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Page 2, Thursday, June 8, 1972, WHITBY FREE PRESS The Right On April Il, 1972 the publisher and editor of the Whitby Free Press sat at a public meeting of council and read in the agenda, a committee recommendation for the town to refrain from ail ad- v e r t i s ing in the Whitby Free Press. The recommendation foliowed an abras- ive editorial in which for the first time council receivedcriticismfrom the loc- al paper. Since the Free Press dared to crit- icize editorially, which is the right of a I I ne w spapers, the relationship be- tween newspaper and council has been somewhat thorny. We have been asked to withold information, have been den- i e d informat ion b y publ ic servants at town hall, and in fact have had togo tothemayor about the latter on at least two counts. But ail of these things are infinites- imal in comparison to the shocking and o u t r ageous manner in which this town council has handled the Rossland Road municipal complex issue. Despite t h e f a c t that hundreds of opposed votes were returned on an ad run in the Free Press, at least three members of council and the town plan- ne r af ter having this brought to their attention, said that no one is opposing the new complex. The hundreds of peop- l e w ho have written to the paper ex- p r e s sing their views against the pro- posed move are, according to Councillor Gerry Emm and Doctor Michaels, "peop- le who would oppose anything. " The objectors have been condemned by Councillor Gerry Cox for not res- ponding when the newspaper ads outl in- ingcouncil's intentions were originally published - despite the fact said advert- isements (Notice to dispense wi th a vote of the electors) were published in ail three local papers over the Christmas holiday. To Expression T h e W h it by Free Press has been told - and told repeatedly - by council tha t the organized group opposing the new town hall (Whitby Citizens Study Group ) is composed of "unreasonable radicals" and "conservatives afraid of change who want to keep Whitby as it is despite all costs. " This connat ion of the group has b e e n so wellI promoted in fact, a mem- ber of ano the r newspaper says the group is composed of radicals and con- servatives because "council says so. " Even worse one honourable member of council, venturing a guess at the identityof a former town staff member, whose opposing opinions were publ ished in a Whitby FreePress front page story, says there are plenty of uncom- plimentary things he and council know t h a t wouldn't be beneficial to the for- m e r once divulged. This petty gossip was expressed to the Free Press editor in a telephone conversation and again at a public function before two witnes- ses. The newspaper has been asked how many letters of opposition are in its possession, and ridiculed and accused of dishonesty because it could not div- ulge the number of letters because the sponsorsof the ad, 'Message to the El- ectorate' would not permit it. Mayor Newman, on one hand said at a special public meeting he did not think a plebiscite was necessary on the pro- posed complex because the electors had left the running of the town to the muni- cipal leaders, and on the other hand, said in a radio interview he was happy thewill of the people would have an op- portunity to be carried out. T h e Ontario M un i cipal Board has ruled that both supporters and object- ors on the project will be heard f r om. I f t h i s ruling had n ot taken place Sir, The POP people are going too far. They ask Mr. Caf- i d M. P. t o make avai I abi e to ail hi s constituents, thePOP committee information on the ai rpor t. The rest of us taxpayers are get- ting tired of people who N i t P ick at every proposal ever presented. We el ected the Government to weigh all the pros and cons of every project and ma k e the best decision possible. They have so far, pre- sented a good so- undcase for the airport, based on facts and if'the people opposed to the s ite want to have their object- ions heard they should be willing to pay for the dis- tribution themsel- ves. Afterall since the beginning of t i m e, there have always been short- sighted people who panic every t i m e something new comes along. The name "People or Planes" should be changed to "Pant- ophobia over Pro- gress". They Have cost the country a fortune trying to pacify their fears. J. R. Sanby Whitby. Sir, There are some interesting figures in the 1971 finan- cial reports of the THE WHITBY FREE PRESS 1 (Voice of the County Town) Hometown paper of Whitby, Brooklin, Myrtie and Ashburn. Published every Thursday in and for the people of Whitby. Offices - Mat phone Publisher Editor Editorial Staff Display Advertising Circulation Town of Whitby, and the Library Board. Town report - To library $75,525. Library report received from town $72, 525. Unexplained - $3, 000. 301Byron St. S. Whitby - Box 206. Whitby - 668-6111 W. Bill"Durkee - Judy Durkee - J. Quail Ron Winstanley Barry Schroeder Town Report - Building Mainten- ance $76,931.61 Library Report-- Building Mainten- ance $3,069.00 $73, 862. 61 If the Iibrary moves to the tow.n hall where willI it get the extra $73, 862. 61 for building maintenance? This would be required over and above the $250, 000 it w i Ili cost to convert the town hall into a library, or are we going to have a makeshift Ilibrary ? I can see now why the council want to move to a new buil- di n g away off in the country, where they wiIl not be abie to hearthe screams of the taxpayers. F. A. Sugden. READER'S FORUM At a special meeting of council, Coun- cillor Gerry Emm said that the proposed municipal-police complex first origina- te d in 1970 when the staff "came to us indicatedtheywere working n cramped conditions." Can Councillor Emm be more speci f ic and enlighten me who s p e c i f i cally instigated the idea for a new town hall? Harry Inkpen, Whitby. Challenge READER'S FORUM is a weekly feature for the readers of the Whitby Free P r e ss. AI I questions must be s igned and del ivered to Box 206, Whitby. Ques t ions need not be of a political nature but must be of a local nature. counc ili1woul d have proceeded with construction of the complex on the hill irrespective to the opposing views of its own people. The Ontario Municipal Board's rule to re-advertise a 'Notice to dispense with a vote of the electorst does not necessarily mean the board wi 1l rule thumbs down on final construc- tion of the new town hall. But it could mean a public hearing will be held be- fore-any final decision is reached. More important it means the opposed to the issuehave the right to write their objections to the Town Clerk. And this istherightofcitizens in any democracy - despite the most unbecoming manner that ha s to date been displayed by our s o c al 11ed municipal leaders. For the r i g h t o f expression even in Whi tby, shoul d prevail. MIME@