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The Waterloo Chronicle is published gdjmrial@walerloochmnicle,ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca composing@waterloochronicle.ca WATERLOO CHRONICLE every Wednesday by the Fairway Group, owned by CityMedia Group Inc., a subsidiary of Torstar Corp The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. Andrea Bailey Bob Vrbanac Reporter, Ext. 227 Sports Editor, Ext. 229 Rob Leuschner . Dwayne Weidendort Group Publisher Group Sales Director/ Associate Publisher The Waterioo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor They should be signed with name. address and phone number and will be verified for accuracy No unsigned letters will be Copyright in letters and other materials submitted to the Pubtisher and accepted for publcation remains with the author. but the publisher and its licensees may freety reproduce them in print. electronic or other forms Our mailing address is 75 King St § Suite 201 Waterioo N2L TP? 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Manager, Ext. 230 _ Sales, Ext. 223 International Standard Senal Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 v‘*‘S!fl | published Submissions may be edited for length. so please be brief Blair Matthews Gerry Mattice Deb Duffield Lynn Bartol Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 8B6â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 manager rep. 623. 6617 Letters Policy Ext. 221 40050478 Audited circulation 2 Jean Van Volkenburg Norma Cyca Janne Dean With the challenges facing city council in the years ahead, a high level of governance is required and one of the first duties of the mayor is to be a team builder, so that council will work as a group respecting each other‘s opinion. our months ago the Voter Support Committee Fwas formed by a number of concerned citiâ€" zens with the intent to encourage new candiâ€" dates to run for office in Waterloo, and to be a resource for the voters to understand the election process, and learn about the candidates and issues. This "grass roots" movement grew quickly with the participation of other community groups including representatives from the Waterloo Comâ€" munity Council, representing most of the Neighâ€" borhood Associations, the two community web sites {www.mywaterlooregion.com and www.waterlooians.ca), Exchange Magazine, which focussed its September and October issues on this election, and the Waterloo Public Library for its facilities. Communication shortcomings as identified by a cityâ€"commissioned report received and shelved a year ago by this outgoing Council must be reviewed and used as the tool to radically improve communications to and from the citizens it serves. Building a team atmosphere and open communiâ€" cations will allow the governance by council and the participation of the citizens make a new beginâ€" ning in responsible government in Waterloo. To ensure this high level of governance, the VSC committed itself to two mandates â€" to encourage a full slate of candidates on the ballots, and to make available for the voters as much information on the candidates and issues as _ mm Dossible: [ O mer The first mandate involves a great number of discussions with many citizens which have been held and are continuing, 5 to tell them about the need to serve the city. We are delighted to report that these efforts have T resulted in an unpreceâ€" 8 dented total of 19 candiâ€" dates for City Council as of writing on September 19, with several other canâ€" didates to announce in the next few days. This is I much more than double the total in the last election in 2003 The second mandate was to make readily availâ€" able sources of information and discussion for the public to learn about the candidates, their ideas on the future of the city and opportunities to question the candidates. We have arranged a series of nine Town Hall meetings scheduled to start on Oct. 7 with a cityâ€" wide mayoralty candidates meeting to be held at RIM Park. A second mayoralty wrapâ€"up meeting will be held Oct. 30 at the Waterioo Recreation Cenâ€" tre. Ward meetings will also be held and a detailed schedule of all meetings will be published in the Chronicle. Another major immediate source of election information and opinion can be found on www.mywaterlooregion.com This site will include information not available on the city web site. Candidates when registered are invited to subâ€" mit bios and a picture for display and forums are being developed for interaction between the public and the candidates. Finally let us all remember this â€" the citizens of Waterloo now have an impressive slate of