Whitby council says... NO IROQUOIS EXPANSION Whitby council shot down the $6.2 million expansion of the Iroquois Park sports complex Monday night by a margin of one vote. In a 'recorded vote following more than two hours of depùtations and discussion, councillors voted three in favour and four against the proposal triggering howls of anger and disbelief from many of the 250 to 300 people who had packed the council chamber to await the outcome of two years of recreation studies, sur- veys and planning. "I think it's a disgrace. It just shows that councillors Bugelli, Drumm and Emm have no appreciation of what their constituency wan- ts," said Whitby Business Improvement Area chairman Ed Buf- fett of the councillors who voted against the $6.2 million expansion. The fourth council member to vote against the proposal, North Ward Ross Batten, was probably voting in the interests of his con- stituency, said Mr. Buf- fett but he was convin- ced that Joe Bugelli, West Ward, Joe Drumm, East Ward and regional councillor Gerry Emm had not represented the in- terests of the people who elected them. Mayor Bob Attersley, Regional Councillor Tom Edwards and Cen- tre Ward councillor Marcel Brunelle voted in favour of the expan- sion. "I've made a point of talking to a lot of people in the last week or so and people want this ex- pansion. I think we'll be looking for three new councillors the next time we go to the polls. "It's a disaster for this community. It really makes us a laughing stock," con- cluded Mr. Buffett who believes the expanded facility would have proved a strong drawing card for future business and residential development in Whitby. After the meeting, councillor Bugelli, who got a rough ride fron some members of the audience when he stood up to oppose the major expansion, questioned Mr. Buffett's assertion that he was out of touch with his constituency. "I'm not so sure who my constituency is. Sure we had four- sports groups here tonight who were obviously in favour of the expansion but I've had a lot of calls this week from people who are very concerned about this proposai," said Mr. Bugelli. The councillor cited a long list of reasons why he opposed the $6.2 million project in- cluding the risk of debenturing and the pressing need for other capital expenditures such as a new library, fire halls, seniors' facilities and improved public transit. "I was elected to be fiscally responsible to all the citizens of this community. If we go this route (the major expansion) we'll have to debenture whether we like it or not and there are a lot of other capital expenditures that have to be made. "Even the $6.2 million doesn't address all the recreational needs of this community but on- ce we've earmarked it for this project we negate everything else," said Mr. Bugelli. Rather than proceeding with the major expansion, Mr. Bugelli said he would like to see council ap- prove the $2.5 million proposal which ad- dresses the more im- mediate need for an arena and repairs to the swimming pool. To spend any more money SEE PG. 9 Winning words Whitby Senior Public School grade student Mary Waterman recently went all the way to the Durham Region public speaking championships after winning first place finishes in both her school and the district. Mary, wiser than her years might indicate, delivered a speech about the good old days. Free Press Staff Photo French busing comes to a head Vol. 16, No. 8 Wednesday, February 2( * /1 By JAN DODGE Free Press Staff Parents of French Immersion students at E.A. Fairman and C 24PagesRidgeway Public School have mounted a massive letter-writing . campaign to the Durham Board of Education asking for school busing for their children. Board policy does not provide for busing for French Immersion students "except where students can reach the French Immersion classes by using regularly scheduled school bus routes." Last fall French Im- mersion students at E.A. Fairman fell vic- tim to the success of the program. While they had formerly been able to get transportation on buses provided for special education students, last Septem- ber this program was taken away to allow more space for French Immersion. With the program went the buses. Operation Santa Local Rotarian Joe Sharp and Marion lrwin drop- ped in to the Free Press offices last week to launch Whitby's Operation Santa '86. The campaign, which was concelved by the, Vaughan Rotary Club, is aiming to collect 50,000 toys to be delivered to children in Brazilian slums in time for next Christ- mas. Children i schools throughout town are being asked to give up one of their toys and bring them in to drop boxes located in the schools. During the month-long campaign, local Rotary Club organizers hope to collect as many as 10,000 toys to contribute to the cause. Ask your children if Operation Santa is being conducted in theirschool. If not, there are also drop boxes in some local businesses including at the Hideaway Bingo Hall. Free Press Staff Photo Since then parents have had to supply tran- sportation which has resulted in a traffic problem at the school. Kathleen Chung of Bradley Drive wrote, as did many others, ex- pressing her concern for her child's safety "with the traffic generated by parent drop-offs and pick-ups." Brian and Monica McClure of Pringle Drive, in their letter, noted a common com- plaint about the restric- tive nature of the tran- sportation policy. "By denying tran- sportation to most French Immersion students, the board has effectively limited the enrolment in the program in addition to making it an elitist one. The program is inac- cessible to families where both parents work, where owning two cars is impossible or where there are two or three preschoolers to care for in addition to school-aged children. It is the unusual parent who will make the sacrifice of time, money and convenience to transport their children to school year after year. This same sacrifice is not asked of parents in the English Immersion program." As Willona Blanche of Whitney Court put it in her plea for busing, "I pay public school taxes and I'm proud of our education system in Durham. Please let it be available to all of us." Police ratify' 1986 contract Durham Regional Police Association members ratified their 1986 contract last Tuesday night after what association president Dale Allan described as the shor- test round of contract negotiations in recent memory. Mr. Allan said it was "a good, fair contract" which maintained everything in the 1985 contract with some im- provements and nothing givenup. Under the terms of the new agreement, a first class constables, more than 70 percent of the force, will receive a salary of $36,950 by July of this year - up from $35,018 in 1985, a 5.4 per- cent increase. The association's members, who were looking for parity with neighbouring police for- 3EE. ru. .1 w- M I