WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTORER 12,1988, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN THllE #1 MUNICIPAL ISSUE - ATTITUDE Remember the Citizen's Coalition - the shadow cabinet that was formed two years ago to act as a watchdog on town council? You probably don't because it never really got off the ground and simply petered out. It was formed from a diverse group of individuals who had one thing in common - they had each bashed their heads against the wall of our municipal government - and lost. The issues were as diverse as Decom, spot rezonings, Bluegrass Meadows, Lynde House, backed-up sewers, and traffic on residential streets- to name just a few. All were issues where individuals, community groups or neighbour- hoods were deeply affected. Yet council offered little .consi- deration of their input. Council took its stand and refused to budge regardless of how rational or impassioned the arguments were. :Awatchdog for council was an idea whose time had come but the group could never coalesce around a common objec- tive. They failed to see the one element that united them. They failed to realize that all of their frustrations were due not to specific policy objectives on the part of council but rather to its attitude. Most councillors regard us as subjects who are to be governed for two years, ten and a half months out of every three. For the other six weeks we are fawned on, coaxed, and briiedwith our own money - anything to make us forget the frustrations of the previous three years. Most of Town Council doesn't give a damn about our concerns except to the extent that it affects their ability to get re-elected. You'll notice how accomodating they'll be over the next few weeks. If you want something done, now's your chance. We, the citizens of this community, have a choice. This is a democracy and we can choose our style of government. We're paying fer it and we can decide if we want to be subjects or participants. Am I painting too black a picture? You be the judge: 1) Council is a closed shop. Agendas of council meetings are never available to the public until the day of the meeting, and detailed information is only provided as the matter is being discussed, if at all. Even major planning documents like the downtown secondary plan are kept under wraps - at the meeting you can sit there and try to read 20 legal-size pages (both sides) or listen to the brief analysis from the planning staff. Then if you've got your thoughts together you can comment - perhaps your only opportunity. 2) Someone on your own block could apply to rezone their property and you might never know until it's too late. If the law says "property owners within 400 ft", then that's who gets informed. If the law says nobody has to be informed then that's how many are. 3) Community groups are treated like dirt. Instead of en- hancing the efforts of volunteers to improve our community, council regards them as a burden. There is a pool of expertise out there that should be consulted more often. Ask your councillor what he did for the community before he got elected. Even groups like the Whitby Youth Band who represented Whitby across Canada and around the world had to raise their own money (in addition to practising) for the privilege of being our goodwill ambassadors. And when an amateur team wins a national championship, there are the politicians horning in on the pictures as if they had something to do with it. 4) Appointments to LACAC, the BIA Board of Management, and other boards are pure politics. (Yes, Virginia, Whitby has pork barrel too!) Council appoints members to the BIA Board without even the courtesy of informing them who has applied. The downtown merchants support this cozy arrangement to the tune of $90,000 per year but have no say on who spends the money. When last did you complain to you councillor? How did he respond? His follow-up should be the biggest factor in choosing who you're going to vote for. Or did you simply decide it was a waste of time? - 'You can't fight city hall!' That too should tell you something about who to vote for. Is there too much traffic on your street? Are they building apartments overlooking your back yard? Are there homes on your street with illegal apartments, boarders or home occupations? Have you been waiting for years for the Town to fix up the sidewalks or pot holes in front of your house? Is there nothing but weeds on your boulevard since they widened your street (without asking you what you thought)? Did they butcher your tree instead of trimming it? These are just some of the irritations that arise on a daily basis in Whitby. They are the preduct of years of neglect, years of inadequate representation. The citizen's coalition failed net because the problem didn't exist but because the problem was tee big. Look very carefully at the candidates. Do they have a genuine interest in the community? Do you? Maybe you should run yourself - the deadline is Monday. 'r ONTARIO LADIES' COLLEGE (now Trafalgar Castle School), c. 1880 The Ryerson Hall wing at the left was opened in 1878 and was named after Egerton Ryerson, the founder of Ontario's public education system. The main building, known as Trafalgar Castle, was built in 1859-62 as the home of Nelson G. Reynolds, Sheriff of Ontario County. Whitby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, October 11, 1978 edition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS • Whitby Psychiatric Hospital is seeking persons to take ex-patients into their homes as boarders. • Burns Street is being reconstructed and extended through Centennial Park. • Whitby Rotary Club has formed a Student Interact Club. • Local Councillor Bob Attersley says he will run for regional council in the election. 25 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, October 10, 1963 edition of the WHITBY WEEKLY NEWS • The Town Council is seeking $125,000 from the federal loan fund to build a new fire hall on Brock Street. • The Public Library Board is seeking a Canada Centennial grant for a new library. • Fluoridation of municipal water will be the topic of a public forum prior to a plebiscite in December. • Town Council is bogged down on how to pay for tree planting, trimming and removal. 100 YEARS AGO from the Friday, October 12, 1888 edition of the WHITBY CHRONICLE • The barley market is so good that the farmers are walking around town with hundred dollar bills in their pockets. • Livestock farmer F.W. Hodson is selling his stock and moving to London, Ont. to publish the Farmers' Advocate. • James H. Gerrie Jr. holds the record for bicycling from Whitby to Toronto: two hours and 18 minutes. • A Whitby man was sentenced to two months at hard labor in the Central Prison for assaulting a young woman. qý la Ir ]Et AL", 3Z7