The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

best availftbu copy partem healing s air condmoning systems 131 wanton steua 7 lerttam 4711748 craftsmanship tribune community unirichtire auto centre 374 main st east stouffnlle xi fte ronm service saawi 6406838 serving whitchurchstoufrville uxbridge and area a metroland community newspaper wednesday july 29 1987 chairman just one of the boys by chris shanahan community editor gary herrema calls it the the cultural centre but most others probably know it better as the texas burger by any name the fastfood res taurant in downtown uxbridge serves as the daily starting point for the gregarious chairman of fastgrowing durham region on a typical weekday morning mr herrema milks a few dairy cows at his uxbridge township farm then heads out shortly be fore 8 am to make a brief stopov er at- the establishment where he and other texas burger boys like to congregate this is my onceaday hang out i call this the uxbridge cultu ral centre he said recently be tween gulps of coffee at the main st north eatery if people want to meet me they know they can come in here at 8 am and find me its during the 15 or 20 minutes before he heads to regional head quarters in whitby that the 49- yearold politician feels the pulse of the people his texas burger discussions are not highlevel boardroom stuff but down-to- earth discussions between him self andfellow townsfolk like bill hicklirig 78 and jay merrick 66 mr herrema can meet people quickly and hear their concerns more readily than in a more for mal setting the affable dutchman has been a regular customer there for ab out 10 years during which time he has gabbed with everyone from ontarios high commissioner to england to supreme court jus tices it must be something about the texas burgers smalltown atmosphere that makes it such a popular meeting place where according to mr herrema everyone feels at home informal and nothing seems to phase the easygoing herrema even a quip from a waitress about how gary must be running for something based on the media attention hes commanding this particular morning he just shrugs it off with a chuckle and moves on to his next impromtu conversation this time with a local realtor in terested in how a development proposal is progressing we discuss everything from subdivisions to the weather claimed mr herrema adding that one of uxbridge s largest re sidential developments testa heights grew gut of discussions conducted in the texas burgers friendly confines a former mayor of uxbridge township mr herrema is serv ing his third term in the regional chair hes as yet undecided ab out his immediate political fu ture but is considering a few op tions including another attempt to win a federal seat he ran unsuc cessfully in 1984 as the liberal candidate for ontario riding for now mr herremas time is occupied with major regional issues like development of a waste incinerator and regional uxbridge s cultural centre gary herrema left catches up on the latest uxbridge happenings with texas burger buddies jay merrick and bill hickling right be fore starting his day as chairman of durham region the uxbridge township resident uses his morning coffee shop visits to hear resi dents concerns and opinions on a variety of topics 8 chris shanahan airport plus hwy 407 alignment the chairman earns 58000 a year in his role as durhams political administrator co ordinating the needs and wants of all the regions member munici palities he said hes happy at his pre sent post but would liked to have stayed on as mayor of his home municipality longer than the two years he served ive enjoyed bding chairman but i would have enjoyed being mayor of uxbridge township a little longer he said mr herrema doesnt seem dis turbed by the fact he earns as much as 14000 less than eldred king his counterpart in neighbor ing york region im still trying to catch up to eldy ive been trailing him for 30 years he laughed noting that his salary is supposed to be in creased to bridge this gap nononsense gary herrema has earned the respect of various political col leagues including fiesty former uxbridge township mayor bill ballinger his reputation as far as get ting things done speaks for itself hes nononsense and unconven tional according to mr ballin ger who worked with the chair man on projects such as the loca tion of a tokai of canada lighter manufacturing plant in the ux bridge area his way of cutting through red tape makes you work a little harder but he gets the job done in the end and he claimed mr herrema thrives on his morning coffee shop encounters he feeds on that sort of oneonone relationship with the public he works it well mr ballinger remembers how back in the mid1970s mr herre ma used the pen name orville to write letterstotheeditor on all the burning issues of the day even when he wasnt on coun cil he still had input mr ballin ger said he has been a political animal all his life claimed present uxbridge mayor gerri lynn oconnor i think he mr herrema is a tremendous public relations per son for the region hell talk to anybody if youre a ditchdigger and you have a problem hell help you as much as he would the president of general motors she also noted how mr herre ma maintains an extremely busy work schedule attempting to attend all the many functions to which hes invited following a full work day the chairman usually heads for some evening function where he appears on behalf of the region according to mayor oconnor this way he feels the pulse of each community she said even on weekends mr herre ma is likely to be found taking part in a wide variety of commun ity events as announcer for ux- bridges annual demolition der by he once drew mixed fan reac tion by instructing competitors in a womens powder puff event to drive just like youre in the zehrs parking lot when he can find time from a busy schedule mr herrema helps run his family dairy opera tion along with wife helen sons ron 25 howie 21 and daughter beth 22 who is also a top law stu dent at the university of western ontario community calendar c13 sport shop opens c10 riend meade smeb food business booming c3