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

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 7, 2009 - 7 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Overnight parking tickets punish patrons Re; Overnight parking ticket discourages people from doing the right thing, Oakville Beaver, Jan. 2 As a downtown resident, I totally support Tom Gunter's position re overnight parking in downtown lots. I think it's ridiculous to encourage people to be responsible and then punish them for doing so. I frequently see, at this time of year especially, ticketed vehicles for overnight parking on town streets, that were presumably left there because the individual did not want to drive after a few drinks. I recognize that lot clearing is an issue, when there is snowfall. The alternative of having people drive drunk, is not acceptable. Faced with a potential $50 bill, most people would not be as responsible as Mr. Gunter. He should be applauded for his decision, not penalized for it. Perhaps parking fees could be automatically waived out of court upon production of evidence that a taxi or other means of transportation was taken home in these circumstances. I'll leave that up to the authorities to determine, but right now they are sending a mixed message. It's time that Town Council, the Halton Regional Police, and the Downtown BIA resolved this issue before someone makes the tragically wrong decision. GARY MARSH Taking cab home proved costly exercise I was reading Overnight parking ticket discourages people from doing the right thing, Oakville Beaver, Jan. 2 and I wanted to offer my own recent similar experience that I had in Oakville. I was driving in from Toronto to attend a Holiday gathering on Dec. 23 at O'Finns Irish Temper on Church Street in Oakville. After having a few drinks, I had decided to leave my car and take a taxi to my mother's house because I didn't want to risk it. We were also experiencing a pretty heavy snow fall and none of the streets were plowed, so I decided to be safe than sorry. When I arrived the next morning my car was not in the parking lot. I immediately thought is was stolen, but then I noticed the tow away signs. It had never occurred to me that my car would be towed; otherwise I would not have left it there. I understand the reasoning behind the Town of Oakville not wanting cars parked overnight in public parking lots; however, under the circumstances, at the risk of not having a parking lot plowed, it seems worth everything in their power the right thing. it in order to deter people from driving to encourage people to do CAROLYN TODD under the influence. The cost of retrieving my car from the impound was $230 plus tax, the parking violation ticket was $25 and the cost of the cab ride home the night before was $18 which seems to be a high price to pay when you are trying to drink responsibly. Not only that, I had to go to the Oakville police station to get a release form in order for the tow truck company to give me my © car back. There were 10 cars towed from that parking lot that night, which seems pretty impressive at how many responsible Real Rock Band Workshops for Young Musicians drivers there are. It's a shame that we were New Sessions & Lessons Start This Month all penalized for doing the right thing. · Weekly Sessions & CD Release Performance I currently live in downtown Toronto, · Private Guitar Lessons for ALL Levels where it is the norm to take taxicabs everywhere. However, due to the lack of accessibility in smaller towns like Oakville, it www.rocksessions.ca becomes more challenging to drive responsibility. It is unfortunate that the Town of Oakville and the Halton police are not doing 905-484-7331 Take the cab in the first place Re: Overnight parking ticket discourages people from doing the right thing, Oakville Beaver, Jan. 2 What's ridiculous is the amount of energy both Tom Gunter and the Oakville Beaver have allocated to something that is clearly the fault of the individual who caused the infraction, Mr. Gunter. If Mr. Gunter knew alcoholic beverages were going to be consumed, a $25 cab ride to the restaurant would have been the wise choice. Furthermore, Mr. Gunter's proposed solution (free parking from 6 p.m. - 9 a.m.) opens the door to abuse from restaurateurs, their family, and their friends. Pointing the finger of blame at the Town of Oakville, the police, and the Chamber of Commerce is incredibly short sighted. Your infraction, you pay. DOUG FRASER SHOWROOM CLEARANCE in-stock items-some priced below cost while quantities last hurry in for best selection C. difficle story sheds light on dysfunctional ministry The article Hospital disputes C. difficile outbreak status, Oakville Beaver, Jan. 3 inadvertently provided more insight into our dysfunctional Ministry of Health than our valued local hospital. It reveals that the left hand within the ministry does not know what the right hand is doing. How else to explain the simultaneous use of two different standards for measuring C difficile, the latest clearly the work of political masters seeking to diminish criticism surrounding this issue by introducing a new lower standard by which to measure it. A ministry that is unable to get its people to use the same standard, thereby producing this confusion, raises questions as to the competency of its management and political leadership. Let me see.....when was Oakville's new hospital supposed to open? ROB HAWKINS SALE women's sweaters REG $495 "MASONRY & FIREPLACE DESIGN SPECIALISTS" 406 SPEERS RD., OAKVILLE ACROSS FROM RONA LANSING 905-337-2066 w w w. c o b b l e s t o n e m b e r s . c a now $150 D O W N TO W N O A K V I L L E 905-337-3155 on raising $55,451 for the Oakville Community! The Dominion Congratulations to One town. One heart. One Way. www.uwoakville.org