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6 stouffville suntribune thursday aug 28 2003 opinion publisher ian pr0udf00t telephone 9056402612 fax 9056408778 email jmasonyrngcom website wwwyorkregioncom editorial voters should stick to election issues enough already ernie eves call the provincial election and put us all out of our misery first it was the spring outbreak of sars then the blackout mat darkened much of the province give the premier credit for his han dling of the power outage he stayed calm and spoke in common terms to res idents he did not finger point unlike the mayors of new york and toronto ontarians appreciated that public opin ion polls say this rise in popularity makes an elec tion call in the next 10 days all the more likely the latest rumour has an election being called wednesday for oct 2 but the polls also suggest the liberals will topple the conservatives mr eves has until next june to call an election its not like we havent been in election mode for the past several months to make it official all we need is the drop of the writ and the erection of lawn signs all systems appear go the party leaders particularly mr eves and liberal leader dalton mcguinty have crisscrossed the province with promisefilled speeches what are residents of this region con- cerned about plenty the effects of growth top the list here in one of the fastest growing areas of north america and what services do new and old res idents expect for their provincial tax dol lar health care tops the list residents want access to a hospital close to home they dont want to wait for hours in emergency or be told there are no beds available many york region residents commute to toronto for woricand pleasure and while our population has exploded in the past 20 years our northsouth highway system has remained static another highway more lanes on hwys400and404 commuters and the business community which rely on effi cient transportation of goods deserve more to ease some of the gridlock the province has done some good work with go transit the liberals want growth in southern ontario to be centred around t exisiting communities instead of simply sprawling north from lake ontario for example newmarket and barrie could be labelled growth centres and new development would spread from those towns well hear more about such pro- posals in the coming weeks if we havent heard enough already 7 ignore the personal attacks that are sure to be fired from all sides and exam ine the issues letters to the editor approval of housing projects needs council explanation as the next municipal election approaches- people continue to express dissatisfaction with town of whitchurchstouffville policies that affect them personally the main issue seems to be the growing num ber of housing projects bringing with them increased population and urbanization the pub- lie is concerned about water issues roads traffic financial costs and the loss of the towns traditional country environment the next council may have its hands full trying to explain to taxpayers how the town reached the present situation and how council plans to deal with their concerns being open with the public about the towns past and future may be councils bestcourse i submit that the public should also be informed about development plans on the towns information page in the local press agenda items for committee of adjustment hearings should be included there are other issues the new council may wish to consider one is financial accountability and another is good employment practices perhaps council could also have a complaints sec retary so serious concerns of residents could be brought to councils attention acknowledged and dealt with council may also wish to consider the benefits of good and effective public relations this might include developing a fiveyear plan for the town so the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and addressthe stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 email jmasonyrngcom residents know what lies ahead and what the costs will be margaret l may stouffveie teacher inspired others re teacher says bye to siimmitview after 23 1 years aug 7 it brought a tear to my eye to read about carole pridhams retirement after 34 years of teaching i walked into her classroom as a grade 2 stu dent in 1982 and immediately knew i wanted to be a teacher just like her i then had the privilege of being her student in a different way as a coop student studying her teaching technique nearly 10 years later i contin ued on the path she ultimately set for me and real ized my dream of becoming a teacher in 1998 mrsr pridham was just one of those teachers who had an innate ability to inspire i know she inspired me i could only hope to exhibit the superior qualities she possessed melissa willis uxbridge c r stouffville jm moujjvllle mam suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville ontario l4a7z5 phone 9056402612 fax9056408778 classified 18007433353 distribution 9052948244 website wwwyorkregioncom email jmasonymgcom membenontario community newspapers association canadian community newspapers association ontario press council editor in chief debora kelly editor jim mason reporters joan ransberry hannelore voipe retail sales manager steve kane sales representative susan berry production manager pam nichols office manager vtvianctneil business manager robert lazurko director of marketing promotions debraweller advertising director retail sales flyers nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci managing director real estate mikerogerson director of production johnfuthey distribution manager barryblack sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews general manager york region printing bob dean managing director york region events management debraweller shows manager stacey allen classified manager ann campbell if f ifllf notebook with frank king cliff plans busy retirement after a 12year stint cliff dunkeld one of whitchurchstouffvilles biggest community assets is retiring from council perhaps its just as well after telling me whats in his daytimer for the next few months im not sure how he could squeeze in committee meetings public gatherings and all the other duties of a municipal council member ive only missed one council meeting and i might have gone another term if wayne emerson whos retiring as mayor stayed on he said but my wife is retired and so we thought it was time to move on since moving here from the claremont area in 1974 mr dunkelds contributions to the town have almost become legendary hes a longtime volunteer with the whitchurchstouffville softball assoc iation and still does some umpiring and the parks and recreation department hes been involved with the mens bowl ing league since the 1950s on top of that mr dunkeld now 71 helped create the whitchurchstouffville girls hockey league in 1974 and spent seven years as a volunteer womens soft- ball coach with seneca college all this helped when it came time to pick the towns sports personality of the yearinl978 but it doesnt end there mr dunkeld spent nine years on the board of markham stouffville hospital as a coun cil appointee he was on the whitchurch- stouffville museum board for six years arid three or four years with the stouffville bia phew exhausting isnt it mr dunkeld says hell miss working with town staff having worked in municipal government i know their tri als and tribulations but he wont miss reading all the reports and communica tions that are part and parcel of a council members job what about all those raucous council meetings full of controversy and accusa tions people have to have their say he replies diplomatically i guess what bothers me is when people dont see the whole picture mr dunkelds future includes visiting children grandchildren nine of em and greatgrandchildren staying involved in softball lawn bowurigin the summer and curling in the winter plus serving on the occasional town committee thank goodness hes slowing down eh s frank king is assistant editor of the stouffville suntribune