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a * * * ® SiSgWi THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday April28, 1999 Regional chair will run for office again Uf t By Irene Gentle SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Joyce Savoline: will run again There are an awful lot of doors in Halton Region. That's something Joyce Savoline is expecting to learn in her campaign to become Halton's first publicly elected regionalchair. Since Halton Region was created in 1974, the chair has been appointed through a vote of regional councillors.Savoline, who came to the job in 1994, has been hoping to change that to a vote of the people. That's the way she was used to working when she served as a Burlington coun­ cillor for 12 years. Then, she saw herself as an extension of the people she represented. "It was great. What makes the job worthwhile'is how all of us work together to make Thomasville Million Dollar Renovation Sale 409 Brant St. ♦ Burlington (1-888-846-7845) ♦ ♦ 1-888-THMSV1L 905-333-6670 this a good place to live," said Savoline. She made those feelings known when she was re­ appointed as regional chair in 1997. In her inaugural speech, she asked council to provide a motion for the direct election of the regional chair. "It was the first thing out of my mouth," she said. "I just felt that the time had come in the evolution of the Region." The appropriate motion was made and the provincial government petitioned to allow the change. It appears they have lis­ tened. Municipal Affairs Minister A1 Leach has informed Savoline that he will try to introduce the nec­ essary legislative amendment when the Spring session resumes in late April. If it goes through, Savoline could find herself in a race to be regional chair in the next municipal election. "Confirmation to me will be when the legislation is passed in Queen's Park," she said. "But they're beginning the process." Area MPPs are keeping an eye out for the amendment, said Savoline. "We're watching," she said. "All our MPPs are watching for it, whenever it hits the books." A democratically elected chair is crucial due to chang­ ing times, said Savoline. "It is appropriate given the magnitude of the issues, and because so much of the prop­ erty tax bill is coming to the Region," said Savoline. Since 1997, downloading shifts have changed the face of the regional property tax bill. Today, about 50% of that bill is for regional services, up from 17% just two years ago. Being duly elected could give Savoline a bigger voice on issues such as develop­ ment and taxes, she said. Back in the days when she was a councillor, Savoline earned her votes the hard way -- slogging from door to door. She intends to do the same thing now. "It was knocking on all those doors, every single one," she said. "It will be an enormous undertaking." It is also costly. An elec­ tion campaign would likely set a candidate back about $70,000, said Savoline. Currently, only four regional chairs in Ontario are elected. > In troducing COGECO@Home high speed Internet access over cable th a t's up to 100 times faster than dial-up. Plus, i t 's rich in m u lti-m ed ia content and comes w ith the coolest, easiest-to-use browser you've ever seen. And the re 's more: U nlim ited connect tim e Constant connection - no w aiting, no busy signals, no second phone line Dedicated Customer Care Centre open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 5 email addresses 5MB of personal web space per em ail account inc ludes y i m odem f ^ re n ta l U SPEBO ' o v e r 6 "It's like the Internet on caffeine." Go further. Go faster. G o ... Home(((SiCOGECO 877-8-ATHOME www.cogeco.ca For basic cable subscribers. $49.95/month price applies to non-subscribers. CRIME STOPPERS Call 825-TIPS or 1-800-668-5151 Building site hit by thieves Police in O akville seek clues to the iden tity o f the person responsi­ ble for a break- in at a construc­ tion site in early A pril. Crime Stoppers hopes you*can help. D uring the Easter weekend o f A pril 2nd- 5th, som eone forced their way in to the Ellis- Don Compound on the North Service Road east o f Third L ine. Once in the com pound, the th ief forced the doors to three trailers. The suspect took a variety of item s that i n c l u d e d M o t o r o l a rad ios, a C om paq com ­ puter, a H e w l e t t - Packard fax m achine, a H onda genera­ tor, and a portab le com ­ pressor. Did you hap­ pen to notice som eth ing that w eekend that could help solve the* case? Do you know who was involved? If you have any information that leads to an arrest in this or any other case, you may be eli­ gible for a cash rew ard. You need not give your name, and your in form a­ tion rcan be taken with com ­ plete anonym i­ ty. Crim e Stoppers does not subscribe to Call Display. Please call 1- 8 0 0 -2 2 2 -T IP S or 825-TIPS (th a t's 825- 8477) or on the web at w w w .e n l ig h t - n ing.com -crim e stoppers.htm l. t < http://www.cogeco.ca