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Changing the clock:

Good time to change batteries

Sunday is the day British Columbians will be changing
their clocks back to get out of daylight saving time and back
to regular time.

And it can also be a time when a very simple precaution
can be taken that could save your life.

Each time you have to change the clock, either forward in
the spring or back in the fall, take a few minutes to check the
batteries in your smoke alarms with a good battery tester

Getting into the regular bi-annual routine could make the
difference between having a useless smoke alarm, and one
that wakens you when the house fills with smoke.

With no battery a smoke alarm is powerless to save your
life.

Fire officials estimate that 30 per cent of smoke alarms are
useless due to old or missing batteries. Canada has the
highest per capita death rate from fire of any industrialized
nation.

Municipal elections:

Last call for (vocal) candidates

Elected officials constantly get criticized for whatever
decision they happen to make on behalf of the citizens they
represent.

Sometimes, individual citizens get so vocal with their
Criticism they enter an area where newspapers fear to tread.
In those cases the underlying theme coming through is:

~ “Anyone can do a better job.”

When that happens, municipal politicians sometimes
think: “If only that person could walk a mile in my boots,
maybe they'd understand.”

Monday is the last day all citizens have to put their name
up as a candidate for mayor, alderman or school trustee in any
of the three Peninsula municipalities.

Some current municipal politicians have said they will be
happy to sign nomination papers for even their most vocal
opponents.

Giving the residents of the Peninsula community the most
to choose from is desirable. That’s when the democratic
process works best. We’re hoping that some current munici-
pal politicians get re-elected because of the new three-year
term of office. Continuity is important, but so is new blood.

Giving the Peninsula community the most to choose from
may also encourage more people to go to the polls this year.
We're not going to be doing this again, in civic politics, until
1993.

And it’ll give those vocal opponents a chance to see what
life is like on the other side of the fence, even if all-candidate
forums and campaigning is as far as they get.

Opinion Volume 76 Issue No.43 TheReview Wednesday, September 5, 1990 — A6
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ALL APPLIANCES... LONG-TERM LEASE AVAILABLE...”
UH-OH, ...NO CHILDREN OR FELONS... p~——
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Letters to the editor must be
signed and contain the writer's
address and telephone number.
Letters should not exceed 500
words in length and may be edil-
ed for clarity, legality or taste.

Publisher: Vic Swan

PRIZE WIN,
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TheReview

Serving The Saanich Peninsula
Since 1912

9781 2nd Street

Sidney, B.C V8L 4P8

or PO. Box 2070

Sidney, B.C V8L 3S5

Second Class Mail Registration #0128
Published every Wednesday

656-1151
Editor: Glenn Werkman

AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER
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CIRCULATION

Great meal with
smoking prohibited

Editor:

It was a pleasure to have dinner
recently in a new Sidney restaurant
that was adventurous enough to
establish a “No Smoking” policy
for the entire restaurant.

Aside from the pleasure of walk-
ing into an eating place that didn’t
have the stench of cigarette smoke,
my family enjoyed a lovely meal.

My congratulations to the
owner-operator for providing a
smoke free enviornment in which
to enjoy lunch or dinner. I am sure
he will never lack business as
many non-smokers, especially
those with children, seek out such
establishments.

When we spoke to the manager
at the conclusion of our meal, and
asked particularly about the no-
smoking policy, his response was
very enlightening — “I want peo-
ple to smell the aroma of good
food when they walk in the door,
not the smell of cigarette smoke.”
He’s got a very good point.

Too bad more restaurants don’t
think the same for the large num-
bers of non-smokers that now
outrank the smokers in Canada by
a long shot!

G. Fletcher
Sidney

Criticism should
be constructive

Editor:

The recently formed Sidney
Ratepayers’ Association seems to
fill a real need, if one can judge by
the turnout at their second meet-
ing.

There are many concems that
must be addressed and many ques-
tions that require answers, which is
immediately apparent when the
Town comes under discussion
between residents.

The Ratepayers’ Association has
not set out to discredit the present
mayor or her able and admirable
council members; simply to
further the principle of democracy
in our town and to ensure that the
wishes of the majority are fol-
lowed.

Over a period of time it seems
that there have been changes in the
way the Town is run that are not
always conducive to accord
between the council and the peo-

ple. One of these changes concerms
the practice of holding meetings
which are not open to the public.

Of course, sometimes this is
necessary and desirable and often
itis the natural and sensible course
to pursue.

However, there seems to be the
impression that decisions are
sometimes taken at such meetings
that are not adequately publicized.
Making minutes available is not
always a satisfactory solution.
Why do we not have regular
reporting in our local paper of
council meetings?

Decisions taken in our name
would then be known immediately
after each meeting and, hopefully,
we would all be kept in touch with
the way events were shaping before
decisions were taken that might
not necessarily be the will of the
majority.

I am sure our mayor and her
council are in office for the best
possible motives, and it follows
that co-operation with the resi-
dents of Sidney is one of their
primary objectives.

Let us hope that the Sidney
Ratepayers’ Association will assist
in the achievement of this goal
and, with the help of its many
enthusiastic members, will be in a
position to offer constructive,
rather than destructive, criticism.

Dorothy Smith
Sidney

Best to forget
$6 million request

Editor:

In even considering Esquimalt
Mayor Ron Warder’s scheme of
having Greater Victoria’s over-
taxed property owners contribute
$6 million toward the staging of
the 1994 Commonwealth Games,
Central Saanich council has mis-
sed the point entirely by stating,
“that the average municipal tax-
payer should be able to pay almost
$4 per year for four years” (The
Review, Oct. 3).

The issue here is one of princi-
ple, not the $4. The principle
being that if the Games are to
benefit Victoria to the degree that
some people would have us
believe, a yet to be determined
assumption, then isn’t it only fair
to conclude that ALL income
earning Victorians should pay
their fair share. Instead, only one
group, the long suffering property

owner, is being singled out to pay.

Even more ludicrous is the
medieval method of determining
what each property owners portion
shall be, assessed value which will
result in property owners paying
varying amounts, and many paying
substantially more than $4.

The assessed value of a persons §
home/commercial building(s) and _ fj
property is by no means a fair and<¢
accurate measurement of a persons
wealth, does not represent cash in
the bank, and totally ignores what
should be the fundamental criteria
for all taxation, ability to pay.

Meanwhile Games president
Ron Longstafre would be well
advised to immediately reduce his
budget by $6 million and put on
the best show he can strictly
within the limits of Federal, Pro- -
vincial, and corporate donations
only,

With civic elections coming in
November, only those candidates
who support meaningful property
tax reform, and are opposed to this _
blatant abuse of the property tax 4
system, are worthy of support.

Joe Boulter i

B.C. Property Tax Reform ~
Committee

Victoria

Golfers should think
of next generation

Editor: x

At the October 10 public hear-
ing in Central Saanich on whether
or not a golf course should be
located on prime agricultural land,

a significant number of golf course
advocates displayed what can only
be termed as disturbing behavior.

Throughout the world, there is
growing awareness about the nel
to preserve land for future genera-
tions, about the green house effect
about the growing international
crisis in agriculture, about the
threats to wildlife and water fowl,
and so forth.

When speakers at the hearing
expressed concerns on these
issues, some of the above-noted
advocates laughed derisively.

One gentleman even asserted
that he knew nothing about wild-
life or about farmland, but that he
loved golf and wanted this golf
course — he had not doubt that he
wouldn’t be around long enough to
worry about future food problem
Let us hope he has no children or
grandchildren to receive his legacy.

Continued on Page A8