WIIITBY FREE PRESS, WE-DNESDAY, J ULY 22, 1981,PAGE 3 Parochialism killing development dept.:. mayor Many councillors are hearing the death knel for Durham Region's development depart- ment and some of them may even be happy about it. The department, which lias a $3W000OOa year budget, lias been under heavy attack by councillors over the past year. However, regionai politicians wili now getý the chance to re- evaluate the perfor- mance of the depart- ment and to make changes to it now that the director has resigned. Director of Develop- ment Tom Flood ten- dered his resignation to Durham Regional Council 's management committee at its meeting iast week. Flood is expected to assume a new position with the Toronto Board of Trade in the near future. The present political bashing of the develop- ment is concerning Whitby Mayor Bob At- tersley. In an interview last week after Flood's resignation was accep- ted, Attersiey said that could be the end 0f the department or, at least, a shrinkage in size. And that prospect does flot seemn to please him. "The region needs promotion, " Attersley said. "We need to have someone to go around and wave the flag. " The mayor, who is also a inember of the management commit- tee, has placed the biame for the depart- ment's demise squarely on the shouiders of the politicians. He pointed out that during this year's budget discussions, councîliors removed from the department's budget a $12,000 provision to promote the region's tourist attrac- tions. "They just eut Flood up left, riglit and cen- tre," Attersley said ad- ding that the director and his department has been of great help to the towxn s own industriai promotion program. One of the "under- iying" factors in the situa.tin, lieaddedwas tee 0f Oshawa City Council endorsed such a motion - a move that will pave the way for the city to hire iLs own in- dustria I commission, DeHart's reasonîng for such a change is that a local officiai would be able to work more closely with the mayor and local counciliors than a regional officiai would. Before carrying on with Whitby's industriai promotion program, At- tersley researched the Region of Durham Act, which states that the region "may" promote industrial development. That clause gave At- tersley confidence that the town could carry on its own program without injuring the region's perogatives. However, bad feelings towards the region's development depart- ment stili remain and the mayor stili places' the blame on the politi- cians. "It'll go because of the feelings of council," Attersley said. "Council has mudli responsibility in the thing. " Another reason for thîs situation, he believes, is -that area municipalities did not rnake use of the depar- tment's services. 'II don't think that the municipalities used them to their utmost,'" Attersley stated. Now that it appears the department is doomed to failure, At- tersley is concerned about who will take responsibility for the sale and development of regionally owned in- dustrial land. "What happens to that land? " he asked poin- ting out that Durham owns many acres 0f land within the Town of Whitby. One of the depart- ment's failures, he con- tinued, was that it seeined to be over- concerned with selling the land and not the community as a whole. 'that's what we're doing in Whitby, we're Cont'd on pg. 8