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6 stouffville suntribune thursday feb 22 2007 suntnhune 6290 main st stouffville on l4a7z5 wwwyorkregoncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief dehor a kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distribution barryblack director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean editorial community of churches bless us its an underground world of the sweetest kind and its at home in whitchurch- stouffville thankfully our town has been known as a community of churches centres of religion dot main street as well as suburban streets and rural roads as well as being havens for reli gious expression they are also com munity centres of the kindest variety so our town needs another youth centre our churches are youth centres hosting their own youth programs and inviting the community to join in they hire staffers and recruit volun teers they build gymnasiums and other facilities suited specifically to youth they take an interest in our young people our churches do mission work in our community and far beyond the church in churchill north of musselmans lake is also the home of me whitchurchstouffville food bank churches across the municipality send food to the centre they also collect money and goods for the needy of our community and they do it quietly often not even acknowledging their work in their own church bulletins beyond local borders they send and support missionaries in the worst of situations across this country and around the globe they support food grains and water projects they supply medical aid and the professionals to adminis ter it one of the finest examples is the igoma project which marries church with community in support of the african village that bears its name the project includes the provision of clean water medical care and edu cation it has been referred to as an exam ple of what canadians can do to share their affluence effectively igoma volunteers raise money and collect supplies here for the benefit of people on the other side of the world people they will most likely never meet though some will some igoma volunteers pay their own way to africa to offer help first hand we all cant do that but we can support our churches and the relief work they provide at home and away we are blessed by their presence in whitchurchstouffville canam food guide letters to the editor mayor shouldnt be blaming previous administration re bring on growth start with us seniors feb 15 what is our mayor thinking i can only comment that if the current situ ation werent so tragic it would be comic mayor wayne emmerson has been quoted in recent issues of the suntribune expressing a frustration with the past decisions and with infrastructure what he fails to point out of course is that most of the challenges the town is now facing are a result of his inability to deal appropriate ly with the consequences of his council approving 5500 home starts more than a decade ago having agreed to the massive residential growth more than 10 years ago mayor and council should have appropriately established a plan to deal with it instead there was no plan attract industry to improve the tax base and no thought given to deal with the infrastructure needed to support the population growth it seems mr emmerson felt new housing alone would increase the tax revenues enough to cover the cost of infrastructure a classic example of faulty thinking now mr emmerson is pointing his finger at the previous administration whose only sin was inheriting his mistakes stretching back the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 6290 main st stouffville l4a 1g7 email jmasonyrngcom or fax 9056408778 over three terms the fact mr emmerson is proud of his his tory of minimally raised taxes is laughable because if he had proposed reasonable tax increases during his terms in office they would have helped mitigate more recent hikes i wont even stoop to mention the recent pay raises for mayor and council members some councillors represent no more than a few thou sand residents in the article he also questions the increase in town staff hiring how can he possibly expect to accommodate the current and future demands on town offices without improving the services offered expanding staff and hiring qualified professionals to say that mr emmerson is illequipped to deal with the challenges facing whitchurch- stouffville over the next four years would be a charitable understatement dale carter former chairperson whitchurchstouffville economic advisory committee off the top with jim mason the ultimate in smalltown vandalism never been a big a fan of vandalism it all seems so bloody senseless snap off a car antennae kick in a window rip out somebodys prized shrubs mission accomplished call it a night yet its probably one of whitchurch- stouffvilles most popular crimes in the grand scheme of things it cant compare to assault or other more serious crimes but nothing gets the phone ringing or the letters- totheeditor bin filled faster at the suntribune than someone getting his garden stomped storefront spray- painted or bmw keyed and its not just private property tak ing one to the head the rear of our church st james presbyterian took a beating earlier this month thugs smashed or shattered five windows at the storied main street house ofworship i doubt it was theological differences that prompted the attack there was no message i could see doubting the presbyterian doctrine or maybe thats been done to death the lunkheads that damaged st mark roman catholic church earlier this decade expressed a religious message using spray paint as i recall or maybe it was an attempted break- in churches in out town have been hit before and we all know most modern churches leave stacks of gold bars and bags of collection plate offerings just sit ting around besides the furnishings are so homey they could fit with any decor breaking into or damaging houses of worship brought about by should be treated with the same disgust the robbing ofgraves and the desecration of cemeter ies no sympathy no mercy it takes zero class and probably a buddy hopped up on something hallu cinogenic to commit such a crime throw the book at them and make it the good book jim mason is editor of the sun- tribune letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribuncrescrves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune stouffville on l4a7z5 jmasonyrngcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonyrmgcom interactive 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