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Growth, once considered the holy grail of economic suceess, has serious environmental concerns which cannot be ignored. The addition of 2,000 people will obviousk increase traffic congesâ€" tion in the uptown core where parkâ€" ing is already at a premium. Seeâ€" ondly, the Waterloo Region continâ€" ues to suffer from a water shortage. Thirdly. Ontario‘s supply of electric power is barely able to meet preâ€" sentâ€"day needs. Bigger is rarely better and I doubt whether the citizens of Waterloo are anxious to shed the city‘s "small town" image. While the proposal will have strong support from the business community, there are a number of concerns which come to mind. Tln' redevelopment of the former Canbar lands in uptown Waterâ€" loo comes as no surprise, however, 1 am quite certain that the proposed density of 2,000 residents will meet with strong public opposition. Development plans will see some trouble U Reein ied id islit I am proud of the businesses, organizations and individuals who have stepped up and given money. People like Lorel Paquet at Northlake Woods sclunl.w’mhasledthedlalgebnhatrhxflm; munity as it has donated almost $90,000 to the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre. During the day you‘ll find them staffing our onâ€" site trailer, greeting donors, rolling change or just generally taking care of the site. Ihal'saboveandhcymnddteirusualkbsoflccpâ€" ing the station on the air. They deserve so much credit for making the whole campaign happen. We have a very small staff at KOOL and Oldies, and every member of it takes time out of their schedule to help out. As I walk away from the campaign, 1 am intensely proud of what we, as a staâ€" tion, and even more as a community, have done. This is a very giving community. In fact, 1 can‘t think of another place across the country which shows the same kind of support to so many different causes. I think if the parents are already thinkâ€" ing that way. their kids are already well on the way to learning that lesson long before they come down to my location. What most people don‘t know about is the most fun night of the campaign. That‘s the last Monday: For some reason, no matter the weather. that‘s when a huge number of kids and their parents come down to see the poster boy accommodations and talk about the reason behind the campaign Some of the parents tell me they like to bring the kids down because it gives them a chance to learn about what it means to give to people who need help. Thamk you. The simplest two words. but they mean a great deal. My week atop the KOOL FM Poster Boy camâ€" paign is over, with a spectacular response from the community. Every year it starts out the same way â€" a few big donations launching the campaign, building to a crescendo with some big donors on the last day. Or Joe Paiva. who owns the Weber Street Swiss From the bottom of my heart... lo make matters worse. two disâ€" appointing facts came through: this proposal has been under discussion behind closed doors for almost two vears. yet the community was onh However. there were powerful and convincing arguments that there is clearly a provincial responâ€" sibility. and the reasons in favour of the regional taxpayers c oming up with $19 million were weak. 1 was certainly convinced this facility is important to our commuâ€" nities, and that we should work to make it happen. On April 11. 1 attended the regional public forum regarding the McMaster University / University of Waterloo/Province of Ontario proposal for a medical teaching facility in downtown Kitchener. Let‘s make our voices heard As in all architectural developâ€" ments. city council has a responsiâ€" bility to listen carefully to the wishâ€" es of the citizens of Waterloo before any final decision is made. And mostly, to all of the people who have donatâ€" ed. Your support of the Poster Boy campaign has alowrdnntodommhigdflm'ykwquh any business get the chance to do. In some small way. I‘ve been given the opportuâ€" nity to make a difference. No matter what else I do in broadcasting or in any career. this will always be the highlight. I thank you all for that. and hope one day that it won‘t be necessary to climb those stairs anymore. rvky I And Paul Cugliari: the viceâ€"presiâ€" RKE dent and general manager of KOOLI and Oldies. My boss. my mentor. and my friend. He‘s a rare executive in that sometimes he allows things to be driven by his heart. not his head. Yet. he always seems to know when to make that choice. Jay Nijphuis and Becky Riley of our promotions department. who work endless hours to make the campaign happen. then spend too _ much time worrying if this old man is The list of people making a difference is endless. and 1 couldn‘t name them all here. But I can name some of them. Chalet. Hes been on board with us alment from day one. and bevond giving a portion of their sales for 2 weekendâ€"and convincing some other outlets to come on boardâ€"loe also donates his restaurant for a fundraising breakfast. That‘s been organized over the years by Rachel Haston., first at St. Clements school and now at St Mar‘s High. Or the