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si thetribune tuesday october 21 1 997 p 3 passion for issues joan ransberry staff reporter to build or not to build a town hall the need for a library expan sion and what to do about drunk teenagers were issues on the vot ers minds who attended the all- candidates meeting at the stouf- fville district secondary school friday more than 1 50 people witnessed two mayoralty 1 0 ward candidates and one acclaimed councillor prove that they can think on their feet candidates for the upcoming election had no trouble responding to touchy questions linked to the town hall and to the library while most voiced strong opposition to building a multimillion dollar administrative facility everyone wants to expand the library now ward 1 candidate steve pliakes suggested a waitandsee approach be taken when dealing with major expenditures we must be prepared and wait and see what the province has in store said pliakes municipal boundaries will be altered only then will we be able to make con crete and wise decisions ward 1 challenger frank martino said his area deserves a secondary plan which promotes the appro priate ratio of residential commer cial industrial farm and business mix to maximize quality of life in our community martino also wants a sound barrier between highway 404 and adjoining resi dential properties opening the high school gym at night as a way to get troubled kids off the streets was suggested by ward 2 candidate mark carroll as well carroll is worried about how the town tackles planning developers come and go they come for the money and go with it with not much consideration of the impact it leaves on both the resi dents and the environment said carroll ward 2 opponent helene john son got a round of applause when she addressed the issue of drunk teens passing out in town parks where are the parents asked johnson johnson president of the whitchurchstouffville chamber of commerce stressed the need for the town to play an active role in bringing employment to ward 2 johnson said shes a team player wholl bring benefits to her ward ward 3 candidate sophie engelis said shes strongly opposed to building a new town hall and sug gested that money earmarked for such a facility could be redirected to youth programs with the real threat of amalgamation of our municipalities i do not feel that it would be in our best interest at this particular time said engelis as well engelis said her campaign is focusing on planning and environ mental matters ward 3 challenger peter dobrich said hes pro development pro viding its well thought out and planned with input from residents developers and staff also dobrich said hed rather see a new library and town hall in whitchurchstouffville then have the 12 million amalgamated to pay bills in markham or richmond hill ward 4 councillor cliff dunkeld the only member of council acclaimed said hell con tinue to work hard 1 never missed a council meet ing in six years said dunkeld ill take a positive look at all industrial and commercial wishing to locate in our town ill support recreation and culture programs for all ages ward 5 incumbent judy scala was blunt lets not fool our selves the next three years will be critical to the future of our com munity and to our lifestyle she said your town council has to continue with a plan of action to acknowledge and realize where we want to be in the overall picture of municipal restructuring also scala said shed like to set up a residents group that will be able to brain storm about many issues facing the town ward 5 challenger judy saabas said whitchurchstouffville needs some fresh new faces and new ideas she added this is not the time to close our eyes and hope that financial and government issues go away it is time to show leader ship and make certain that the cit izens come out ahead of any game that might be played saabas is against building a new town hall i dont believe at this time it is wise for council to spend any money on a new municipal building that may be obsolete in three years she said ward 6 incumbent mark kostandoff told the crowd he does not believe in government by let ter to the editor instead kostandoff said 1 believe in local government by consultation and consensus among council members staff and the public kostandoff said he fought long and hard to convince fellow coun cillors that building a new town halllibrary facility was wrong restructing at all levels of gov ernment is occurring said kostandoff we cannot continue the old ways of tax and spend he said ward 6 challenger sue sherban said during the past three years the towns commitment to strong qual ity of life has stagnated sherban added our obligation to preserv ing and regenerating our historic roots of a proud and solid commu nity is no longer as strong as it once was it needs to be rediscov ered sherban said theres a lack of open and responsible government on small issues as well as large capital projects why is this administration so scared of holding public forums sherban asked teacher walkout not expected wednesday mike adler staff reporter the danger of a provincewide walkout by teachers was not immediate at press time yesterday new minister of education dave johnson was still meeting representatives for ontarios five teacher federations at least two of the provincial union presidents had said they wanted to strike this week if the talks on bill 160 didnt go well but local union leaders said they had no reason to expect a strike at least before friday by noon tomorrow well have some clear direction lynn johnston president for york regions public high school teachers said yesterday afternoon johnston underlined his respect for the new minister saying johnson is extremely intelligent and seems willing to talk a friday walkout would have the advantage of giving the two sides a chance to do some rational thinking over the weekend johnston speculated another union leader said she still expects teachers and the public will get at least 48 hours warning before a strike i dont really know when its going to happen if its going to happen added pam gillan who represents women teach ers in local public elementary schools the standoff is extremely stressful for teachers and for parents listening to education news reports she said because theyre hearing mixed messages everybody reads the tribune an apple a day brigita whitman left buys an apple at the stouffvillc ap from 1st stouffvillc scout and cub jules manias10 and jamie bartlc7 on saturday by sjoerli witteveen houston ford mercury tl f bill houston ford mercury sales ltd 11 769 highway 48 stouffville 640454 1 all remain 99 over i wxpd 51 mercury see dealer for details oac bloomington co p o u u stourfvllle ro hwy line major mackenzie m e 3 z our customers are the focus of everything we do i