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6 stouffville suntribune thursday june 8 2006 stouffville wemm suntribune a metroland community newspaper box 154 stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director advertising distribution barry black director interactive media technology john futhey director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean editorial keep developers out of elections what would fans think if the captain of a hockey team handed the referee a fistful of dollars just before the puck was dropped most would agree it just doesnt seem right so why are land developers still allowed to donate to candidates for municipal councils when in many ways the relationship between the two is akin to the player and the referee municipal politicians work hand-in- hand with land developers making sure they follow the rules to create the best projects for their communities some york region politicians under stand the potential for conflict refusing to take donations from the industry markham regional councillor jack heath for instance has refused devel opment money mr heath is in the minority according to a report by york university political science professor robert macdermid the bulk of cam paign donations in the 905 area come from companies tied to the develop ment industry it appears municipal politicians especially those in boom regions such as york arent willing to get off the development gravy train so easily its time to force their hand by changing the municipal act how will our municipal politicians fund their campaigns prof macdermid argues apathetic 905 voters are to blame because they dont contribute to municipal cam paigns the waytorontonians do so developers simply take up the slack but if developers were taken out of the equation that relatively ready source of funding would dry up forcing municipal politicians to solicit individ uals for funds and that would mean they would have to run on real ideas to gain sup port instead of spending developers money to plaster election signs all over time municipality municipalities that dont have a cash rebate program for individual cam- paign contributors should start one and publicize it markham gives rebates of up to 350 for individuals who donate to municipal campaigns municipal politicians especially those in boom towns should be forced to kick the developer donation habit now waiting until the well dries up after developers move on to the next growth region would be purely academic letters to the editor residents bypass main street lights and stouffvilles businesses when we moved to stouffville eight years ago we had high expectations for the towns develop ment unfortunately we have been disappointed with the administration of the town the ugly black painted lamp posts the numer ous traffic lights the allday rush hour traffic on main street and the population signs leading into town disagreeing on how many people live in stouffville are good examples even at 530 am when we drive to work through stouffville on main we face stoppages due to red traffic lights when there is no cross traffic what a waste of gas and unnecessary wear and tear on our cars to overcome this we find alternative routes thus bypassing the town all together which is not good for the local businesses speaking of local businesses we are especially upset with the towns handling of k9s in kahoots this local business has been a great asset for our dog and thanks to it we have an extremely socia ble and wellbehaved dbg and now we see the town dealing with a com plaint against this business that could see it leave stouffville i thought and understood the mandate of the mayor was to encourage businesses to come to stouffville so we do not end up a bedroom city such as markham our compaints will be registered in november ian shimmin stouffville the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor pobox 154 stouffville l4a7z5 emailjmasonyrngcom or fax 9052941538 town should work with owner to keep shop in community it has come to our attention k9s in kahoots on main street is in danger of being closed we ask that the mayor and council take a further look at the current bylaw and if neces sary amend it to accommodate this business council recently appointed a working com mittee that is looking at the rejuvenation of our downtown and we ask that the town retain and maintain this thriving business on our main street i am sure ms johnson of k9s in kahoots would be willing to work with the town to come to a favourable solution helene mjohnson president ceo whitchurchstouffville chamber of commerce editorial editor jim mason jmasonymgcom assistant editor rick vanderlinde rvanderlindeymgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsymgcom advertising classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrngcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauyrngcom retail manager stacey allen sallcnymgcom new business development manager mike rogerson mrogersonymgcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrngcom editorial 9055131717 fax9055137525 advertising 9055131717 classified 18007433353fax 9058531765 distribution 9055131717 cmnsan ontario octuboo hli cms auttbowlmmtxr ca suntribune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a wholly owned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hid and thomhill vaughan crtenthe economist sun markham the erabanner newmarketaurora georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing off the top with jim mason in search of town creature or renegade painters calls for an arts and culture centre aside what this town needs is a big honk ing creature at its entrance not the real deal but a sculpture youll see them as you vacation across north america like chevy chase this summer wawa has its canada goose perched on a hill over the transcanada highway and lake superior bemidji minn has mythical lumber jack paul bunyan and so do dozens of other towns across the united states according to roadsideamericacom what a lumberjack is doing in seminole ha i have no clue but its there sudbury has the big nickel there are muskies and walleyes and giant chickens and pigs greeting motorists at municipal borders across this continent whitchurchstouffville has zip at least for now and with the stouffville country market about to shut down next year we need something new to set us apart from every other town or city here in this rapidly urbanizing jungle called southern ontario the big flea once the mascot of the market is out unless were shooting for a historical reference the clipper ship on stouffville minor hockey team uniforms is fetching but how a town many miles away from being a port of call adopted a ship is also beyond my comprehension whitchurchstouffville may be best know for the strawberry festival centred around the canada day weekend annu ally chuckleberry the festival mascot has a way of freaking out some small chil dren that might not be wise if were try ing to entice people to join us here maybe a newlook berry would work or maybe we paint our name and a message on the water tower on the tenth line or the new one on bethesda road lets get a posse of painters with lad ders rollers and wild colours maybe call in the latcham gallery for guidance well take the tower by storm first well have to come up with a slo gan for the tower theres the traditional country close to the city which is fine as long as we have some country left the cn tower is 45 minutes south this is the stouffville tower works for me same with smile this is a radar trap and youve just been caught speeding or maybe well be real different and say not the home of paul bunyan jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune