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a4 tribune august 31 1988 s editors mail candidate hits back dear editor i am writing in response to your editorial in last weeks paper which seemed to suggest that i have no right to enter the whitchurchstouffville mayoralty contest i would like to begin by pointing out that when the ontario municipal act was created the legislators chose to make any in dividual who is legally an adult eligible for municipal election if in their wisdom they had thought it was necessary to be 35 or 40 years old to run for mayor they would have specified this qualification in the act one of the most useful purposes of any municipal election is to br ing up new issues and stimulate public discussion about ways in which the municipality could be improved as the only mayoralty candidate under the age of 50 i sincerely believe that i have a legitimate viewpoint and legitimate issues to discuss i grew up in this town and my friends and i had nothing to do but play hockey id like to see the next generation of kids with de cent recreation facilities my other concerns have already been reported in your newspaper this is a democracy mr thomas which means we enjoy a society that permits freedom of speech as well as freedom for any qualified individual to stand for office i think you did me a disservice by suggesting that as a young adult i have no right to stand in this mayoralty contest crawford thompson mayoralty candidate aey rf rssc- if big is better then here are suggestions were missing an important elec tion issue the province and the municipalities are playing pingpong with affordable housing while the price of the i the tribune established 1888 james thomas bruce annan patricia pappas jennifer hutt editor publisher advertising manager distribution manager retail advertising susan berry manager charles canning real estate classified advertising joan marshman real estate manager dorothy young classified manager debra welter distribution doreen deacon business office manager chris bertram national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 the stouflvilie tribune published every wednesday and saturday at w man st stouffi he oni t one ol the metroland printing publishing distributing group 0 suburban ntrmsrjaners ahicri includes the acton free press aja pickering news advertiser aurora banner brampton gujdan burlington post etobicoke advertiser guardian georqeloaii independent markham economist sun milton champon missssauga news newmarket era oakvile braver oshawa whitby this week richmond hill thor nhill vauqhjn liberal scarborough mifor topc kewsowgaine wiiioa date mirror metroland printing publishing distributing is a diviscn of harlequin enierprists ltd single copies 50c subscriptions 21 00 per year in canada 55 00 elsewhere member or canadian com munity newspaper association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press council and sub urban newspapers ot america second class mail registration number 0896 6402100 6492292 average home in the area is about 10 times the average salary we hear on the radio of the decay of the environment and say oh something should be done as we finish our coffee and throw our styrofoam cup away we want an indoor pool but we also want bigger municipal offices mean while softball and hockey are the on ly sports for which we have above- average facilities and municipal employees are getting less room to do more work but these issues are not the ones i wish to address indeed they are simply a symptom of a larger issue we wanna be big in our modern and industrial world its the urban values that prevail and the bigger something is the better we all must force ourselves to keep from gasping at the romance of big cities like new york oh london gasp berlin gee whiz or tokyo wow but stouff ville most have us have been through it you know youre on vacation delay in big pipe a blessing whitchurchstouffville mayor fran sainsbury is frustrated that nothing is being done to provide for future growth and development in town last thursday her frustration boil ed to the surface when she crossed verbal swords with markham mayor carole bell at a meeting of york regional council mayor sainsbury contends that the region of york has been dragging its feet on the issue of whether stouffville will be able to hook into the york durham sewage system known as the big pipe the big pipe carries sewage from newmarket aurora richmond hill vaughan markham and towns in durham region to a large sewage treatment plant at the mouth of duf- fins creek on lake ontario by contrast stouffville has a small local sewage treatment plant to han dle its waste water however the stouffville plant is almost at capacity and the provincial government wont let the town expand it for environmen tal reasons stouffvilles only hope for future growth is to hook into the big pipe by running a 10miie trunk sewer line south to markham to mayor sainsbury its a simple problem with a simple solution but the towns request has raised ques tions about future sewage treatment needs for other municipalities both those on the big pipe and those who arent and so a major study is underway hat will lead to an overall plan to in crease sewage capacity in york region it will probably mean that development will come to a halt here in the short term in the long term stouffville will probably get what it wants to allow orderly urban development in the stouffville area but perhaps its good to have a pause now to look at population growth for the next quarter century and come up with a balanced plan for orderly development the current delay could be a bless ing in disguise speaking out by chris garbutt somewhere and a friendly type asks you where youre from what do you tell them some are even embarrass ed to say i can sympathize my first week at university in ottawa i was meeting hundreds of people who wanted to know my geographical origin after hearing whats a stouff ville 40 or 50 times i gave up and started saying near toronto lets face it were obsessed with size we want the people in the big cities to think that were as cool and sophisticated as they are we want them to know who we are and people just arent impressed when you tell them were up to 17000 in population it may be impressive to those of us who remember the days we were under that elusive 10000 it wasnt that long ago but it just doesnt cut it with the dashing and high rolling urbanites its not that we havent tried a lot of things have happened that should gain stouffville international notariety we had the cpga championships and i know for a fact that this towns name appeared in newspapers across the country we also have a member of the latest stanley cup champions even our polluted water several years ago failed to bring us the fame we expected were canadas strawberry capital we have a historical plaque a clock tower two provincial highways not including the 404 and a main street just like any other big city yet we still cant gel anything bet ter than a condescending label of quaint or even sleepy we wanna be big we want the hus tle and bustle of the city we want a mcdonalds this is why the upcoming municipal election is so important if were go ing to be classy like those big city folk were going to have to acquire some of the extras that they have i have a few suggestions for the can didates to add to their platform a dome thats right a domed stadium torontos got one how can we compete unless we get one too and