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PAG!Be, WH MYEE PRES9 FMPWEDtA .g~6, 99 The only Whitby Newspaper owned and operated by Whîtby residents for Whitby residents! Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. at 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario -LI N 5S1 Phone, 668-6111 Toronto Line 427-1834 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager 2nd Glass Postal Registration #05351 YMCA programs in jeopardy The future of many YMCA programs and serýîices in Durham Region could be in jeopardy if the recommendations of the committees of the Durham Board of Education are ratified bythe full board on Monday, evening. On Wedneday evening ln a six to two vote the property and maintenance committee of the Durham Board of Education defeated a motion which would have re-instated the 'exempt' status of the YMCA f rom rentai fees ta the board for use of facilities d uring hours when board custodial staff are regularly on duty. As of Sept. 1, as things stand, the YMCA will have to pay. The estimated impact on the YMCA is between $40,000 and $60,000. Hardest hit wilI be eight sohoal-age childoare programs which provide before and after sohool care for 136 children, 45 par cent of whom are receiving subsidy. Thee programs aperate f rom 7:30 to 9 a.m. and 3:30 ta 6 p.m., and are an essential ^service for working parents. They ail operate out of space used as classrooms during the day. Fourteen other school boards L in the Greater Toronto area do not charge their local YMCA for use of sp ace for childcare. Also affected wiIl be many of the 90 recreational and educational programs such as youth floor hockey and basketball, gymnastics and preschool programs. These programs serve over 4,000 people in Port Perry, Pickering, AaWhitby, Oshawa and Bowmanville. Many of these programrs take place in Durham board schoals. The YMCA also.serves ,700 children in its day camp program each summer. 0f the nine camps operated, -three are on Durham board property, and wilI also be subect to rentai costs by summer of 1992. The only way that theuYMCA can hope to cover these costs is to increase its fees by 15 ta 30 per cent. This is not.samething we want to do ln a recessian- such as w. now,-are ln. In aur _0opion, itWIl put the progrms out af reach of more people. White the YMCA neyer turns anyone away,'because they can't afford the fe., it means that many more will be requiringfinancial assistance, or wvill stay away. Our ability ta generate additional revenues through fee increases is very limited. We fear that many programs, including the school-age befôre and alter school care, may have to close. Requests for financial assistance *for this sumrmer's day camp atone have already exceeded last year by over 50 per cent and may be double before the summer is over. The decision to revoke the YMCA's exempt status was made by the finance cammittee of the board in April, and the first communication we had thae it was being considered was alter the decision was made. Forty-two YMCA supporters attended the June 12 finance committee meet ing to ask that the decision be reversed, feeling that trustees did nat have f ui information on the impact when the decision was made. Finance *eferred the matter ta property and maintenance whose vote on June 19 was outiined above. Municipal recreation departments wiil continue to enjoy free use of schools, as will boy scouts and brawnies. The YMCA which, like scouts and brawnies, is a charitable organization which serves children, is req uesting that the board continue ta treat aur services in a Ilke manner, aitolast until the ad hoc committee of the board (which has been struck ta relook at the community use of schools -palicy) brings back its recammendations. The board has not been able ta iv us the criteria upon which they decided we shouid not be exempt whliieeothers shouid. Even under the exempt status, the YMCA pays an hourly fee il we use the schooi during time when a janitor would not normaily be on duty, and only have free use when there is a janitar on duty. Last year we paid the board $11,669 in rentai for use -of space when a janitor wasn't on duty. For this sumrmer atone, even with the 'exempt' status stili in effect until September, the board is charging us $15,000 for the use of six classroams for an hour in the morning and an hour and a haif in the afternoon for schooi-age chiidcare for children needing before and after camp care. This.is because the janitors' working hours change in July and August. The YMCA maintains that aur pragrams which include, among othprs, tutoring in math and language arts, and youth employment counselling, actuaily help the board achieve its goals, and at virtually no cosito the board. ln fact. there is grawing evidence that programs such as we operate help head off problems with young peaple sa that costs for remedial and psychologca services, not to mention vandalism, are actualiy çlecreased. On Monday, June 24, the issue wiil be before the fuli Board af Educatian. We have written to each trustee ta ask that they vote in favour of extending aur exempt status until the ad hoc committee reviewing the community use af schools palicy has done its work. 