WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1988, PAGE 5 Who could tell, just by looking, that the man in the red fedora is working? Certainly not the three smiling faces, who beam out from signs in front of Gratitude's Garterworks, nor the cook at Burpin' Bert's Beanery. Nor can any of the Atomic Ministers, those who had found the secret of Fission, and split from the main church over the issue of the sexual orientation of the apostle Paul. But the man in the red fedora is working, as you will see presently. Just who is the man in the red fedora? And while we're at it, who are the three smiling faces referred- to in paragraph two? First things first. The man in the red fedora is, as you can tell from the snappy card sticking out' of his hat band, a member of the .working press. Those who like to score points in arguments are reading this all the while polishing their arguments: the working press, they say, is a contradiction. Bear with us: words mean what we say they mean, and in this case, Lucas Letterpress comes as close to working as the press can. First, his pencil. It is poised. A working member of the press always has a pencil (or pen) poised. Secondly, that pén or pencil will be poised over a note pad, and will, from time to time, scribble down things. For the press, that's working. (Reading what they have writ down on those note pads with poised pens is even harder work, but for detailed information on that please see my text book entitled 'Forkner Shorthand: , the F Word for Journalists.') Okay. So Lucas Letterpress, owner and editor of The Beaver Flat Tail, is scribbling things down these days about the three smiling· faces. He calls it WITH OUR FEET UP by Bill Swan Plenty of walking running. He is scribbling things down because this is municipal election year, and the three smiling faces are running for office. Not that there is any running about it, except away from sensitive issues and off at the mouth, but there is plenty of walking. The three smiling faces are, as you may have guessed by now, our three most notable politicians: Johnny Cannuck, currently mayor and incumbent; Razor Strop, a former mayor and hopeful; and Bent Broadaxe, who this time says he bas a "realistic chance of becoming mayor," but nobody with bushels of money seems to be betting on him. Lucas bas followed the three through both breakfast meetings and the Rotary luncheon and Lions dinner and bas visited all three at campaign headquarters. He is, therefore, something of an expert on their positions. Best then that we quote directly from the editorial Lucas wrote for his own paper: "Mayor Johnny Cannuck," Lucas wrote, "would like to leave his unwashed underwear back of the woodshed and greet us all in Sunday-Go-To-Meeting clothes. He won't mention much about the Free Trade Poker Stakes, except to say anyone who's agin' em is chicken. He seems to want to run on his record, but won't tell us how often he has been in jail. "Razor Strop, on the other hand, came right out of the starting chute, pole vaulted once into the day care centre, and has been a little befuddled ever since. "Bent Broadaxe actually seems so confident that for the first few days he forgot to bluster and posture and squeak up about the average citizen. This went on until the seventh day ot nis campaign, when he fell asleep in the middle of the thirty second clip he was giving to the local radio station. Since then he's gone back to his od ways of cleaving the air with his arms. "It promises to be a standard type of election for these parts," wrote Lucas, "and who will win is anybody's guess. But going by the number of people in town who aren't even sure that there's an election going on, or even care, then the number who stay away could win the election. "Or put another way: Come election day, judging by the lawn signs I see all over town, the real race could be between ReMax and Century 21. And we don't even know what their platforms are." Well, that's what Lucas Letterpress said in his own newspaper. And you never can tell with home town newspapers, whether a punch is thrown or blown. Incidentally, Lucas donned that red fedora right at the beginning of the election but still won't tell us the significance of it, press pass and all. Just never can tell about these journalist types. Complaint made over recycling truck tire contract By Debbie Luchuk A tendering process that awarded a contract for tires for Durham Recycling trucks te Attersley Tire has led to a complaint from another local tire dealer alleging that perhaps Attersley was chosen because its owner wanted the contract. However, the Region has responded that tendering was conducted properly. Making the complaint was J&M Tire of Oshawa, a frequent tire supplier te regional vehicles in the past. According te Larry Greenham of J&M, the dealer was called for a price on tires. Attersley Tire quoted a price which was much lower - so low that Greenham refused to believe that Attersley could supply tires at that price. "Supposedly the purchasing department called to get prices on tires, with nothing formal in writing. We were low in overall tender, and there's no way Attersley would be a lower price," he said. Another bone of contention was the specification on the contract for Goodyear tires for the trucks. "Never before have they (Re- gion) specified this type (Good- year), and now they are, maybe because .Attersley is. the only Goodyear dealer (in the area)," Greenham alleged. Greenham said Durham Regional Police has also accepted a tire tender from Attersley Tire recently. Bob Attersley, Whitby mayor, is the commissioner of police. Greenham wrote a letter to regional works and finance officials to outline his concerns and allegations, but he said he has not received any satisfactory answer to his letter from the officials addressed. Gerry Emm, chairman of regional works, was one of those addressed, as recycling is within works' jurisdiction. Emm received the letter, and Region works commissioner Bill Twelvetrees is aware of the letter, Emm said. But Emm said he has not received any further information on the situation from the works department. "What bothers me is that I was sent a copy of the letter and I was never told anything else, and I am chairman * of works, res- ponsible for this department," Emm said. He told The Free Press that he was looking into the situation to make sure that the official tendering- process was followed correctly. However, Emm said, "The finance department. is in charge, and we need a response from them to make sure what's happening is done properly, that tenders are honored." After several transfers from one official to another in the regional finance department, Re- gion finance commissioner Jack Gartley responded to questions on the situation. "This is not really a tender. J&M have the tender for tires for Durham Region. Ail purchases covered by tendering by law go to However, Gartley added, "Durham Recycling trucks are not really owned by the Region. But as the building (recycling) is on Region property, the maintenance is contracted by the Region," Gartley explained. 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