The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

14 - bh Canadin Ch 1ampion, Frlday Soptember, 1997 t a- i l Trustees have topy their own legal bi By TIM WHITNELL Special ta The Champion Public sehool supporters will nat be aaked ta foot the bill for legal expenses incurred by five Halton Board of Educatian trustees. Trustees - other than thse five in questions - voted 7-4 nat ta reimburse thse quintet to thse tune of $6,919.25 each. Thtis repre- sents thse individual buis ni up by board Chair Linda Glover, and trustees FIa Belford (Milton) Joe Paveika, Ethel Gardiner and Penny Siebert in defending tbemnselves agalnat municipal confliet of inteoest chargea. David Houston, a member of the Taxpayers Coalition Burlington, made thse allegations last year, .ontending tie live trusteea should nat have voted on thse 1996 board budget because of close relationahips each had seith a sehool board employee.. Thse case seas withdrawn by consent of Mr. Houston and the trustees Iaat spring. Thse Milton tnastee wbo triedi ta convince the board ta pay tise group's bill, and seho atarted a publie fund on their behaif, waa obviously discouraged by tise resuit of laat week's school board meeting. "I waa almast stunned, and disappointed in my colleaguea," Tim Kingsbury sald thse day alter the decision. Mr. Kingsbury thought the legal opinion recently obtained by the board, sehicb indicated it seas "permitted ta indemnify the October 18, save money and make no paymnents until March '98t Don't s-s-shiver this winter! If your heating systemn is getting a littie tired, install a new higher efficiency, cost- saving system fram Union Gas. And take advantage of aur convenient billing options.& $200 off a high-eficiency furnacet $100 off a mid-efficiency furnacet $100 off air conditioning with a furnace purchaset Act now,_before the Faîl rush! Cll Union Gas today. And make your home a comfort zone. Cali 335-7310 or 1 800 642-0608 t Oeferred payolents availisie to Unin Gs Ssdatial csstosen semproved crettt throt*~ Unio Gas. Discounts asailabie oerty iliroug Union Gas Sales Office. Ail stiier sifers nos appliciuie. Offer valid frses Aag. 18 to Oct. 18, '97. There are ns set-sp tees sr trustees", would be enoîîgh tu ctOti\iisce his 5iilleagiies lo suîposil payment of the expenses. T'he fact thse Halton board does flot have municipal conflict of interest insurance coverage is an omisaion Mr. Kingsbury would like ta see oectified. He said he will bring forth a moton ta have the board "oo into tise cost of sucb insurance. In the meantime, Mr. Kingabury said thse defence fund he start- ed in ianuary haa oeacbed about $4,000. He said he wiII divide it among thse five. Ise fundraising is expected ta continue as Mr. Kingsbury haa about 150 phone calis ta oetumn ta people interest- ed in making a donation. Hugh Doull, preaident of Taxpayers Coalition Buulington, sald his group finds no satisfaction in the trustees having ta pay their oen way. 'Ise TCB has said for a long lime that this is a provincial mat- ter and should be paid for from, provincial funds. There should be legislation so that private individuals don't have ta take this an themselves," said Mr. Douil. TIse TCB wauld prefer ta see a publicly-funded commission set up ta handle these kind of disputes. Mr. Doui also noted Mr. Haustan's $20,000-plus legal bill s about half paid and seul eventually be fully covered by TCB. One persan left fuming by the sehole affair seas Steve Glover, husband of board Chair Linda Glover. He stormed aut of the meeting sehen payment seas denied. "My fam-ily is nase an the hook for about $9,000 in legal fees ta defend against these graundiesa allegations. We have ta use money put aside ta pay for our (tsea) children's (past-secondaay) educatian ta pay these costs," Mr. Glaver said in a ane-page letter he had prepared in case trustees voted against paying for the legal expenses. MILTON GIRLS SOFTBALL ASSOtCIATION wouid like to recognize and thank the following sponsors for their support in 1997 Kwik Kopy Kinsmen Club Rebekah Lodge Neil Transportation Carole Murray's Swim Academy Key Centres Bruce Hood Travel Richardson Chev Olde Hunt Plymouth Chrysier Haiton Community Credit Union Creative Memnoriais Knlghts of Columbus Milton Machine Shop The Financial Planning Group Lions Club Expedite Plus Royal Canadian Legion And a SPECIAL THANKS to the coaches and the many volunteers who contributed their time, talent and energy to help make 1997 another enjoyable year for the playersi 1997 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: MONDAY EPIEMBER 221997.7:W - 9:00PM. Items of importance ta th~e League will be discussed. Elections for the 1998 Board will be conducted. Contact ROY HARROLO (876-3357) for information.