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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1984, WHITBX FREE PRESS Put whitby Volce of the County Town Michael Ian Bi urgess, Publisher - Managing Editor The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. blished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography !ne. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL KNELL Communlty Editor DEBORAH GOSSET Advertising Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 Low tax hike is much to our liking,it's a good job It's so nice to be able to congratulate our local politicians for a change. Our town fathers deserve both a round of applause and a hearty slap on the back for producing such a low tax increase this year. And ail, so they claim, without decreasing the level of service that Whitby residents have corne to enjoy. Local property owners will only be asked to contribute an average of 1.7 to 1.9 percent more to the town's coffers than they did last year. One of the primary reasons for the tight grip on tax Increases has been our solid growth in assessment - 4.8 per cent in fact for last year. Attracting new growth - Industrial, commercial and residentall - has been one of the priorities of Mayor Bob Attersley's administration since he took over the centre chair in 1980. The campaignto attract growth and investment to Whitby has been an international effort with in- formation about our community being distributed as far afleld as Japan and West Germany. So not only have these efforts been providing new jobs in our community but they have also had a positive effect on the property taxes that we ail must pay. While we can applaud our local politicians for their budgetary efforts we- must take the time to admonish both Durham Regional Council and the boards of education to take their cue from Whitby. Ail too often the taxpayer will blame the town for his or her ever increasing tax -bill. This is not always justified because for every $1 In property tax collected, Whitby only receives 33 cents. The region collects 17 cents while the boards of education lay claim to the remaining 50 cents. Over the past few years the region has made every possible effort to be the very model of fiscal restraint. By most standards It has succeeded despite the enormous demands placed on it especially in the areas of general welfare assistance and other social programs such as famlly counselling and homes for the aged. After ten years of existance the region is still subjected to parochial demands for public expen- ditures especially by the City of Oshawa whose politicians are still using the region as a scape goat for their own inadequacies and petty em- bitions. It is amazing that after ail the infighting of the past decade the region still has some sem- blance of fiscal sanity. However, as our readers are well aware this newspaper has always had some serious misgivings about thee financial practices of the Durham Board of Education. In our view it has done little over the past few years to exercise any troie control over its financial destiny. While it is true that provincial grants for education have been falling below the accepted standards of a decade ago and that the board has adopted a "pay-as-you-go" policy for capital ex- penditures it still does not seem to be able to con- troI its day-to-day financial operations. Accountability is also a serlous problem the board must face. Firstly, its preliminary budget discussions are usually held behind closed doors. Secondly, both senior staff and trustees are notorlous for not wanting to discuss financial issues with any real candor, especially in the public press. An excellent example of this was provided a couple of years .ago when a $108 million budget was approved in only 13 minutes of public debate by the board. Trustees then spent almost 45 minutes discussing whether or not November 11 should be a public holiday. At this same board meeting, one trustee ar- bitrarily wanted to add $5 million to the budget to purchase new text books. The trustee -.who, by the way, still sits on the board - could not state the need for the books or where the money should come from or what impact It would have on the taxpayer. Events such as these have given us cause to wonder about the board's fiscal respon- sibility. The budget discussions of these two bodies are only now beginning to bear any kind of fruit, but before they send out their tax bills they should take a look at Whitby's financial record and perhaps take a lesson or two. Reader concerned about availibility of porn Dear Sir: A recent commentary by a Toronto newscaster on the subject of video pornography prompted me to take a more discerning look at our own situation, right on our front doorstep. Whitby has seen a dramatic eincrease in the number of video outlets, during the past year. Needless to say that has also meant an increase in the availability of home video tapes. But it is not the quan- tity I am addressing here; it is the quality. Lest we choose to bury our heads in the sand, I urge those with a con- cern to browse their neighbourhood shop for a quick survey of the sort of material being offered as "home enter- tainment". I can already hear the more liberal faction, which exists in all communities, saying that we are dealing with a question of personal liberty and freedom of choice. To these notions I give recognition. From a purely business standpoint, a shopkeeper would be less than smart if he/she did not cater to al tastes, norms and views that could net a. healthy profit. But prc me dd of sut me I tha our tak hor the see on wh poP stil me I ver ove one stai reg the: thei pas tell don film is hon tant B pro] acc mat evei Vid tell are shel viem not 1 In who in Whitby ofits do not interest devoted to "adult enter- and the so called tainment" and strictly iscriminating tastes" àt eye level for all ages some sophisticated to see. How do you or burbanites concerns will you, answer your even less. children should they t is the moral fabric question you about what it I see changing in they see when they go r little town that I into a video shop? e issue with. The If this material is to me video market, in stay in our society, and proportion that we from all indications it is, today, was founded then I propose the tape pornography. That is packages, with their ere it gained it's suggestive, come-on pularity and where it pictures on the front be Il enjoys a substantial removed from the asure of success. shelves; completely. recall a recent con- Let those, who wish to sation I chanced to browse at their liesure rhear between, what in a seperate room or would judge as up- better still, make their nding, solid citizens selection from a listing arding what movies of films available, much y had watched on like a pay TV guide. ir home videos the Perhaps what bothers t week. I need not me most, aside from the you they were pre- increase and visibility minantly X-rated of such films, is the total as. And perhaps that absence of concern of alright. It's their action to do anything ne and more impor- about it. I ask our tly their liesure time. mayor, our community ut the visibility, the church groups, our liferation and the school boards and all essibility of this other social terial should be organizations; where do ryone's concern. you stand? Better still, eo shop owners will if you care, what you you that such films going to do about it? I'm kept on higher prepared to help in [ves, away from the anyway possible and w of minors. This is maybe thats where it true in al cases. starts. fact, in many shops David A Bail le sections are Whitby, Ont. 4 4 4 s