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-- eer a AIO: ae SRO = e Waiting for months to hear back Councillor still wants answ The Midland councillor who is waiting for answers from the treasurer to a lengthy set of financial questions will have to '"'do his own arithmetic."' Councillor Buzz Brown was accused by Reeve Bev Day of wanting the infor- mation to use in the November election. On May 21, Counc. Brown, with the permis- sion of his fellow council members, formally re- Neig Neighbors of the house in Midland to be occupied by people with psychiatric problems are _ being described as "supportive." Wendat €ommunity Support Programs, a non- profit organization, has purchased a house in Midland with the help of the provincial ministries of health and of housing. The service begins in September or October. "On the whole (the neighbors) feel quite positive that services are starting to be provided" locally to local people, Lor- na Tomlinson, ~Wendat's executive director, said. A housing registry is the other half of the service. As many as five adults can live in the house under "medium supervision." The other Wendat employees are two full time counsellors, one part quested answers to 35 questions. Answering the questions requires sear- ching municipal records as far back as 1984. Brown says his motive is learning whether, for ex- ample, the council's deci- sion - which he opposed -- to lay off the engineering department, has proved to be'a good decision. Day said he interprets Brown's public statement that he will release the answers to the public to mean he will give the answers to the Midland Times. Mayor Al Roach, Reeve Bev Day and Treasurer Gerry Morrison plead lack of staff and lack of time. The switch to computer records came in the middle of the years in which Brown is interested, they said during the August meeting of the town council. Brown had asked when he would get his answers at previous' council meetings. Last Monday he said, "If I am not going to get them, let's be honest and say so." The list of questions was delivered to the treasurer on March 21. On April 25, Day told Brown that the treasurer was busy with the 1988 budget, tax collec- tion and auditors. In May, Brown' thought his bors supportive of psychiatric home, Wendat leader says time counsellor and one part time maintenance worker. None of the employees will be in the house overnight. The residents won't be "criminals or murderers or rapists or child molesters," Tomlinson said. They will be local people who apply on their own or who are referred by the Mental Health Centre, the Cana- dian Mental Health Association office in Bar- rie, social service agencies, the Family Catholic Life Centre, churches or doctors. Wendat isn't revealing the location of the house. The need for this service is obvious, a Wendat press release states. 'Simcoe County is one of the most under-developed areas in Ontario in providing health and social services, accor- ding to a recent study by the County District Health Council." "Adequate and _ affor- dable housing is only one of the community services needed in North Simcoe for our citizens with men- tal health problems,"' Tomlinson said. Wendat plans to expand into vocational programs to help people return to competitive employment, as well as to provide oppor- tunities for social and recreational activities. A full time employee will work on a list of adequate and affordable housing and "cultivate" more such housing with groups like the Chamber of Com- merce, service clubs, and businesses. Residents of the house will pay rent at a rate they can afford. Tomlinson described them as people who are members of the communi- ty who need help. "Wendat's first two pro- grams are a drop in the bucket in terms of meeting the needs in this communi- ty. There really is a serious lack of help available for people who need it."' answers were forthcom- ing. On May 9 he said he, the treasurer and the public works manager had reached a "reasonable method" of his obtaining the answers. He might have the answers by the end of June, he said. Last week Day said the summer holidays means the town hall is short-staffed. The treassurer said he had some of the answers before he left for his holidays, but he hasn't had time to return to that assignment. An angry Day asked Brown for the equivalent information from the North Simcoe Waste Management Association, to be deliverd as quickly as Brown wants his informa- tion. Day said that in com- mittee he supported Brown, but if a vote was called as he spoke, he would vote against Brown. Roach said the agree- ment was that the informa- tion would be separated by year and given to Brown. Office employees would answer any general ques- tions he had about the material. "I feel he's going to have to do his own arithmetic on this,"' Roach said to the rest of the council. Councillor Robert Brush said asking town employees to answer Brown's "personal ques- tions" is unfair. Councillor Gail Barrie of- fered the 1988 municipal budget as proof that the 'council has nothing to hide. That budget was the opportunity to raise taxes to cover a mistake, she said. Instead, the 1988 tax increase was 4.9 per cent, she said. Day agreed with Barrie that the council has nothing to hide. The pro- blem is, he said, "You want Mr. Morrison to pull out the information and hand it to you." Day, apparently speaking for himself and every other member of the council ex- cept Brown, said "If we can get them for you, we will. If not, you are welcome to look."' Brown said he is not seeking re-election. He doesn't want to make political commentary, but learn "financial fact."' -Day's own election inten- tion is fuzzy. He announc- ed he won't run for reeve or deputy-reeve. That he might run for a Ward 1 councillor's seat, or seek election to the Simcoe County Board of Educa- tion, is an "outside chance." Roach said that he Brown understands Brown's point of view. He declared that he won't hide from anything that he has done as mayor, and that he will stand by his decisions, although, he acknowledg- ed, they might not always have been the_ right decisions. Town urged to hire lawyer by the year Not for the first time, area resident Bill Ogilvie has called on Midland town council to review how it pays for legal advice. Currently the town solicitor bills by the hour, or part hour, the Town of Midland for his Ogilvie recommends annual retainer. Ogilvie, who was described, not as a compli- ment, as the town's 10th councillor by Reeve Bev Day, is critical of the form of the bills submitted for payment by town solicitor Ted Symons, of Symons advice. an Fiddlin' about A contestant in the annual Huronia Open Old Time Fiddle and Step Dance Contest performs on Friday night, the opening day of the weekend event held at Midland's Centennial Arena. In the 18 and under fiddlers, Chris Wilson, Todd Thompson, Will Wright and Sarah Jane Howlett were scheduled to perform. | In the 19 to 49 fiddlers, Linda Smith, Marcel Vaillan- court (of Penetanguishene), lan Hamilton and Ted Kent were listed as performers. -- aaieeneee and Grise. How Symons spent his time is not always clear from reading the cover sheet which accompanies each month's detailed bill, Ogilvie during his speech during the August meeting of council. Ogilvie also complained that the detailed bill is no longer included in the ac- counts in the town office which the public can in- spect, reportedly, he said, at the instruction of Mayor Al Roach. Tenders policy upcoming Midland town council might adopt a tendering policy in the form of a bylaw before the end of its three-year term. At the request of Coun- cillor Gail Barrie, the finance committee will create a tendering bylaw by Sept. 30. The circumstances which led to the Midland Public Library board choosing Huronia Office Services Ltd. as the sup- plier of carpet for the library during the building's renovation was a major score point with said the town that councillor and other members of council One of the owners of HOS, Moreland Lynn, was a member of the library board at the time. The library subsequently the town adopted the provincial government's tendering policy, Councillor Buzz Brown said. A tendering bylaw should give every business in the community a chance at winning a contract, Bar- rie said. The proposed bylaw will come into effect only when dealing with jobs the value of which exceeds a minimum figure. Wednesday, August 24, 1988, Page 3