'Janco Griffith. (qonoral Manager YMCA Durham Region TheWhiby'reePrs welcmeslettersan ay sbjet: afconcem ta aurreaers Lttes soud b brefandta hepoint:~ rreVymore ha 00.oia LOSE -LOSE It is easy to look, at the two sides of the Kapuscinski Park furor and see a bunch of selfish spoiled children throwing mud at each other. Aithough that picture may have elements of truth ta it, as any parent knows, there are ways of defusing such situations and other ways which merely throw gasoline on*the lire. Town Council did the latter.. <The decision af Council ta proceed with the construction of the Kapuscinski parkette without full discussion and disclosure is clearly yet another symptom of the prevalent malaise of every political body in this country. Politicians are under attack at'ail levels of gavernment, yet seem bewildered as ta why. They can't bring themselves ta give'us what we want - the right ta be heard and have aur wishes respected. Whether it's the GSI, new hoa'using developments, or changes in Warkmen's Compensation, governments are content ta cansult with their narraw circles of friends, labbyists and bureaucrats and cali that public input. Recently some politicians have reso rted ta claiming the "right ta govern". Such a notion has nathing ta do with democracy which grants -ta governments only the right ta represent and carry out the wishes of the people. But what, the paliticians will ask, should they do about twa mud-slinging groups of citizenis each adamantly oppased ta the positian of the other? For a start, they could talk ta them, listen ta them, mediate, bring them together, look at the park sites in persan, and instruct staff ta explore every* alternative and potential campromise. Perhaps the Kapuscinski site would have been determined ta be the best àfter ail and acceptable ta both sides. And if al that failed, perhaps doingo nothing would have been the wisercaurse. Certainly this parkette was flot a matter of great urgency. Leadership in a democracy is ail about buildi 'ng consensus - it has nothing ta do with who wields the biggest stick, or shaîl we say chainsaw. ,There were -no winners - only lasers - in the debacle over the Kapuscinski parkette. The scars on the landscapeý and in the residents' hearts will gradually heal but aur distrust of the political system will only change when a different breed of politician emerges from, the politicai upheavals that are bound ta corne over the next couple of years. The biggest lasers- on Kapuscinski Ct. were the members of Town Cauncil. Daug Andersan To tho Editor: This is the story of a new citizen ta Whitby. A littie aver two years aga, my wife and 1 faund a lovely new development in north Whitby. One area, naw Kapuscinski Ct., was surraunded with trees ta the north, east and south. W. selected a site and chose a design, and put aur Iffe savings inta it. We were excited about the prospect af maving toaa 'count ry-like' setting. It was surprislng and sad ta see the number af additional trees and bush that were destroyed with no concemn by the builder In the grading and preparation of the homes for which most ai the residents pald a substantial premium, including myseli. W. were led ta believe, when checking with the Town offices,. thati no, the bush ta the north would not be developed as a park as it was not suitable end an environmentally-sensit ive area. Our street was named Kapuscinski, aiter a Iongtime resîdent and archerd grower. How apprapriate i thougjht this was for a naturally-woaded street ta be named after a lover af trees. In the meantime, a road was bulldozed aut at the end of the Street, and trees destroyed forý what was ta become a fire route. hl -has since been tam up and. acquired by a resident on the next Street. As there are many small children in the area, a neod was oxpressed for a smail parkette for, as i understood, a few pieces Of playgraund equipment. Th., rosi of the stary is a taie that shakos my faith in the democratic pracess. As I write To the Editor: Things have reached a new low on the environmental front in Whitby. While a chain-saw gang fromn Whitby parks and recreation raped a Town-owned woodiot behind Kapuscinski Ct., members of Durham Regional Police were ordered to arrest any 0f the nelghbours who attempted ta, prevent this crime from being this, the chain-saws are starting up and a section of park 210 ft. by 210 ft., backing on residences of. Kapusoinski Ct. and Whitburn Ave., is being cleared. Town council, in its efforts ta expedite theo request- for a playgraund, flatly rejected an alternatie site and refused ta meet with t he ^ citizens ta consider alternative elutions. I feel my rights,-and thaso of my neighbours, have been denied and preciaus .waadland ,needlessVy destroyed., Bob and Mary Waltors Whltby committed. Little wonder that the off icers involved, whase usual roI. is ta, prevent violent crime, seemed ii1 at ease.- Yau might wonder why Whitby SEE PAGE 11 Moete rs on - s . ..nsi ar Residents dismayed over Kapusicinski