Bonnevilie famihy. who hoid a bash each year in honour of lan Bonneville. who was taken away. far too young., by cancer. COMMENT David A. Crow Waterioa My co hosts. Mark and \nEn for putting up with me hijacking large portions of the morning show. Nancy Hewat. of the Grand River Hospital foundation. who admits to laving awake at nights wondering if I‘m My wife Diana. and my children. Allie. Niki and Heather. Their willingâ€" ness to help. and to put up with my less than sunny moods during downâ€" time is awe inspiring. I love you guys! Ihe lesson the province has taught us is that if we have faimes on our Side. as we do. and if we mobilize public opinion. there s a good chance the province will see the light. The Canibn'dge ubmmun.ilV\"\”\-as rightfully outraged and led the charge. . Secondly. it was just a few months ago that the province announced they were going to renege on a funding commitment to Cambridge Memorial Hospital. birst there were the Three Musâ€" keteers who unearthed the fact that for health services. we were ame mg the worsi served area in the province. Both the process and the fundâ€" ing proposal are seriously flawed. In recent memony, we have had two other situations in which the province was not giving us a fair shake. In both cases we made the "faimenms" case to the province and convinced them of the error of their Wals. given one month to respond: and no other municipalities in the province are being asked to fund these medical schoolk. Brian Turnbull Waterioes Se-IStrtthull-ser\mlasapub&sdl)dm.dty and regional councilior. He hosts a public affairs show on Rogers Cable 20 Thursday nights at 7pm. sean@seanstrickâ€" hands... simply because Toronto avoided making some tough decisions on how to handle their own refuse. Toronto currently has several sites they could use for a garbage incinerator, among other options, and they need to pick a site and get on with building it. And if they don‘t do it. the province needs to legislate them to do so. Just get the garbage trucks off the road. please. And while they‘re at it maybe, just maybe. the province can find some money for Go transit to Kitchener and Cambridge. During my weekend trip to Toronto. you couldn‘t help but notice the garbage trucks coming back and forth along the 401. How environmentally sustainable is this? Queen‘s Park needs to give Toronto a deadline to resolve this issue. Otherwise, as mm&lth@nckmmdunlpslo(hnadiangarbage. the entire province of Ontario will have a full scale crisis on our While I‘m in a ranting mood. when is some politician someâ€" where going to stand up to the City of Toronto and get them to dea{ with their garbage problem? Garbage, rotten garbage Some critics have pointed out that almoyt 80 per cent of the new spending. over SI billion. is for transit improvements in Toronto which is somewhat unbalanced when compared to the rest of the province. This may be true, but my ongoing complaints about penod â€" ic trips to the big city pale in comparison to the people who live there and have to put up with the lack of sufficient transit infrastructure everyday. It‘s hard to begrudge the province for allocating the money for a new subway line to York University when one considers that approximately 70. 000 people a day will ride the new line once it is completed. The money also included allocations forâ€"roads. and the $19 million coming to Waterioo Region will help out our road sysâ€" tem immensely. Previously the gas tax: proceeds could nnl\'ht used for pur chasing new buses. Fatended Go service to Kitchener or Cambridge would be well received and well used. Think of it... regular. convenient. consistent train service from downtown Kitchener to Union vation. What a civil and stress free trip that would be! . Of course all of this could be resolved if the Province of Ontario decided to put some more money into the Go train. If these two things would have occurred. the trip would have clocked in at probably four hours. It really is getting to the point that if you want to drive into Toronto and be on time for anything. allow yourself at least two hours. Or drive in the night before. stay at a hotel. and make a full day of it the next morning. have written on numerous occasions about the deleterious Ieflfl‘h of having to drive to Toronto. This past weekend my daughter and I took in a Blue Jays game and the amount of time spent on the road w as incredible. I know. I should know better. but heck I thought leaying ‘Waterloo at 11:30 a.m. for a 1:07 p.m. first pitch would leave us plenty of time: after all it was a Saturday. . How many cars and trucks would be on the road anyw ays? Turns out I was dead wrong. The traffic volume was like any normal weekday, busy. And two hours later we found ourselves in our seats at the Rogers Centre. The long trip was due to sheer traffic volume â€"not one acci dentâ€" starting with the first delay at Highway 8 and the Conâ€" estoga parkway. It felt like the whole drive was bumper to bumper. Thank goodness there wasn‘t an accident and thank goodness the powers that be changed their minds about closâ€" ing the Gardiner Expressway for the entire weekend. Go train? Go ahead!