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

WATERLOO CHRONICLE Publisher: Cal Bosveld 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wchronicle@sentex.net Carolyn Anstey Amy Hachborn Circulation Manager . Circulation 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterioo, Ontario N2J IP2 The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, a division of Southern Ontario Community Newspapers Inc., a division of Southam Publications, a CanWest Company The views of our columists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. International Standard Serial Number The Waterioo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor They should be signed with name, address and phone num ber and will be verified for accuâ€" racy. No unsigned letters will be published: Submissions may be edited for length. so please be brief. Copyright in letters and other 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 or ather forms Our mailing address is 75 King St. S . Suite 201, Waterloo N2] 192. our eâ€"mail address is wehronicle@sentex net. and onut lax number is BRA 9383 Letters Policy Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 136379 Cal Bosveld Deborah Crandall Andrea Bailey Bob Vibanac Reporter Sports Editor Jim Alexander Gerry Mattice Director of Retail Sales Advertising Manager Audited circulation: 26,056 Norma Cyca Bill Karges Advertising Advertising Lynn Bartol > sm ® ISSN 0832â€"3410 Laune Ridgway t has been interesting to follow the news concerning IKilchener city council‘s decision to increase their remuâ€" neration by 60 per cent. As a former Waterloo city counâ€" cillor 1 have been involved in the debate over councillor remuneration and 1 know the job. What concerns me the most is the disturbing trend that is occurring in Waterloo Region with respect to how we govern ourselves. Waterloo city council considered a motion before last fall‘s election concerning the issue. We considered a very similar salary increase for councillors (58 per cent)}. To counâ€" cil‘s credit they reduced the raise to 42 per cent. I argued against voting for such a motion because I believe the role of a city councillor is one of stewardship. Private citizens put their names forward on the ballot to help their community, not line their pockets. In June of 1999 I put forward a threeâ€" part motion that would: * Maintain the role of a city councillor as part time and that their salary be nominal in nature (this was passed). * Cut council‘s size from nine to five (this was defeated). * Establish a twoâ€"term limit for councillors in order to reinforce the principle of community stewardship versus career politicians serving at the City . m level (this was defeated). Unfortunately, my fellow counâ€" cillors ignored the first part of my motion that passed when the counâ€" cillor compensation issue came to Waterloo last fall and voted for a 42 per cent increase. This was not a ‘nominal‘ increase by any stretch of the imagination. The Kitchener politicians in parâ€" $ + e ticular, however, have lined themâ€" * selves up at the trough quite nicely. f We are leading ourselves down a & C dangerous political path that will BRUCE allow professional politicians to entrench themselves in positions of ALEXANDER power. They will argue that this has a limited impact on the actual budget and that their jobs have become more difficult since their numbers have been reduced on their current council (a fact which they knew before putting their name on the ballot). My issue is, they knew what they were doing running as candidates. Why change your job compensation after the fact. At least 1 give Waterloo council credit for having the courage to debate the compensation issue before the elecâ€" tion so that other potential candidates could consider runâ€" ning and the voters could pass judgment if they so wished. The same can not be said for Kitchener. But don‘t hold your noses in disgust of the stench my fellow voters. Act two could be coming soon at the region. Just wait until the new council at the region considers the compensation issue. But, what is most disturbing about this entire situation is that Kitchener city hall has been demonstrating a lust for power that has undermined attempts by other lowerâ€"tier councillors at true municipal government reform. The province has been restructuring municipal governâ€" ments for the last few years and in nine cases out of 10 restructuring has meant amalgamation (take Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa as classic examples). Tony Clement, the provincial minister in charge of municipalities, gave Waterloo Region an opportunity to come up with a local solution before appointing a provincial ‘advisor‘. Following this direction a majority of lowerâ€"tier municipal councillors and mayors came to a consensus on restructuring that would have given control of water to the region and other services would have been rationalized to save money. It