WHITBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1985, PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson THE CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell Councillors have a case of the blahs People who don't frequent the Whitby Municipal Building as often as I do probably won't have noticed, but over the past few weeks there has been a shift in the wind. The place feels different. It seems that everyone up there has gone off on his own little tangent in pursuit of his own little goal. I can't quite put my finger on it but somebody sure put something in somebody's cornflakes. Maybe it's because this is an election year - I don't know. The politicians and the senior staff people are not the same group of men I've known for almost six years. I know I've often disagreed with them on many different issues and have written snotty editorials in an attempt to take a strip off their butts and bring them back to earth. It's little things. The lack of patience. Different tones in their voices. Take Joe Bugelli for instance. When I first met him six years ago I said to myself: "Now there's a fighter." I thought of him as a go-getter. A man who stood on his own. My wife, who is usually a much better judge of character than 1, would have voted him into any office in the land. I remember the King's Gate affair. He pushed on that one until it gave. Often he had no support on council but he pushed and bullied until that developer met his obligations to the area residents and to the town. These days he has become, as a fellow reporter covering Whitby Town Council put it, "the King of One Liners". He tends these days to hide behind policy and shrug everything off with a pun or a joke which is sometimes bad. I've watched him chair many a committee meeting over the past few months and he doesn't seem to have the time for people that he used to have. VIl be honest, I haven't talked to Joe much over the past few months, we just don't seem to have found the time. But what I've seen disturbs me greatly. He doesn't have the fire he used to have. And, I don't know why. But Joe isn't alone. Other members of council seem to have fallen with the same affliction. Mayby they don't think the job is as much fun as it used to be. Maybe they feel they can't be or aren't as effective as they thought they were. After al, walking the tightrope between angry taxpayers and sometimes stubborn bureaucrats can wear you down. Ross Batten, our no-nonsense businessman from the north ward also seems to have caught this case of the blahs. During the town's fight with Tom Hughes and the Ontario Humane Society we saw Ross at his best. He was determned, fully informed and in complete command of the situation. He literally led the joint animal control committee and forced the O.H.S. to realize that it worked for the municipalities, not the municipalitics for it. It was he that forced the town to finally do something about the deplorable state of the road system in the rural area. But recently he, too, seems to be less patient with people. He seems to be short tempered and withdrawn. Even Tom Edwards seems to have caught this. A few years ago I described Tom as a "people's politician". When a social issue came before local and regional council you could always count on Tom to get to his feet and defend the rights and protect the needs of our seniors, unemployed and disabled. These days when he gets to his feet, he recalls his early days on council and the way things used to be. Despite our differences and our sometimes adversarial roles, I always liked these men. I still think they've got something to contribute to this community. People change. We all acknowledge that. Time and experience changes our outlooks, opinions and beliefs. Hopefully, we also grow and become better human beings in the process. But I'm not sure this is the case up on the hill these days. There is something going on that I can't put my finger on. People I trust who are also close to the local political scene have noticed the same things. It could be that they're just bored. Maybe there is no issue or situation that excites their anger anymore. Maybe they have nothing to fight for. Who knows? I suspect that they might not even know. Whitby has been pretty fortunate when it comes to local politicians. We've never had a Ed Kolodzie or a Gord Burnett. We've never had anyone who takes on the rest of council simply for press coverage or to be contrary. We seem to have avoided electing empire builders. The seven men who sit on Whitby Town Council have always been solid citizens, real community minded people. I think they still are, but something has dampened their fire and draned their energy and I honestly don't know what it is. Over the past few weeks, I have been toying around with the idea of publishing a report card assessing the performance of their performance to date and in the light of the municipal election to be held in the next few months. But I'm going to put that off for another day. I want to see if they can shake the blahs and show us their true stuff. SOLWAY What has Richard Hatfield's embarrassment to do with Larry Solway's past television career? How's that for a teaser? Stay with me. In my many years on television and radio I reached certain national prominence, some might even say celebrity. In my prime I was a regular on "What's My Line", co-host of "Juliette and Frien- ds," host of my own nationally syndicated "Larry Solway Show," and host and writer of two suc- cessful CBC documentary series. Like it or not, you saw a lot of me in the 70's. There are people who have asked why, with all that.prominence, I never did a commercial. After all, if Lawrence Olivier can do Polaroid cameras why not something for me? The truth is, I missed my one golden opportunity to be a "spokesman" for a popular laundry product all because of Richard Hatfield. Are you still with me? I had been engaged by a Toronto agency to travel to New Brunswick to do a series of media-training sessions with Joe Daigle, leader of the New Brun- swick Liberals, and a fair hope to unseat Hatfield. What Daigle needed was television savvy, a bit of "how-to" when it came to answering questions, and some general polish. It was what we used to call "image building." My place in this scheme had nothing to do with politics or political preferences. I was simply hired to do a job. I accepted. The very next day I heard from an advertising agency that their biggest soap company client wan- ted me to do a commercial for them. I had done an audition presentation, and because no one ever asked me to do a commercial, I forgot it. Tough luck. They wanted me. But I refused. A commit- ment had been made. A man of honor, I stuck by my agreement to.spend three days in Saint John, and another well-known personality got my commercial job. I like Joe Daigle. He was (and still is, even though out of politics) a very bright man and a good politician. Not good enough however, to unseat the old smoothie Hatfield. Besides, Joe is an Acadian and his support was in the north while Hatfield's was and is in the south. In the election following my visit the Liberals came within two seats of winning. But, as they say, close only counts in horseshoes. With a narrow majority, it was obvious that Hat- field couldn't carry on for long without another elec- tion. It happened. Another campaign came along. This time Joe Daigle was ready for him. But Hat- field, a consummate politician, was even more ready. The Liberals attacked the Tories on every ground they could from employment and farming to high cost nuclear power adventuring. The Tories countered with their record, with respectability and a solid Hatfield. The best line of the entire campaign belonged to Daigle. A bit of background. Joseph Daigle is a lawyer. He had been New Brunswick's youngest judge. He also was an intimate of the Robichaud people who had a New Brunswick Prime Minister and a federal cabinet minister. Daigle became Liberal leader af- ter his predecessor quit suddenly under pressure, having made some outrageous (but not too far from true) comments about Hatfield. Daigle was the man on the spot. He was plunked into the job. During the campaign, Hatfield, who must have been worried, referred to Daigle as a "second-hand Rose." A reference to his sudden arrival as leader and alternate choice. Daigle countered with a line that made news across Canada: "Better a second hand rose than a faded pansy." The implication was clear. It had to do with Dick Hatfield's private life. It was a great zinger. It un- derlined what all the press knew and most of the public guessed at about their premier. It made press. But it didn't win the election. Hatfield won. He's still in. Daigle is back practicing law. People who know Richard Hatfield know that he likes to party. Young and good-looking men-also know about Richard Hatfield. So what! The press has always known that the man likes to party. But the fact is that if every secret about every political figure were to be told, it would make Peyton Place (or for those under 30 -- "Dallas".) blush. But repor- ters have kept their counsel; have realized that journalism is not gossip; that being privy to per- sonal secrets is a trust; and most of all, that a politician stands or falls by his political acumen, his brains, and his legislative programs - not his private life. It is why good journalists stay cool. Only muckrakers trying to write a new headline will stoop. Dick Hatfield is good or bad if you think he is good or bad. His Conservatives caucus colleagues are ready to abandon him. He is now a Jona - and the press has done it to him, with a little help from his own unfortunate indiscretion. » 7'oVe~l~/