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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 22, 1985 Editorial Comments Informed Voters Scugog Township voters go to the polls on November 12 to elect a new council and trustees to the Boards of Education. Nomination closed on Monday afternoon, and while many can- didates have 'been campaigning for the past few weeks and even months, the 'official' campaign is now underway. As municipal elections draw near, editorial writers in community newspapers are fond of urging their readers to "do their civic duty' and get out to vote on election day. That's all well and good. Everyone who is eligible to vote should do just that. But we strongly suggest that between now and November 12, citizens of Scugog must take the time to find out why people are running for office and what they hope to accomplish if they get there. Municipal elections are important. This one coming up is impor- tant, but no more or less than past or future elections. Over the next few weeks, we suspect that most, if not all can- didates for office will come knocking on your door to ask for support. Talk to the candidates, ask them questions, find out what they think about issues, ask them what they will do for Scugog over the next three years, read carefully the literature they may hand to you. 'As has been the custom in the past, the Port Perry Star will be asking each candidate to state in writing why he/she is seeking of- fice and what they hope to accomplish. We will carry these statements in the issue prior to the election. Take the time to read them. And there will be more opportunity to meet the candidates at a public meeting slated for October 30. It will be held at the Latcham Centre in Port Perry, and if you are interested in becoming a better informed voter, take the time to attend this meeting. Each and every citizen who intends to vote on November 12, has an obligation to do sc in an informed fashion. It's not enough just to put an X beside any old name that pops up on the ballot. The decisions that are made by the electorate on November 12, will have a direct bearing on activities in Scugog Township and Durham Region for the next three years. You can have a say in those decisions. Find out about the candidates seeking your vote. A vote cast in ignorance is on a par with not voting at all. It's up to you to be an informed voter. Find out why all these people are seeking office and what they will do for you and your community over the next three years. Frazzled! There were a lot of very blue people last week when the Jays tripped and fell on their way to the World Series. Oh, to think what might have been ..... When the Royals subdued the Jays in game seven, a collective moan of disbelief could be heard from Cornwall to Windsor. In one small way, the Jays losing may have a silver lining. Did you notice how testy a lot of people were last week? Can you imagine the frazzled nerves had the Jays made it to the Series? Now, we can all relax, sit back and watch the Argos and the Leafs. Doesn't that sound like fun? In all seriousness, it would have been nice to see the Jays still playing baseball this year against those speedy Cards. There are a couple of things that the Jays have done this past season, aside from their exploits between the white lines. They snagged the attention of sports fans all over Canada. And they put Toronto on the big league map, south of the border. Our American friends now know something about Toronto and its baseball team. They may usLInow a great deal more come this time next year. FORT POET TRE (ONT (GD | DY army Tene? 20 801 00 Ch SORT MOTT Ont AO | otro = ©) 00) "1 N Member of the the sto. J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Canadian Community Newspaper Association vertising Manag and Ontario Community Newspaper Associabion Ad or Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd Port Perry Ontario J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Ottice Department Ottawa and for cash CATHY ROBB payment of postage n cash News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate In Canada $15 00 per year Elsewhere $45 00 per year Single Copy 35° OCOPYRIGHT tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written pern ission of the publisher All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver Chatterbox by Cathy Robb Oh, yes, indeed, it's a marvellous election. There's more darn candidates pushing and shoving their way into the township office for nomination papers than there are pigs in a trough at slop time. Looks like nobody's going to be acclaimed this time around. Which is a good thing. Nothing brings out the animal in a person quite like a healthy dose of competition. Not that there's any animalism going on. Is there? I just looked out the window and I didn't see any dirty politicking going on. Just a bunch of orange leaves, and cars in the parking lot. No suspicious looking Mexican plumbers within miles. And I certainly didn't spy any back-stabbing. Maybe a couple of speeding tickets but there wasn't a knife between the shoulder-blades anywhere when I looked out the window. To tell you the truth, I even witnessed two can- didates wish each other luck. I was tempted to call the folks at That's Incredible, but didn't because I couldn't find their phone number. It's probably long distance anyways. Nah, it looks, from where I'm sitting in this Ivory Tower I call an office, like one of the Cleanest Run Municipal Elections ever run. Everyone's motives are spotlessly pure, no doubt. The only thing is, I don't think at this stage of the game that the best man is going to win. Why? Because the best man isn't nominated yet. The man who should be on council is a pillar in this community, enshrined at Emiel"s Place where he can be seen day after day. He's a retired actor, staunchly honest, clearly sincere Kids love him. Baby boomers idolize him and recall wat- ching him on the television when they were mere tykes Nobody dislikes this man He's a hero to most. a saint to others Okay, so he might be a little green behind the ears when it comes to politics, but then again, he's green all over And when he teams up with his pal Pokey, Gumby 1s an unbeatable choice for the Mayor of anywhere It was a month or so ago. that me and my bud- dies were hanging around talking about the elec- tion, when we decided to put Gumby at the reins of power The election. we agreed, was shaping up to be an interesting one (to say the least) but we had the foresight to realize it was lacking wit In a big way No levity No humour Just a cut-throat race to be number one. Well, shucks, we thought. How can we let a perfectly good opportunity for some fun pass by? So we looked at each other, and looked at Gum- by, and Gumby looked at us. And we knew. Gum- by was meant to be Mayor. Or at least Regional Councillor. Straightaway, we checked into the possibilities and were immediately told Gumby couldn't run. '"'He's made of clay," pointed out one lawyer. "You need a real man." Personally, I don't think this planet has seen a Real Man since Rudolph Valentino bit the big one, hut this is beside the point. We understood what the lawyer was telling us. We sighed and moped a lot. Until we realized that all we needed was a flesh and blood person to run as the Gumby can- didate. A real man with Gumby ideals, someone willing to take on all of Gumby's good qualities and apply them to the election and (hopefully) to his time in office. Or even her time in office. So, we're keeping our eyes peeled for a human being who has a warped sense of humour, who's willing to go all the way and fight for a position on the next council. Just think, it could be you, the Hizzoner. Imagine the power and the glory. Im- agine the pay cheque. Imagine the ability to give yourself a raise anytime you want. And not to worry, we've already got your elec- tion platform built up. All you'd have to do is pro- mise the following: 1. Ban chocolate bar sales at public schools. Why do kids have to sell chocolate anyways? Why not fruit or Diet Coke? In health class the kids are taught about Canada's Food Guide and then the teachers turn around and give them zit-bars to sell 2. Ban the weeds on Lake Scugog. You only have to promise ---- you don't necessarily have to live up to your promise. Besides, you could always force the pink bird tart folks to invent the world's first weed tart. 3. Bring strippers to the Township office to at- tract more people to council meetings. Nowadays the only time the council chamber fills up is when the townfolk are attempting to lynch the present mayor. Other than that, the joint is emptier than the inside of Suzanne Sommer's skull. 4 Ban the construction of any more: a) restaurants, b) drug stores and c) newspapers. Heaven knows we don't need any more of a or b, and as for c. well, the Star's the best already, right? Well" Am I right or what? Huh" Is there anybody out there? Hello" fate uct pe