we could have a contest to name it the possibilities seem endless with a dome were sure to get a majorleague baseball team or well at least host all the best slowpitch tournaments too expensive you say okay how about a lighted soccer pitch a map maker you say want to put stouffville on the map what better way than this i would go one better than that however we should go all out to at tract a business that makes globes the only condition would be that on their globes they replace toronto with our town we could also en courage marking it with a star in stead of an insignifcant dot people in other countries would wonder what this stouffville is and how to pronounce it but not wanting to seem stupid in front of their friends they would just assume that its the capital of canada a canal cities like ottawa and peterborough have people come from everywhere just to take a boat cruise and if its scenic enough they might just stay besides we have to hook into the great lakesst lawrence system thats our link to the world its the only thing toronto has that we dont so come on stouffville lets make this an election issue wont it be great when torontonians are forced to say oh well its about 30 miles south of stouffville chris garbutt is a student reporter at the tribune lie grew up in stouffville and is currently studying journalism at carleton university in ottawa youngster is finally won over at school by margaret stapley did you happen to see that six- yearold boy coming slowly into the schoolyard the morning after labor day did you wish you could read his thoughts they probably go something like this i dont care if the old school still does look about the same it doesnt have me fooled last year when i was here only halfdays in kindergarten i couldnt wait to get into grade 1 but now i dont think im ready for real educa tion yet i first got cold feet when i woke up this morning and remembered what day it was i told mother id changed my mind about grade 1 and all she said was of course youre going to school this is the day you start learning to read and write she couldnt have said a worse thing thats what was bothering me the most the teacher would probably expect me to read and write something right away i turned on the waterworks i dont feel too good in my stomach i blubbered thats all right dear said my mother illwrilc a note to your teacher and if you still dont feel well at recess you can come home i dont know why my mother had such a funny smile on her face while she was writing the note but the main thing is ive got it and i sure plan on taking advantage of it kindergarten is just a softeningup job for a year they let you think school is all fun and games and then they start throwing books without pictures at you one of the kids going into grade 2 told me the grade 1 teachers is an old dragon but ive got nothing to be scared about ive got the note from my mother and if i dont come home at recess shell come to sec if ime all right oh oh here we go in better take s big breath so this is the grade 1 classroom ill grab a desk near the door it might come in han dy if the old dragon starts anything that must be her up near the front hmmm she doesnt look too bad but she doesnt have me fooled i remember how the wick ed queen in snow white and the witch in hansel and grctel disguised themselves ill go and give her the noteand see what she does there i knew it shes smiling while shes reading it so she thinks its fun ny that a little kid isnt feeling good eh oh shes an old dragon alright what a year this is star ting out to be look at those kids sitting there waiting to be put in the oven now the teacher is making us stand up when she calls out our names hey whos that neat little blonde girl i dont remember her from last year she must be new because the teacher is smiling and asking her all about herself holy smoke the poor kids going for it and smiling back id better warn her the first chance i get now the old dragon is sitting at her desk and opening a book saying shes going to read us a story well itll just be wasted on me cause ive already heard all the stories in kindergarten and from my mother ill just sit here and drum my fingers on my desk turn ta turn ta turn turn hey whats that about some dopey rabbit wanting red boots like some duck he met maybe ill listen for couple of minutes so i can tell my mother about this dumb bunny when i go home at recess now the rabbit has been to the wishing pond and got the boots but hes changed his mind hes back to the pond to wish them off and get a pair of red wings like some bird he saw boy this character is sure hung up on red there hes got the wings and hes going home oh oh i was afraid of this his mother doesnt recognize him and wont let him in serves him right for wishing for such weiru things gee this is getting serious that rabbit cant get any place and its getting dark why doesnt he go back to that wishing pond and wish those sillylooking wings off attaboy rabbit old kid he did i bet his mother will let him in now yep she did that wasnt a bad story after all the old dragon is sure putting on a good act whoops theres the recess bell ill tell her ive got a par in my stomach and squeeze out some tears wait a minute theres the new girl going out maybe i wont go home yet at least not before ive had a chance to warn her what shes in for hey three other guys are talk ing to her darn it i wish my mother had let me wear my cowboy boots im always a big hit with them on oh well ill just hang around a few more minutes and see if i can get her alone dum da dum da dum oh gee theres the bell to go back in better head for home or maybe ill stick around for awhile dont want anybody to get the idea im a fraidy cat heres my desk right near the door if i have to escape in a hurry whats the old dragon do ing now yikes this is it shes passing out magazines which shell probably make us read something out of im getting out of here hey whose hand is that on my shoulder uh whats that 01der i mean teacher oh she says were just going to cut out pictures of things and shes going to print their names on the blackboard she wants me to pass out the scissors well if she really needs my help that badly here i am at the new girls desk better make sure her scissors are working hey she gave me a big smile guess she knows who the bright guy is in the class now the teacher is patting me on the head and telling me what a good fob i did funny she reminds me a bit of my mother that cant be the lunch bell already hope my mother has my lunch ready so i can hurry back to school my teacher might need me to help her again this afternoon zoom zoom here i am home hi mom gotta eat fast and scoot back to school what do you mean how to i feel i feel great i wonder why my mothers got that funny smile again never mind gobble up my favorite cheese dreams gulp my milk now upstairs to the bathroom there thats that oops theres something else ive got to do while im up here now downstairs and out the door before my mother gets a good look at me here i am back at my good old school i might even try some reading and writing this after noon kind of help my teacher out with some of the kids who arent ready for grade 1 yet id like to get my hands on whoever started that old dragon rumor notice anything different about me yep got my cowboy boots on those other guys wont stand a chance with that new girl now and i bet my teacher will really be impressed look out grade 1 here i come i cant wait for next year and grade 2