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-r 6-The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, March 17, 1998 *COMMENT titi?'1, 19 inîI1 St F, Miltoîn, Ont. L) r 4N9 (905) 878-2341 Fax: 878-4943 Classified: 875-3300 Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associcate Pebiher David Bos Generual Manager Rob Kelly Editnîr Karen ituisenan Crculatioan Manager Teri Casas Qice Manager Tim Coles Proaductitnn Manager The Canadian Champion pubiShed twtce weely 3t 191 MaIR E >Min w I) lrr IN 'uI 24f3), ii f M,tir.l Printing, Publishinq & Dîisutinq Lld. sîoup Of suburban compa- nies whicti includes. Ajax / Pickering News Adonitiser, hhliston Heraldlçourier, Barrie Advance, Barrys Bay This Week, Boltoni tEterprise, Brampton Guardian, Bunlingtoni Shopping News, Burlînglot Post, City Parent, Collingwood / Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Countty Routes, Etohicoke Guandian, Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/ Octon Frme Press, Kingston This Wenk, Lindsay This Week, Maehham Ecotomist & Son, Midlatd / Penetanguishete Mitron, Mississauga News, Newmanket / Aurora Era Banner, Northumberland News, North Yotk Mieror, Gakoilit Beaner. Sakville Shopping Newt, Grîllia Today, Oshawa I Whithy I Clarington This Week, Peterborough This Week, Richmond Hiti I Thonhîli / Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirent, iJehnidge 1 Stouttville Tribune. Today's Seniors. City of York Guardian. Adnertising os accepted on the condition that, in tht tuent ot a typographical urror, that portion ot tht advertislng spaco occu- pied by the ereuneous item, together wnth a eeasotBbIe aiitwanict tot signatare, wtll rut 0e charged tor, hon thn halance ot the aduertise- ment witl be paid tut at the applicable rate. The poblisher reserves the right nu categotize adnertisements on dectine. Less would be more Asking people to trim their own organizational empires is a recipe for disaster, as was amply illustrated by Milton's munici- pal councillors last week. That's like calling for volunteers to be fired. There bas been success in other areas - Burlington council cut its numbers, but elected representatives there are expected to serve the community full time now. In Milton, the status quo would flot change in terms of com- pensation or commitment. There would simply be a smaller group of people doing the work, according to Councillor Rick Malboeuf. His idea has menit. t deserves more serious and objective atten- tion than it has garnered, but prospects for any kind of meaning- fui change look dim. Infighting - sharp by Milton standards - bas erupted. Views are polarized, and less than sublime. Councillor Barry Lee was openly and bluntly critical of the ini- tiative. Mr. Lee, not a man given to emotional outbursts, said the manner in which the suggestion was put, "is just stupid. It's just an attempt to score political points." An angry Councillor John Challinor, intentionally or not, and probably not - sidetracked debate by saying that if it is a mat- ter of money, he is willing to cut his stipend. Mr. Malboeuf was of the opinion, perhaps triggered by criti- cism, that Milton needs at least as many fuli-time firefighters as municipal councillors, a situation that does not prevail at present. Yet money is not at the core of this issue, nor is the manner in which it was presented. How many firefighters Milton does or doesn't have is an amusing riposte by a frustrated man, and noth- ing more. The key here is efficiency and true accountabiiity. That is, how many people do you actually need to do the work given the thrust of provincial policy to cut duplication, and given that you must set an example for others. That last bit about setting an example is key. The cutbacks at municipal government are not finished yet. More properly per- haps, they should not be finished yet. There are stili too many elected officiais at the municipal level, both regionally and local- ly, too many duplicated bureaucratic functions, too much of this, that and the other thing. And there are too many people trying to justify their existence by claiming they mun lean and mean departments or tiers of gov- ernment. Compared to what? To each other? Councillor Rick Day's comment last week was revealing. Like most of the others on Milton council, Mr. Day bas by and large good intentions and the community's interests at heart. But he thinks that, for example, the Milton Ratepayers Association should favour more municipal politicians, not less, since that way there would be enhanced democracy. More councillors don't mnean more democracy when you've already got close to a dozen in a relatively quiet suburban centre of about 32,000 people. The only ones who really think like that are some of the coun- cillors themselves, who, with ail due respect, appear to have an inflated opinion of themselves. Rob Kelly Dealing with the goverment ends up big waste of time Dear Editor: Recently I faced another example of multi-tiered bureau- cratic govemmelit in action. I was attempting to deliver a truck load of dlean, tlattened cardboard to the Milton landfill site run by Halton Region. This was what I considered the more responsible option, instead of simply throwing it in the dumpster by my busi- ness - a dumpster wbicb I bave to pay for myself, inci- dentally. 1 can remember some years ago, weekly garbage pick-up was a service, provided tbrougb the business taxes 1 pay. Now, bowever, we al bave ugly dumpsters by our busi- nesses, and of course, we neyer saw a tax rebate or cut wben waste collection and haulage became a private sector responsibility. Now we have a regional landfijl, yet wben I drove there to dispose of my cardboard properly, I was tumed away, and told it was considered commercial waste. I was told to haul the cardboard down to Burlington, a round trip of an hour. These regional people, it would appear, would prefer to see ail kinds of pickup trucks driving ail the way to Burlington and back, buming fossil fuels and polluting the environment, radier than accepting tise wate in Milton. How does this square with environmental preservation to say nothing of efficiency? There is aready a large waste disposaI facility in Milton - where t pay my residenial and business taxes. I don't OUR READERS WRITE Afier many phone cals I was instructed to retumn to the regional IandfiIl site in Milton, pay my $5 disposai fée, and my cardboard would be accepted. I sent one of my employees. When be got there, he was told to dump the cardboard in with the general garbage because the cardboard recycling bin was full. That's about par for the course when it cornes to dealing with the govemment, as far as I'm concemed. Brian Bell Bnian's Auto Repair Milton Quit holding out on us,. please Dear Editor, After reading Joyce Hagevik's comments (March 10) about how The Canadian Champion had once been the pride of Milton but was now one large advertisement news- paper, I reluctantly agreed. Upon tumning the page and reading 'Snowboarding or I've Fallen And 1 Can't Get Up', *I found Murray Townsend's article absolutely hilarious, informative and something that I could really relate to, being overweight and over 40, etc. Please release more of these gems that 1 know the people of Milton are capable of producing. Quit holding out on us. Kevin Wlah Milton Pud by Steve Nease