongest impresâ€" sion I took was that when it comes to politics, it‘s a dogâ€"eatâ€"eat, or reporter, kind of world. But what astounds me more than anything is when these candidates expect, or in some cases demand, people like myself, a reporter not a public relations representative, to help them with their cause Those who‘ve respected each other for years can wage war at a‘moment‘s notice. Barbs are thrown, battle lines are drawn, it can get quite nasty. Granted. 1 work for a newspaper. And the fact the political candidates are running for prominent positions in the city I write about does make their platforms newsworthy... to a certain extent. Every time they shake a hand, hold a barbecue or kiss a baby, they want me there to report on it. Election fever In a way, I guess it‘s an ego boost for the press who are seen as God â€"like figures with the power to influence the vote of an entire city. But to me, it‘s more of a hassle; if you don‘t write something the way the candidates want, you get blamed for their losses at the polis. After complaining to my editor, Deb, about the subject a couple weeks ago, she went on to tell me a story which left my jaw on the floor. A former mayoral candidate actually blamed campaign failure and election loss on the Waterloo Chronicle "You didn‘t give me enough coverage," oh boo hoo. Give me a break. If you have to rely on the newspaper for the suc cess of your platform., you have a real problem. The last number of months, if not years, should have been spent building the ideal reputation now being sought through the press. _ Don‘t misunderstand me though, I‘m not paintâ€" ing everyone with the same brush. And who could blame them for wanting to show up their oppoâ€" nents as much as they can. But please don‘t step on others, like me, in the process if everything doesn‘t go your way. __ We at the Chronicle have an entire city to cover, and politics is just a small part of it. There are many people in Waterloo doing a lot of good for their community who are not seeking the spotlight. They deserve just as much attention as those whose names are now posted on lawns cityâ€" wide s one big popularity contest. lidate is fortunate enough to be councilior, regional councilior, atever. he or she has reached the VIEWPOINT The jolly elf is already back Wow! It always seems they start retailing Christmas earlier and earlier, but this year is a dandy. Never have the stores been showing so much Yuletide stuff so earty. Still, Christmas is a very fair season. There are kids who no longer believe in Santa Claus â€" and there are Santa Clauses who no longer believe in Higher and higher: Almost all elected bodies have been voting themseives big, fat pay increasâ€" es. It must be nice to have a job where you don‘t have to believe in Santa Claus. Voting on your own pay increase is a pretty nice way to ask the boss for a raise isn‘t it? â€" And after all, why should they let the people vote on their salaries? What do the voters know about money? Half of them can‘t make ends If I had one of those council jobs. I‘d never spend any money. 1‘d be too busy voting â€"and counting. â€" e â€" And I love councillor attitudes when they vote themselves pay raises. They say, "Well that takes care of our problems. Now what can we do for the rest of you folks?" One More Year:. It may seem a . j we distant worry, but each year [ count . {f [€ )\( [ Oktoberfest a success if no one is . |f LIG killed or seriously hurt during the id event. 1 _ A uk Remember some years there‘ve been traffic deaths, and it always seemed fronic that people out for a good time met sudden death. It‘s the next obvious step for one Oktoberfest loser. . He says that drinking relieves his stress. So far it‘s relieved him of his wife, his house and three cars. They‘re Almost Off It‘s a pity ol Jean Chretien hasn‘t dropped the BA writ for an election. . Particularty when Alliance chief Stock Day is making more TV appearances than Regis Philbin. Gosh, the Alliance must have the boodle bags full the way it‘s spreading the dough around for TV commercials. If that‘s nonâ€"election propaâ€" ganda, what‘ll they spend when the campaign _ it‘s a pity the Alliance has deferred on its 17â€" perâ€"cent flat tax. 1‘d like to have that examined by the Canadian electorate as the key issue on the It simply would leave the wealthy more fat. dumb and happy. If it would be so good for everyone, why did they file it for the next election? I think that even the federal government is starting to be embarrassed by the amount of taxes they‘re charging us. I even heas they‘re gong / f & â€"< 3y e‘ i M uqy cce e e citY cOUNC! ... . .. ooo to ask us to pay our taxes in small, unmarked bills. High Level: â€" Drivers running red lights will face the prospect of getting nailed by an eye in the sky. A camera on a pole will be rotated among four intersections. It‘s a two year test project so the throughâ€"onâ€" theâ€"red drivers will stand a good chance of getâ€" ting nabbed at some time or other. The news story reporting the move listed the penalties for offenders. Unfortunately it did not list the ways you can get, and keep your license plates dirty. Blooming Nice: An undercut (that‘s the type under a picture) in everyone‘s favorite weekly claimed that Waterioo lost the communitiesâ€"inâ€" bloom contest by one point and one bloom. If that isn‘t a spoof, a lot of people should hang their heads. We could have won with two or three ceramic tulips. On, On and On: Remember when they startâ€" ed collecting food for the poor? It was near the end of the Dave Peterson regime or the beginning of Bob Rae‘s. Times were tough then and it was generally Sss understood that as soon as nearâ€" , ‘â€"] prosperity returned the food gath uon ering would be over. As a maiter of TLY 1 ~ fact, Premier Rae even said they‘d * [| be gone by the end of his first term l Indeed, it was said that even D some working families feel the need for food from the community pot. Well, either the folks invotved need help on budâ€" geting priorities or else the minimum wage needs an examination. jobs are going begging and yet people are jobless and still going hungry. Obviously some folks are not fitted out with the jobs society wants. And sadly, some people have become instituâ€" tionalized to not working, It‘s the thing they feel most comfortable not doing. And, yes, I made my usual Thanksgiving donation. but some folks puzzled like me, apparâ€" ently didn‘t. Donations were down a bit. And don‘t bother to tell me about the chap who claims he‘s so broke an orphan in Rwanda is On the broader picture, however, something is screwy when the economy is perking along and He was to have no second term, but enter Mike Haris and subse quently robust times. but the food depots didn‘t disappear. Indeed, we were told that the need in some cases was more urgent. Month by month more people left the welfare roles, but month by month the demand for food