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6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, July 7, 1998 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" 188 MARY STREET - PORT PERRY, ONT. - L9L 1B7 PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-Mall: port.perry.star@sympatico.ca Publications Mall Registrations No. 07881 Subscription Rates: 1 Year - $32.10 6 Months - $17.65 Foreign - $90.95 Includes $2.10 GST Includes $1.15 GST Includes $5.95 GST Editorial Comment Raise comes at a bad time Do Durham Region councillors deserve to make as much money as their counter- parts in other regions in the vicinity? ...Probably. | Is now a really, really bad time to give themselves a raise? ...Definitely. These are days during which we are all, as consumers of municipal services, being told and learning that we have to make do with less. Our taxes are on the rise (the average regional hike is $140 in Scugog this year, they tell us), while the services municipalities can offer are threatened. In voting for a pay raise now -- however modest -- regional councillors are leaving taxpayers with the impression that they're not sharing the burden of downloading "that's being imposed on the rest of us. And the full impact of the transfer of services by the province remains unanswered.It's not the raise that's the problem, so much as the timing of it. To his credit, Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt tried to have a vote on the raise deferred until all the answers are on the table, and a clear picture of the region's finances is available. That motion, unfortunately, lost. When politicians warn taxpayers to tighten their belts, then increase spending, it breeds cynicism and mistrust. What you're seen to do is as important as what you do. It's a bad time for a self-awarded raise. ey ron OUR BLUI | | | NTHHOAN " CCNA VeERiFiLo CIACULAT ON -------------------------------------- BUSINESS OFFICE Member of ¢ Rea. Canadian & Ontario Newspaper Assoc. Office Mgr. ..cccovvveccrunrianes Gayle Stapley gy ublished every Tuesday by the Accounting.......Judy Ashby, Janet Rankin Retall Sales......Kathy Dudley, Heather Callan Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. - 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ont. EDITORIAL: Publisher................ J. Peter Hvidsten General Manager .... Don Macleod Managing Editor..... Jeff Mitchell News Reporters .....Chris Hall, Rik Davie Freelance - Heather McCrae, John B. McClelland PRODUCTION Richard Drew, Barb Bell Trudy Empringham, Pam Hickey, Rhonda Mulcahy, Robert Taylor, ADVERTISING Advertising Mgr. .......... Don MacLeod Sales: Deb McEachern, Barb Hillier, Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin, Gail Morse, Deborah Tiffin i -------- ON Por Perry STAR . a, Sitting in the heart of downtown Port Perry, at the corner of Queen and Perry St. was the Willard Block. The attractive building was home to the Port Perry Post Office for a short time during the early 1900s. To the Editor: | On behalf of the thousands of Ontarians touched by kidney disease, I would like to thank the thousands of volunteer canvassers and donors in your community for their continued support of our annual March Drive Campaign. During March, more than 10,000 volun- teers canvassed homes in Central Ontario to raise funds for The Kidney Foundation of Canada. This year we raised over $700,000 that will be used to.fund research, provide RY i a 2% 2 and their families. None of this would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the volunteer canvassers and the generosity of the community. To those people we extend our deepest thanks for their commitment and dedication to The Kidney Foundation and its mission. Your support is truly appré- ciated. Justin Poy, March Drive Volunteer Chair Although the main structure of the Willard Block still stands today, gone are the decorative touches of 100 years ago. The building is now home to' the Royal Bank, but over the years has been used as a garage and a liquor store.