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ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 Classified: 1-800-743-3353 Fa: 905-640-8778 is comprised of 100 community publications across Ontario. The York Region Newspaper Group also includes The Liberal, sewing Richmond Hill and Thomhill, Vaughan Citizen.The Eta-Banner (Newmanlei/Amora). Markham Economist The Sun-Nbune welcomes your letters. All submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number, mme and address. The Sun-Tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space. Lama to an aim». mo Sun-Tribune 6290 Main St. StoufMllo. an MA IG7 me Sun-Tribune. published every Thursday and Saturday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd. a molly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. Metmiand Sun, Gemgina Advocate,York Region Business Times, North of the City, yorkregionmm and York Regbn Printing. ribune lmason.yrm¢.com Mike Barwille mbanuilleél’yrmgLOM Adverdslng Dawna Andrews dandmos@yrmg.com York Region Media Group community newspapers DISTRIBUTION Circulation Supervisor Carolyn Norman cnorman @yrmg. com M2612 Pu: 905-640-8778 Anvmmsmc Retail Manager lETTERS POLICY EDITORIAL Editor Jim Mason jnmsorl@yrmg.wm PRODUCHON DISTRIBUTION 905-640-2612 Immmwa MIA EDITORIAL We’re too busy to bother to vote, never mind find the time to figure out for whom to vote. Others say they don’t like any of the choices or admit they’re cynical about politics, in general. Bottom line, our council-elects will return to their tables and the business of running our municipalities with a mandate from the few. is it fair, then, to assume York’s tax- payers are a content bunch? Not only did electoral participation remain low, most incumbents retained their seats. The question that remains is if the apathetic, ambivalent and busy came out to the polls, would the lesults be different? Or are residents voting for the status quo when they don’t vote? To be fair, 43.96 per cent of Whitchurch-Stouflville residents voted. In Richmond Hill, turnout remained the lowest at a dismal 29 per cent. In Markham, despité an $80,000 social media awareness campaign and online voting, turnout was 35.5 per cent. Vaughan had among the highest voter turnout in the region at 40 per cent. The city, which arguably had the most scandal-plagued and dysfunc- tional council, was one of the feW to see dramatic change in its leadership. The mayor and four longtime incumbents were trounced. Our municipal elections continue to make a mockery of democracy, with tumout of eligible voters hovering in the range of 30 per cent, despite our booming population. In thé below York Region, voter turnout was a record 53.2 per cent, demonstrating that perhaps what’s needed to galvanize voters is a message that strikes a chord or creates a sense of urgency Mayor-elect Rob Ford's no-holds- barred campaign mantra of “Stop the gravy train" of government overspendâ€" ing. waste and entitlement got exhaust- ed Tomnto taxpayers off the couch. What more can we do to get resi- dents to care? Pour more taxpayer dol- lars into bigger and better awareness campaigns? Lure voters through tax incentives or free pizza coupons? The reality is voter participation won’t increase if citizens aren’t engaged with their governments Rather than focusing on getting them out to the polls on election day every four years. our political leaders need to become more accessible and accountable 365 days a year. It's all over but the crying. Based on voter turnout alone, Mon- day’s municipal election played an insignificant role in the lives of the vast majority of residents. How to get more voters to polls Editorial NI N WW" Smmm By the time this edition of The Sun- ”fi'ibune is on the streets, the municipal election will be over and the new coun- cil chosen. Also, to the present/ outgoing coun- cil, thank you for all your time and dedication for the betterment of our town. It is a time-consuming task and only those who have done it know the amount of hours not only at council meetings but all the sub-committees you represent and the ongoing prob- lems you contend with 24/7. To all the candidates, thank you, and to the successful candidates, good luck and all the best in your term of office. Mud-slinging expected during election campaigns A Bit of mud-Slinging is like putting on clean underwear every day, someâ€" thingyou are expected to do. The ladies and gents involved are all grown up. After all. when was the last time you heard liberal Leader Michael Ignatiefl tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper to say sorry because his feelings were hurt? But before we close the books on this one, I would like to thank all the candidates for allowing their names to stand for election. Only someone who has been there, like myself, knows the time spent walk- ing the streets, knocking on doors and speaking to as many voters as possible. Re: Smear attacks at work. Oct. 14. Mud-slinging in Stouffville? Oh, my, oh, my. Well, it is politics, after all. Few know how much work running, serving entails Letters to the Editor WILF MORLEY STOUFFVILLE Dome and Ann always planned on a Vegas vacation to celebrate Lome’s 60th, but due to her recent stroke, she was unable to fly. The family decided to celebrate while giving back and instead rented a hall and sold tickets to home’s party, with proceeds going to the foundation. The $5,000 ’that’ was donated will support world-class research, as well as advocacy here in our community. Thank you to the Burns family and friends for helping to save lives. JESSICA WILLIAMS HEART AND STROKE FOUNDATION OF ONTARIO, YORK REGION NORTH As for the package of allegations delivered to media and candidates, what is the likelihood it was made up byaguyorgalwithacaseon-4 and a lot of time on his or her hands? I have heard whomever made the package does not have spell-check â€" oops, that may be mud-slinging. I do have to object to an assistant professor of marketing calling it “stalk- ing”. This kind of prof teaches you how to do things like sell cookies and make people believe they are flesh. On behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, I would to thank home and Ann Bums of Stoufiville who orga- nized a 60th birthday fundraiser in sup- port of our foundation Sept. 18. Vlcious mud-slinging is not good for many reasons. But we are far from that at this point in time. Get a York Region cop to say it is stalking and I will sit up and pay attenâ€" tion. Real stalking is a violent, evil thing. I was quite disappointed to read this part of the article. Birthday party was lifesaver PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot Tribune RON BOYD STOUFFVILLE Emm- m Cm Dulcmn. Debora Kelly Amuse, Durmwnon [Ill-man Robert Lazurko But unlike Toronto, voters here didn't bite on the wastefulâ€"spend- ing sermons. The gravy train oppoâ€" nents have no true Rob Ford in Whitchurch-Stouffville, unless you count Rob Hargrave, who main- tained his council seat while still preaching about over-spending. Justin Altmann, who surprised some as runner-up in the race for mayor, took his last shot Friday with a National Enquirertesque glossy flyer that took dead aim it the debt and Mayor Wayne Emmerson, including unauthor- ized excerpts from this paper. Any strange people on your doorstep this week will not be candidates for council. Even the victory-party hangovers are toast. As life retumé to normal in Whitchurchâ€"Stouffville, what really happened on Election Night 2010? The municipal debt, accrued while this council built hockey rinks, revamped Main Street West and remodelled parkland, was supposed to be the hot-ticket item. Most candidates challeng- ing incumbents jumped on it like a linebacker on a fresh fumble. Now, tliat’s all histor'y. For four more years. Cynics will argue we wasted a ton of good coin on an elec- tion that produced absolutely no change on town council. Civil libertarians and many a candidate will counter that democracy was well served and new visions were created while future leaders took their first step to a career in politics. Take your pick. I do know the town clerk doesn’t have to order any new business cards for the council chambers. In the simplest terms, the elecâ€" tion results tell us residents are happy with their government. What looked like a record num- ber of lawn signs have hopefully been collected and recycled or put in storage for another four years. lini Mason is editor of The Sim- THbune. Dmncmn. Omous Barry Black Busmnss Rob Ford couldn’t get elected here with Jim Mason Off The Top Damn. REGIONAL Pnonucrs, Cussu'um, TODAY‘S Houns Debra Weller