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6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, April 18, 1989 AY The Poul Povey Shae 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ Darlene H EDITORIAL Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten Editor - John B. McClelland News/Features - Cathy Olliffe BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Accounting - Judy Ashby PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 News Reporter - Rob Streich Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl The Port Star | mail by the iin Perry ip a a fh PRODUCTION ADVERTISING 2 Duparyen Mal Rogis Da Annabell Harrison Advorilsing Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Vor ption Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year Trudy Empringham Advertising Sales Representatives Gayle Stapley Billing Department - Anna Gouldburn Pat Webster, Lisa Hutchings Gon 8 Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Lid. Port Perry, Ontario Editorial Comment LET'S STAY CIVIL Readers of thie Port Perry Star will have noticed a fair number of letters to the editor in recent weeks and months in which the writers comment on the way they see the community changing. Some of the perceptions are negative, others are positive. Some lament the fact that Port Perry is not the same place it was five or even three years ago. Others (see letters this week) note that change is inevitable and even healthy. The trick is managing the ¢hange without giving away too much of the past heritage and traditions of a community. This community has changed in recent years. Of that - there is no doubt. One would have to be walking around completely in blinkers not to notice the changes that have taken place. Over the years, in fact, this paper has commented on some of the changes. Some we like, others we are not so fussy about, an attitude we think is shared by most people within our community. Change is inevitable. We have often said, with tongue partly in cheek, 'that the people who built this community in the past, did such a good job, that it was only a matter of time before the "rest of the world" discov- ered us, and decided they wanted to be part of it as well. Whether one likes the physical changes is a matter of individual taste and opinion; highly subjective. And the last time we checked, this country was still a democracy which guarantees the right to an opinion and the right to express it. It has always been the policy of this paper, and al- ways will be, to encourage the people who live here to ex- press their opinions and views freely within the letters to the editor column. Our philosophy is that the letters column belongs to you the reader, and if you stay inside the laws of libel and slander, you are free to say pretty well whatever you want. ' But we sense a change in mood among people in this community, a change that in some cases borders on a complete lack of civility. Columnist Cathy Oliiffe this week refers to "bitchiness," and maybe that is an apt ex- pression. We have noticed this over the past several months, and quite frankly, it is these kind of changes in attitude, in the way we deal with each other, that scare us more than just about any physical change that could take place with- in the community. If we stop being civil, if we lose that friendly atmos- phere where people greet each other by name on the steps of the Post Office and stop to chat, we will have tru- ly lost the most essential ingredient that has made this community such a fine place to live and work. We all have to live with the changes. For some, the changes are more to be endured, and for still others, the changes are creating hardship. If we have a message for everyone who cares about the community it is this: be civil to each other. Let us strive to retain an atmosphere that is friendly and easy going, in spite of the differences of opinion we may have. If we lose this, we all lose in the long run. The community newspaper such as the one you are now reading, often is a kind of lightning rod. We hear the comments, the remarks, the complaints. But we also hear the good things as well. And one comment we hear con- stantly is "what a friendly town you have here." Let's try and keep it that way. It doesn't cost a penny. ------- Ny ~! = }, ALL THOSE TANKERS > "<- CRUISIN' OUR WEST COAST SURE SCARE THE HELL OUTA yA, EH ? Chatterbox by CATHY OLLIFFE ee T------------------------ FEAR AND LOATHING IN PORT PERRY Ten years ago, Scugog Township Council lors should have been looking for a place to dump our garbage. They didn't. Maybe they were too busy with overseeing the development of high-cost housing. Cawker's Creek, Apple Valley, Castle Har- bour, Victorian Village. Fine neighbourhoods all. But affordable to only a small minority of people who are either very well off, or mort- gaged to the eyeballs. While these expensive homes have been sprouting up like bad weeds under the ap- proving eye of our local councillors, not one developer has succeeded in building an inex- pensive subdivision. Not one. Maybe councillors should have been look- ing at affordable housing ten Los ago as well as the garbage problem. Maybe if town- houses and semi-detached homes were on the Township agenda a decade ago, Scugog wouldn't be faced with such a horrendous housing crisis right now. What bothers me most is that Council doesn't seem to be doing too much about the crisis. There's a lot of talk, but talk, as every- one knows, is cheap. Houses aren't. And while ordinary working joes are finding it almost impossible buying homes, other peo- ple are discovering how few and far between rental units are. A family of four simply can't find anything, reasonable in Scugog that's priced under $900. Even worse, some of the lower rent units in this area, particularly in Port Perry, are being demolished in the name of progress, being re- placed by higher-priced residential complexes or commercial space. The lower priced rental units are not being replaced. And as this town of ours becomes trendier, middle and lower income families are feeling the pinch. | Last week | wrote a story about Brian and Wendy Kirk, who are being evicted from their Casimir St. home and can't find anywhere else in this Township they can afford. They have been told their rented house will be torn down. But it won't be demolished right away. The builder has said he will be using their home for a lunch room and storage space un- il it is torn down. In the meantime, the Kirks will be living in a trailer park with their two children for a month until they can move to Lindsay. The builder has refused to let them stay in the house for another month, even though the Kirks are willing to pay the month's rent, and the house won't be torn down immediately. Mind you, the builder is under no legal obli- ation to allow the Kirks to have a roof over their heads for the month. But doesn't he have a moral obligation? | think so. And that's the problem with this town. In the name of business, it has become callous and hard-hearted. The little guy is getting stepped on with increasing frequency. Gone, appar- ently, are the days when people care about people. When | first came to Port Perry, | was struck immediately with its small-town atmos- here, its friendly people, its warm welcome. eople were constantly surprising me with acts of kindness towards others, and after awhile, | wasn't surprised. | always knew peo- ple would come through in any crunch. But now | sense a change in the air. A gen- eral bitchiness. Well off folks sit around talk- ing about the equity building up in their homes, while the unlucky ones are quietly forced out of town. Backs are being turned with the frequency of cards in a polker game. Good deeds are fewer and far between, al- though they do still exist. (Turn to page 10)