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PAGE 2, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1975, WHITBY FREE PRESS Only one will besmiling on.Tuesday GRAYDON COLVILLE JIM GARTSHORE JOHN GOODWIN GORD HANNA BRUNO HARILAID WARREN MOWAT Colville has some unique ideas on downtown core Mayoralty candidate Gray- don Colville has some unique ideas on how to rejuvenate the downtown core which he feels is getting so bad that even the shoplifters do not go near it. First, he said, you "get the merchants to form their own committee and then come for- ward with their ideas" and pre- sent thern to Whitby Council. Mr. Colville added "if people are so worried about meter violations, why don't the merchants pool a float, have a person to shadow the meter man and race him to the meter before the tine expires". Another idea. "I think two members of town council should occupy a store down- town (full-time) to have better relations with the public. My two choices would be Joy Thompson and Gerry Emm. Joy could smoke like a troop- er and Gerry could preach the evils of smoking and at the same time Gerry could sell his cracked eggs at a dis- count; and, of course, town council would okay a vendor's permit for Gerry Emm. This way they could justify their full-time wages for a part-time job", he said. Mr. Colville put forth his secret formula for revitalizing the downtown core at a may- oralty forum last week. He was responding to the question "what three concrete steps would you take to reviti- lize the downtown core of Whitby?" Feelings mixed on public transportation Mayoralty candidate John Goodwin feels that the first step in providing a better transportation system in the town might possibly be to break the local franchise held by Charterways Company Limited. Mr. Goodwin expressed that view during an ail candi- dates forum last week. He said that there are only two ways of doing this - by buying the company out or by joining the Toronto Area Transit Operating Authrity which has a clause in its mem- bership agreement that any municipality which joins can automatically break the local franchise and have a public transportation system pro- vided by TATOA. He said that he supports a better transportation system in the town, but not all the expense of bankrupting the municipality. Mr. Goodwin was respond- ing to the series of questions "what do you feel are Whitby's public transportation needs? What are your propos- als to make a system opera- tive in Whitby as soon as possible? If Durham Region won't move quickly on trans- portation, should Whitby go it aone?" Candidate Jim Gartshore pointed out that transporta- tion is a responsibility of the region and said he was relatively sure that the region would not allow the Town* the necessary capital expen- ditures. Mr. Gartshore put forth an alternative to buses as a public transportation system whereby tickets which allow discounts on cab fares are issued to senior citizens, one group which desperately needs such a service. The taxpayers would assume the cost dif- ference between regular and discount fares. Candidate Bruno Harilaid a long-time supporter of public transporation, feels it would be benefical, promote shopping Whitby and make the recreational facilities in the town more accessible. Mr. Harilaid, who has operated a public transporta- tion system before and turn- ed it into a profitable venture, feels that a system would be financially feasible in this town. Candidate Gord Hanna feels there is a need for public transportation but did not think a costly system would be acceptable to Whitby or the taxpayers. Mr. Hanna said he would like to see a system which was neither risky nor costly. Candidate Graydon Col- ville does not think that there is a drastic need for a public transportation system in the town. Mr. Colville said that he does not believe that either the region or the town would approve of it. He pointed out that an inter-town service had been attempted before but, because it did not pay off, the company discontinued it. Candidate Warren Mowat said, as a result of his recent campaigning, that he believes about 90 percent of the townspeople are against a public transportation system at the present time but expects that will change as the price of gasoline steadily increases. "A public transportation service doesn't pay its way", Mr. Mowat said. To build or not to build new town hall will be embarassing decision Regardless of what action the Town decides to take on the new municipal building'on Rossland Road - to cancel or to go ahead - it will be cm- barassing for the present council, according to mayor- alty candidate Gord Hanna. "It's going to be some- what embarassing to stop a wrong decision", he feels. "It's going to be even more embarassing to complete a wrong decision". Mr. Hanna says, if elected, he will attempt to either stop the project completely or sell the property to the region to use as it sees fit. Replying to charges by some that the cost of halting the project is toe prohibitive, he asks "if you can't afford to stop it, how can you afford to build it?" Mr. Hanna feels t!i.t, by building the municipal build- ing on Rossland Riad. a new town will be created. He feels that this new identity will be created at the expense of forsaking the existing identities of Brooklin and Whitby. The cost of Whitby's new municipal building on Ross- land Road came under scrutiny from ratepayers When asked the total price of the building, candidate John Goodwin said it amoun- ted to SI.6 to $.7 million. Candidate Bruno Harilaid questioned these figures, contending that the tender price was actually $1.9 mil- lion, with "added things" that