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___ 'I Changes prn at site of girl death Dposed Town continues Ils baffle against Page, 18 highway Ink p Appeal denied, Localwrestlers$ Town awards tender earn Ontarjo 2for centre Page 14 tities Page 2 8 'Gag order'. slammed bly truste By Mark Reesor An interim public* framework for-tnrstee.concerna and informa- tion requirementsr passed by' Durham public board trustees' Monday is n 'othing more than a Thatwa the accusation 1eve- Mled by Oshawatrumsteoe Mike NichÃ"oon "at Monday night's board meeting.e «It is no more than a politic'i1 hatchet Job intended t tm i- date mysel and others te pre- vent us froip speakcing out when we thlnk itis necessary,' Nichol- son told bis colleffle. . It -was devised by the board chair as an attempt te limit the right of a member of this board to speak'openly and effectively about. ther opinions... the board chair should be asharned of even bringing this item forward ini the firet place.» Thfe. framework, which in- cludes a flow chart of actions trustees can take if they have a «concern - about any aspect of staff performance or practice» or «a need for information," was passed unanimously during an in camera session of the standing committeè April 18. Trustees passed a motion by Nicholson,-who was not at the standing committee meeting because of job commitments, te bring the item inte publi session at ondays meetmnpul «t is obvious that attempts have been made te bide this motion from the eye" of the public and the media, Nicholson said.' He objected most strongly te a clause stating that, «it is the epcttion of the board that individual trustees will refrinff from making public statements, that could be interpreted as a negative appraisal or direct criti- cism of staff performance, generally or spe cally.» "The board doesnot initiate expectations," said Nicholson. «It is the duty of my constituents te judge on my actions,'not the'duty of t bis board, either as a whole or individually. "You did not elect me and I amn not accountable te y ou nor sub- ject to your discipline or scru- Liother clause states "it is the expetation of 'the board that inividual tru.stees will provide their colleagiies with the profes-, sional courtesy te, refrain from any public atatements -about such matters («information per- tinent te possible changea in the roles or practices of staff" until the agreed'upon information has been receîved at the specified time. "This should provide accurate information to a Il trustees for the purpose of public debate and "What a load of hogwash,» complained Nicholson. "A reason- able translation is 'don't ta]k to the media until we aIl know what you are going to say so that we cn MtOur atonies straight;... Xh ithingý that thispvolicy, will do' is foster public debate and dsusion. Opnnesa 'and f &uil mvl ent by trustees and the public is the very thing that this Ioicy is seeking tepirevent." 'Tat' what the fight is al about, olk, keepig gagmofM argued Oshawa ntrseeAudrey MacLean. "I think thattrustee Nichol- sonesinterpretation of this is bis interpretaton and bis opinion and I will certainly flet to the end to make sure that trustee Nicholson has that rigt, God damn it. "Howeven, ]Pm going to remind SEE PAGE 14 Gold medalist at school JEFF ADAMS, gold- medallst at the Com- monwealth Games, shows his racing vehi- cie to St. John the Evangelist Sohool students durlng the April 19 opening of the Variety Village Outreach program at the Giffard Centre beside the Whithy sohool. For one mont, students from several area sohools Mill experience wheelchair, mobtlity, wheelchalr basketball and other activities. See, story on page 3. er htb re rs by Maurke fhr htyFePes ....... .. DBM. .Town to fistobtinlgal advc By Mfike Kowalski. Town council will seek legal advice before. making any attempt te, kil Whitby's Down- tewn Business Improvement Area (DBIA). On Monday, council deferned acting on a1 request from the DBIA management board te, dis- band the 17-year-old onganiza- tion. Instead, council oted for a legal opini*on on w ether the concept of a business improve- ment area can b. retained while the .xisting struýtue is modi- fled. Despite a necent referendum in which the majority of DBIA members ývoted te disband the association, council was not pre- pared te determinthDB' ft attins time. n'eteDIV Council's decision was im- ~mediately criticized by DBIA chair Paul Savage who warned of continuing dissension among downtewn merchants if council unduly délays dealing with the. board 's request. "In my personal view, I believe that if the Town of Whitby doesn't deal with this in atimelry fashion, it will add fuel te fine of opponents of the DBIA,' Savage teld reporters following council's vote. 'Mei downtown business asso- ciation, has again come forward and asked council for certain things and council has chosen te ignore them," h. said. .I believe' it will b.ecouncil's responsibility if negative thinga happen in the downtewn area.» Savage was one of three board members Who. appeared before council te ask that it not support an -operations committe. recom- mendation made last Tuesday. Vice-chair Dougr Anderson and director Pat Penrkins also failed te convince council te, reject the recommendation' and pas aa bylaw repealing the"1978 bylaw which createdthe DRIA. By 6O vte cuncl favue seeig leg dv ics t h possibility of designating a redu- ced improvement area and/or haring, a special levy charged te, only those businessea which benefit from- an improvement area., (Ma yor Tom Edwards and councillor Gerry Emm did not attend the meeting.), Councillors were unanimous i their belief that maldng a deci- sion on the DBWIA' fate without more information would be wrong, and none were pnepared to, leave downtown business ownera without some form of representatidn. But. they failed te shake the triols conviction that the reaulta of last monthe referendum is a clear indication that the DBIA has outlived its usefulness. With 52 per cent of the 380 members participating, 94 voted agzainat continuing with the DBIA and 87 were i favour. There were 10 spoiled ballots. In bis presentation, hobby shop owner Savage reftited com- ments anid insinuations, made at last week's coinmitee meeting, about the validity of the refer- endum and the board itself. Savage demied that the board has a «hidden agenda7 even though the majority of the seven members elected last December were citical of the DBIA over 'l do otpersonally believe this was the case. The ballot was done i a non-discriminatery manner,»he said. Ini fact, Savage claimed the finat-ever elected board has done a, very goold job" i easing ten-- sioins among the prné- and anti- DBIA factions, and said «ground- less"acuatos ilonlyi- flame a volatile situation. "I don't want te se. us go back te last year where peple were suing each other and lawyens' letters9 were flying around,» he said. «W. have two large camps SE£ PAGE 18 w- -~...- - - Ma Fp W,