was a madeâ€"inâ€"Waterloo Region solution and it fol lowed the direction in which the province wanted us to fol low. But most importantly, the solution would have pre served the twoâ€"tier structure in Waterloo Region. Interestingly enough, all of the councillors from Kitchener voted against the solution. Why? It‘s all about power. I believe that Kitchener councillors feared losing power over water and eventually planning, and the regional government would emerge as the major political force. But what they really did was undermine an honest attempt to reform local government before the province determined our course by appointing an advisor. The new emperors at Kitchener city hall may really enjoy their new clothes but what they have in fact done is set the plate for an amalgamated dinner table for one. One region. Bruce Alexander is a teacher in Waterloo and served two terms on Waterloo City Council from 1994â€"2000. The emperors‘ new clothes VIEWPOINT he stores are all gussied up for I Valentine‘s Day, and all you husâ€" bands should remember to get a little gift. If you don‘t, the day after Valentine‘s Day may be Moving Day. Council‘s pay hike hefty for unskilled labor Plant Life: The folks who operate nurseries think they‘re going to take a real kick in the plants when the new fourâ€"lane Kitchenerâ€"Guelph highway goes into service. Or as one nurseryâ€"operator puts it, "it‘s like they are building a cage around the nurseries and allowing us a lane to our back door." Strikes me there are a couple of reaâ€" sons for them to be more optimistic. One, there‘ll be +/~ further changes before it‘s [ ONC implemented, and (2) most (MMM@E@ customers will find their | favorite nursery come what P °s w‘ " mss As one who annually spends a king‘s ransom on impatiens and geraniums, I‘ll make the tour of the nurseries, same as always. As a matter of fact, even I now it isn‘t a picnic getting on and off the present highâ€" way. Make a misjudgment and you‘re apt to wind up holding a lily in your hand with a spray of roses at your head But to keep it terse and put it in verse, we‘ll quote that famed poet Anonymous and his thoughts on what the nursery operators are complainmg about: Divided highways and limited exits Your mind can really blow What they keep you divided from is where you want go. Drone Speech: The House of Commons is again hoâ€"humming along, but judging by the Throne Speech not too much will be done. The Liberals are mighty chipper, as behooves a party which whupped its rivals. Come to think of it, the election was like the University of Oklahoma Sooners playing the Supremes. With Diana Ross out with a sore elbow. Class Warfare: It seems there‘ll be more school closings. Six regional high schools are under review and two are due to be shut. And that will bring a huge heyâ€"rube before it‘s all settled. Landslide Doug Craig of Cambridge doesn‘t think any of the schools should close, and that attitude invites deep thought. Presumably in years to come SANDY we could be up to our armpits in high schools. Seriously, Cambridge would lose at least one high school, and one of the nominees is historic Galt collegiate, the oldest school in Waterloo Region. The other under review _ in Cambridge is Glenview Park. Craig says his city is well served by the three schools it has now, and he believes Queen‘s Park is to blame for the microâ€" managing the schools. Still, if we didn‘t have micromanagâ€" ing could have a grossly inefficient use of schools with boards heeding every protest and keeping all fi schools open. DY Hire and Higher: That‘s a fat raise Kitchener counâ€" D cil has voted itself, and the councillors claim that the smaller council means more work. Eventually, if not now, the regional councillors will be making the big deciâ€" sions while the municipal councillors look after such things as park fees and parking tickets. 1‘d argue the smaller Kitchener counâ€" cil will do less, not more. As I‘ve noted before, the councillors waste a lot of time attending every bean fest or store opening they can wangle an invitation to. Say, at that though, I think it unfair to total up all the pay Mayor Carl Zehr receives for the odds and ends of duties. I think he‘s worth every dime of the total he receives. Still, it‘s a bad system to have a politâ€" ical body setting the amount its memâ€" bers will receive. That‘s what Kitchener council did because it took the figure recommended to them then added some extra moolah to take care of the paper and string. A 34â€"perâ€"cent pay raise really is a sensational increase. Particularly for unskilled labor. It must be nice to vete your own pay raise, it sure beats earning one Like thousands of others in Kâ€"W, I‘m a product of Kitchener collegiate, or KCI as it‘s better known. Yup, maybe _ my dad . was exempting my brother and me when he maintained that â€" KCI _ stood _ for Kitchener‘s Collection of Idiots. He may have been exempting us, but I doubt it. tÂ¥