would put the price to $2,300,000. Mr. Goodwin admitted that Mr. Harilaid was partially cor- rect, for if architect's fees and furniture costs were ad- ded, the total price would be $1.9 million. When Jim Gartshore was asked why a proposal for a plebiscite on the town hall failed to get council approval recently, lie replied that the - Hanna proposal was three years too late. "We were locked into ex- penditures of $700,000 to $800,000 in contracts signed and sealed for the building", lie said. "When we've gone that far, it would be less than credible- to go out to the people". Mr. Harilaid questioned why Mr. Gartshore had asked his advice on how to stop the town hall in 1972 and had not taken it. "I capnot understand how he changed his mind", he said. "Do we really need the town hall? Have you been asked for it?" he asked the ratepayers. Hi gh rise apartments are a dead issue The Sorichetti high rise apartments arc a "dead issue" according to West Lynde Community Association Pre- sident Bill Hoffman, but local residents. wanted to keep the issue alive at a mayor's forum When one resident accused the council of "letting us down" on the high rise issue, Jim Gartshore replied that a year and a half ago he had approached the West Lynde Community Association to see if it had any comments on the development, "and the reaction I got from West Lynde was zero", he said. "Nothing got going till it appeared in the newspaper that OHC was coming in, and all hell broke loose. If we could have.got some reac- tion a year and a half before, we could have got some- where. I did not let you down; you didn't respond", he said. Mr. Gartshore also pointed out that lawyers had, told the town it had very little chance of winning its case to stop Residentialo the development. "If wC can keep the other two build- ings out of there we will try to", he said. John Goodwin reviewed the history of the develop- ment, stating that the original development should be restricted Residential development is expensive and should be re- stricted so there can be more industrial and commercial de- velopment, says Mayoralty Candidate Warren Mowat. Bruno -larilaint commented that subdividers should be required to provide an ade- quate amount of industrial development as well as residential development while Gord Hanna contended that much of tie town's industrial land has not reached its potential because of lack of government decisions to at- tract industry. John Goodwin replied that there has been some indus- trial growth in the town in the past year, and this has cone about because the town has an agreement with a de- veloper to provide a tenant- operated building for the town in one of the new industrial parks. plans were for 40 units to the acre on about 20 acres of land north of the creek, with build- ings only four to six storeys high. The conservation auth- ority reduced the land to eight acres, he said, and pointed out that he had op- posed this move as well and - a decision of zoning for group housing which required more than one building on the site. Mr. Goodwin said the town's solicitor had three defences to stop the high rise apartrnents--"one strông and two weak", but "council told him not to use one very valid defence. I and one other councillor opposed council's action on this", he said. Mr. Goodwin urged the West Lynde residents to visít the clerk of the town and review the file so they could look into the record of who did what. Candidate Bruno Harilaid said the town's citizens must realize that, under the present laws, the municipality has no power to force any property owner to make renovations, except to upgrade safety. The Town can, however, control and regul.ate what the owner- wants to do and Mr. Harilaid said that, if elected, he would attempt to make these regula- tions beneficial to the property owners. He also proposed to nego- tiate fixed leases for nominal consideration of the back- yards of -town property and then combine them into a landscaoed parking lot which he feels would be a feasible asset for all concerned. Mr. Harilaid added that he "would attempt to reroute heavy traffic around the four corners, do away with parking meters (lost revenue there will be gained by increased busi- ness taxes) and promote only the type of business that can survive and profit in this sur- rounding". Candidate Gord Hanna, a member of the Downtown Action Committee, feels that the most important step in the revitalization of the down- town core is to make the new citizens of Whitby feel wel- come when they go down- town. He adds that the munici- pality's confidence in the area and provision of more off-street parking are also essential. Jim Gartshore believes that downtown property owners who want to rejuvenate their businesses should be given some encouragement to do so, possibly with grants from the Town and the Province. He also feels that the area should be designated as a special improvernent area and that more off-street parking should be provided. Candidate Warren Mowat said that, besides providing off-street parking, a better street crossing method at cer- tain areas is necessary. He also feels that converting some two-way streets into one-way streets is another possibility that should be looked into. Mr. Mowat also said, like Mr. Gartshore, that the area should be designated as a specialty area. He feels that unanimous co-operation a- mong property owners is a must if the downtown is to undergo any significant revitilization. Candidate John Goodwin, who was involved in estab- lishing the first parking facilities in the downtown area, feels that provision of more off-street parking and improvement of streets are essential.