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ilwfficjpk n i99i wukenderemtim wooapes vol7ngi7 amefwhmdcottmtwtitynewspaper salmdmjapru27199i 56paes 25cerds bob hodgson fired without guilty verdict tracy kibble staff reporter york regional council fired engi neering commissioner bob hodgson thursday without finding him guilty of any offence york officials voted 153 in favor of firing the 20year senior employee but admitted in a resolution the move came without a finding that hodgson acted improperly in any way however council said it was in the best interest of the regional corpora tion that hodgsons employment be terminated effective april 25 the hearing was to determine whether hodgson intentionally misled officials over a land deal in richmond hill hodgson who privately negotiat ed the sale of land for 783000 with developer alfredo degasperis saved the taxpayers about 700000 said his lawyer ronald bohm the region was prepared to expropri ate the lands needed for a cn railway overpass which would have cost 13 million bohm added bohm said the region assumed the word dedicate the land meant to gjve for free but added that is not always the case the word dedicate means to set lands aside for the use of a road bohm said bohm pointed to a letter on file from degasperis company metrus which stated it was never the intention to give the land for free the hearing also focused on a hand written memo that hodgsons deputy commissioner john ireland wrote to hodgson apparently one day before an engineering committee meeting oct 1 ireland swore an affidavit he gave the handwritten memo to hodgson and left it with him after hodgson said he would take care of it i wasnt sure in my own mind if hodgson was completely clear on the wording of the contractireland said but hodgson denied receiving the memo and said he found it in his files only affer regional chairman eldred king asked to see the file council members grilled ireland and other members of the engineering department for more than one hour to determine the whereabouts of the memo who had it in which file and who had access to the file officials voted at the end of a six- hour hearing after returning from pri vate session to obtain legal advice whitchurchstouffviile mayor fran sainsbury who along with newmarket mayor ray twinney and east gwillimbury mayor bob featherston- haugh voted against firing hodgson sainsbury said hodgson was being used to cover up a flawed process within the regional administration and said council should be looking at improving the internal structure rather than blaming people for its weakness es but markham regional councillor ron moran who seconded the motion to fire hodgson said different accounts of events leading to the disappearance of an internal memo means someone is lying bohm said hes not sure whether his client will appeal the decision v in the meantime ireland will be named acting commissioner for the engineering department hodgson said he will take it one day at a time now that his 20year career with york region is finished see page 3 for more on the hearing directory comment page 4 letters page 5 entertainmentpage 1618 crossword page 19 sports page 27 28 classifieds page 3442 see our pullout real estate section i rmfiheswtm see page 27 smoking cigarettes in public places will soon be against the law in whitchurchstouffviile and representatives from local community boards and some store owners claim business will be lost and charged the town is not equipped to enforce the issue local officials passed the controversial nonsmoking bylaw 9173 tuesday night on a 52 vote in favor of regulating smoking in public areas ward 1 councillor margot marshall and ward 3 councillor nicktatone the only two smokers on council voted against passing the bylaw tatone threatened to light up a cigarette in council chambers to prove the law cant be enforced stouffville downtown members also told officials they could not give full approval of the bylaw as it is written claiming the restriction is an invasion of private property however the chamber of commerce executive said it would support the law in principle former ward 2 councillor ron robb representing the bal- lantrae community centre board told officials they had bet ter be prepared to enforce such a law he added local taxes are still on the rise up 49 per cent from 1990 and requested all the dollar figures be brought forward before the bylaw is passed so people realize how much this will cost robb urged officials robb accused council of shoving this down peoples throats and said the bylaw is not educational but dictates to smokers youre punishing smokers rather than trying to help them robb claimed meanwhile ward 3 resident dave probert who is a member of the lemonville community centre executive said he resents the way the issue has been pushed through council far too quick probert said passing the law would affect bookings at local halls and would cost the board about 2500 a year in lost rev enue he added council would be taking away smokers rights but mayor fran sainsbury said the town should consider health issues before revenue are we going to put monetary gain before health because well have to pay for sick smokers in the long run through the health care system mayor sainsbury said and resident lorna turner who originally urged officials last month to pass the law asked about the rights of nonsmokers it seems whenever there is a debate about rights the rights of the smoker always come before the rights of the nonsmok er i have the right to breathe clean air and my two children have that right turner said turner added most people will comply with a nosmoking law and said you can argue until youre blue in the face a bylaw is the only way to get people to butt out in public areas she said the change room floors at the recreation complex are ruined because of cigarette bums despite no smoking signs posted however stouffville deli owner jack verhoog said hell lose business left and right if he is forced to tell people to kill their cigarettes the bylaw which will not apply to functions booked this year would leave the owners of stores and people who book halls responsible that there is no smoking except for in desig nated areas said town chief administrative officer bob panizza there will be times when people wont cooperate but its like that with any rule or regulation people speed when theyre not supposed to also panizza said ninety per cent of people will adhere to the bylaw its not been a problem many other municipality and whitchurch- stouffville is the last of york region municipalities to have this bylaw he added 9 6423655 myers motors ltd 5486 main st stouffville used car specials 8sponiiac6000se v6loodsdmhcooi 9995 87 olds cera gt 2 ml loodedleatfierv6 9995 89 p0n1iac sunkrd gtturbo 5 spd leaded mock low fans 9995 service special front or ear make skoal brake shoes andor pads renew noudes insbl new or eajunqe shoes or pods ajjusf aid senna o hand brdte bleed system resufcxe otsc 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