candiâ€" dates for office, and the means to learn everything they want and need to know about our candidates through the Town Hall meetings and the web sites The stage is set, over to you fellow citizens. We encourage everyone to be informed by attending the meetings that interest them, and to regularty visit the two web sites. â€" The stage is set for the election BOB WAGNER VIEWPOINT E;ome pundits have proclaimed the doom of hopes for a peace between Israel and ine. But they shouldn‘t give up hope. Often the last key on the ring opens the door. Storm Watch: After waiting out a storm watch, we now know why the folks in the southern U.S. sometimes act as if they have a bad case of nerves. Keeping in mind that we didn‘t get the full blast of Isabel, all of us now should be able to imagine what a fullâ€"fledged hurricane repreâ€" Say, it‘s almost magical how they can predict a hurricane‘s course, almost down to the last broken window. It takes a bundle of research and the work of countless minds to set that ml-:‘gwdamearlierbmsh\»rithahum'mne. It in the North Atlantic and it was... to say the least... memorable. Heavy hunks of gear wafted aloft by the wind, waves soaring up, up, Not to mention the folks who chase hurriâ€" canes in airplanes just to get their | g number. All the experts combined save a heck of a lot of lives every O N( time a hurricane gets on the loose. 1(e You know, a lot of odd things can happen in a hurricane. Take, for example, the martied couple who were on the outs, but refused to split up. Well, the odds are we won‘t have to survive even a hurricane remnant for quite a while. They had gone a year without speaking to each other when, in the middle of a hurricane, they were blown through the roof of It saved their marriage. The _ _ wife explained, "It seemed silly for us to go out together and not be speaking." X Marks the Spot: The Ontario election is hoâ€"humming along with the Liberals in the lead. At that though, Dalton McGuinty stuck his foot in it with a mental blank on education It was such a minor miss that it shows how the election is going. The neverâ€"inâ€"error press corps makes a nearâ€"hanging offense every time a leader makes a minor mistake. With the Grits conceded the victory, they‘d have to make a major mess of a key issue to give the PCs a chance. But it could happen. Yea verily, it could happen. The local ridings? It‘s too earty to say, but there‘s at least one, and maybe two. that look as if they‘ve gone to the Grits. Has the storm blown over? NTPATIWE SANDY One thing the campaign has shown: We have a surplus of simple answers, but a heck of a shortage of simple issues. _ â€" _ He said the other day that there‘s been no connection between al Quaeda and Saddam Hussein. Gosh, all the times heretofore Dubyah and henchmen have made them sound like kissing cousins at least. Belatedly the Truth: Talk about a change of pace, but it‘s something George Dubyah may But, pray tell, why would that soul of truth and just, the U.S. president, come clean at this late date? vg I don‘t think it‘s consciéence, I think it‘s a matter of critical mass. He may feel that he‘s told enough fibs so far that people can no longer keep track of them and now a few reviâ€" sions won‘t matter. _ Besides, he‘s starting to look a bit weaker in the face of his reâ€"election. Ah yes. Some politiâ€" cal platforms that look good in August warp in Not so. Because of some words directed at Mayor Lynne Wolstenâ€" croft, council has tightened up on what delegations can say. The words aimed at the mayor were a criticism of her upcoming trip to the Netherlands. The point DY was that, considering the RIM D Park fiasco, the money could be better spent elsewhere. The mayor asked whether that constituted "a personal attack" on her and city clerk Fred Dobbs ruled it did not, but later in the meeting the politicians asked anew how the "attacks" can be avoided. The tighteningâ€"up resulted in the semiâ€"gag policy which makes council look as if it never heard any firstâ€"rate politicalâ€"dialogue. The critic said it appeared, given the trip and the outlay, the mayor was not up to runâ€" ning the city. OK, so where‘s the personal attack in that? It seems two things are growing bigger garbage cans and Waterioo Council‘s sense of It was merely and observation, one that scads of voters would second. And the observaâ€" tion that even more voters would second is that the council looks silly with its semiâ€"gag rule Tender Feelings: By this time you‘d think that Waterioo councilâ€" lors would have developed a thicker skin. After the fiasco of RIM Park, you‘d assume they‘ve become used to brickbats and brutal words.