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This secret meeting is not open to the public and press. Roughley says that our city fathers and mothers will "roll up their shirt sleeves" for a frank, honest and, at times, loud discussion of the city priorities. The city established a process for determining goals and objec- tives three years ago. Two pro- cesses are undertaken simultan- eously: the corporate goals and objectives process and the bud- geting process. On Oct. 19, the first draft of the capital budget which prioritizes projects is pre- sented to council. Oct. 26,the council reviews the current (1987) goals and the goals that each administrative department head (ie the top bureacrats) feels should be a priortity for 1988. This meeting is open to the press, though not the public. Following this, the councillors are each given a binder full of information to consider on their weekend retreat. This year the getaway will be held at the Cambridge Holiday Inn and will cost between $1,000 and $1,500 in total, says Chief Administrative Officer Don Roughley (the head bureaucrat). They are unwilling to move to a system of exclusively-public meetings while deciding how to spend tax dollars, claiming that the current system is a model of openness and public input. That means that city residents will have to take the initiative to make their needs known, and influence the plans and priorities within the city for the next year. Do you want change at City Hall? Perhaps you think it's time to join in a recycling program. Or maybe you’d like to see more money for low-cost housing. ls the lack of adult recreation options getting you down? You can influence city hall. Of course, it is not as easy as it could be. Most city councillors (with the exception of councillors Andrew Telegdi, Lynne Wool- stencrolt and Ian Turnbull) and bureaucrats are determined to continue with their system of isolating politicians for a week- end of hammering out the first draft of the annual "Corporate Goals and Objectives". Ian Kirkby Chronicle Stan This, you will recognize, is the method by which decisions are made in corporate board rooms and government cabinets. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on where you stand on this. the City of Waterloo is neither a business nor are its elected officials a cabinet. Sure, the city should be run as efficiently as possible-where " doesn't Interfere with the concept of democracy. Departments should not be over- staffed. and department heads should be land are) cost-conscious. However, once a decision had been made, dissent, in essence. stopped. Will Waterloo City Hall ever be the same, I've heard it asked? This writer hopes not. For years, Waterloo council has operated under what they call a "team" approach. In this approach, council members openly debated issues and motions "in caucus" and at public meetings. How to influence decision-making at municipal level But the City of Waterloo la a level of government That's your invitation to make the system work for you. If nobody listens, remember there's an election next year - the bureaucrats may be there to stay, but you can always throw unresponsive politicians out of office. "Keep in mind. this approach has been in force for two years. As various groups, business and public become more aware they will increase their response and articulation of their needs through the plan." The goals and objectives and the budget have to both be merged by the beginning of January for final passage. Roughley thinks the whole process works well, and claims that other municipalities are examining the Waterloo system. Then the budgetting process begins, allowing for further amendment of the priorities by council. The corporate goals - amend- ed or unamended from the list worked out at the weekend re- treat - are then presented to department heads. "The depart- ment heads respond to that in their budgetting," said Rough- ley. Citizens will be able to provide input in a single special meeting of council, if this year's policy is consistent with tradition. Council will advertise this meeting to ordinary citizens through their regular space on the inside back cover of the Chronicle. Roughley said that starting this year, a list of special interest groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Waterloo Region Labor Council will be drawn up, and these organizer tions invited to contribute their input to the process. This is the only time when the public has the ability to influence the goals and objectives. "In the last couple of years there has been very little public input," says Roughley. "Based on that input, (councillors) then pass the final goals and objeo lives __ amended or unamend- ed." A rough draft of suggested goals and objectives will arise out of these discussions, and will be tabled before council. Citizens will then be invited to contribute their input. An interesting point indeed Yet, council does not exist to create a climate attractive to business. It exists to serve all citizens. if it can do this and also attract business, so much the better. But ultimately we want business in this community for specific tiutetimts--atteh " job creation. business taxes, to During the recent debates as to whether the council had acted properly and with sufficient information regarding the coal tar deal with CN, some suggested that the open debate could discourage business from investing here. Neither is council a cabinet. Councillors. in our system, are elected as individuals, not as members of a party. Citizens vote for the person, not an ideology. As a result. they should be able to expect that councillors will act as individuals. Members of council should feel free to dissent, debate, and, yes, even change their minds without being insulted and ostracized. Party discipline has no place in municipal government. and not a business. "One positive thing that certainly came of of it was it‘made trustees and administration more aware of the impact power lines can have," said Witmer. "In future planning we will certainly avoid building near lines." She noted that the public board holds other property near hydro lines which was to be used as school sites, including land near Mary Johnston public school which was designated as a high school site, but those lands will not be built on. This comes as a direct result of the Beechwood area residents' committee's concerns over the potential biological effects which students attend- ing Mary Johnston school may be exposed to because of electromagnetic radiation from hydro transmission lines located near the newly-opened school. Melodee Martinuk ChroniceStatt The Waterloo county board of education will never again build a school near hydroelectric lines or substations, according to board chairman Elizabeth Witmer. Witmer said this is a necessary precaution Board more aware of impact of power lines For young Erik Bohl of Waterloo heaven is being behind the wheel of a ffrettruett, which is exactly what he was Saturday at the Watertoo Fire Department's open house at the Weber Street Station. "qhtSqq Mqr%mg& new ON THE ENGINE WATERLOO CHFDNOCLE. WEDNESDAY ocrooen 14, ttttrr - PAGE 3 'thope tonighi mirks the beginning of pride in de trate." I I couldn't have said it any better. As Coun. Lynne Woolstencroft said at the Oct. 5 council meeting, “1 am saddened that some persons have taken sincere questions, a sincere desire for information. and honorable disagreement as personal attacks. I hope that with the opening of this new (council) chamber. dissent will be seen as positive and part of an open process. Some members of council have to learn that open debate and dissent is inherently positive. The more viewpoints that are expressed, and the more open the debate, the better the final decision. Democracy is founded on that belief. provide a variety of choices for consumers, etc. Any business driven away through open debate and careful consideration of decisions is a business this city coes not need. Such a business is far too sensitive and would probably leave for lower wage rates in the Third World anyway. The Mary Johnston school will be ofricialiy opened Oct. 28. Despite the board's assurances, fears that their children may be exposed to health risks at the new $2.8 million school prompted the parents of 18 children to transfer them out of Mary Johnston school. She also maintains that the board has an obligation to do further testing of radiation levels at the Mary Johnston site over the next year to ensure that there is no risk to children at the school. Tests done in August by Ontario Hydro and an independent consultant hired by the board determined that the highest field at the Mary Johnston school is less than two per cent of the standard proposed by the World Health Organiza- tion for public health purposes. Witmer also believes the hand must continue to monitor the voltage of the hydro lines to ensure that it is not in- creased. "We have a responsibility to monitor that." said Wilmer. although current scientific studies are not conclu~ sive concerning the health risk of electromagnetic radiation from hydro lines. with Ian Kirkby M.'tthoM.rFtAMtooo