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MARKHAM â€" stops running. Markham race for mayor, region The 49~year-oid former insurance underwriter turned politician started to campaign for re-election the day he was unseated in a 1975 recount. Moran runs, runs again ' Moran served from Jan. 1 to June 15, 1975 on regional council before the recount gave his seat to Alma Walker by four votes. .._, .w. Ever since. he has been working towards re-election. His campaign signs were ordered one and a half years ago and his literature last August. ubv “nu . He has attended all daytime council meetings since he was put out of office and for the past three years, has called on six to eight taxpayers every Saturday “to learn of the public‘s views and to uncover local problems." Selling insurance Moran has also been selling in- surance as an agent. He and his wife, Penny. live near Highway 48 and the 19th sideroad. (Their four children are grown up and living on their own) I A.- LL.‘ ..... I b""" "r 7 - He expects to run well on the west side of town where much of his door-to- door canvassing has been con- centrated. And he says the aborted “team” of Hi Lawrie and Alma Walker have made the election a “whole new ball game" Ever since. Lawrie and Walker an- nounced they would run as a “team”, he has been receiving notes of en- couragement of $5 and $10 in the mail‘ sometimes anonymously. He says he was not one of the “gang” when he was on council and some members would not like to see him return. Voters have a lot to figure out in this election, especially if they are newcomers to~~Markham. Over the last week or so, they have been bombarded with campaign literature that they I» Some voters have picked this up and many of those calling to complain about the “slate” now say they are going to vote for him alone. Moran. a member of the Markham District Veterans Association. and a Chapter of Chartered Life Under~ writers. served two years as a counâ€" cillor for Ward 6 in Markham. He has been active in the NDP in the past but says he is now politically “in- dependent." He lists the following as important issues in the current campaign: Speeding Cars “There must be greater police sur~ veillance of our streets. Many residents are complaining of speeding cars. squealing tires. and numerous breakâ€" ins. If there is one area where tax- payers appear to be prepared to pay more for better service this seems to be entertainment itihtral wednesday, December 1, 1976 Ron Moran never onfused voters Features Stories by Larry Johnston Ron Moran ...... long campaign it. I will support an increase in the regional police budget if Chief Crawford can assure me that the extra men he seeks will provide the quality of service being demanded by our tax- payers." will have to sort out. This page features profiles and platforms for candidates for mayor and regional council only. More Markham election stories appear in the A section. “There are too many townhouses going into existing neighborhoods. In 1975 a total of 221 single permits were issued compared to 1,518 multiples. It is easy to see how schools become crowded, parks and recreation programs taxed to the limit and traffic flows altered. High densities should be planned for new developments such as Riseborough, not old neighborhoods.“ Council salaries “The practice of a new council setting their own salaries must stop. The present council should make a recommendation to the incoming council so that the taxpayers will have an opportunity to hear where each candidate stands. (This approach is being worked on by finance committee chairman Stan Daurio.)" “Council should not accept cash in lieu of parkland except in the case of extremely small subdivisions where a tot-lot would be expensive to maintain. We should try to obtain all the parkland possible." “Millions of dollars have been debentured over the past few years by our town, much of it for recreational structures. It is now time to turn to other less expensive sports facilities such as to tennis. soccer and baseball. The era of big spending for big buildings should come to an end.“ “The town sign bylaw should be enforced‘ or it will be meaningless. It was no sooner passed than there were dozens of businesses appearing before council asking for exemptions.“ Section D BUTTONVILLE â€" Tweedledum, tweedle . . . nothing. There is a ding- dong battle shaping up in Markham even if most of the voters are in a contented state of apathy. Battle brewed below surface Leading in the fray are the can- didates for mayor. Tony Roman. 40, who won the office six years ago is facing his first challenge from Bob Adams, 47, regional councillor, chairman of planning and the other dominant force on council. Thee-aiiihave worked side by side for years but are now tearing strips off each other whenever the opposition is The next morning at 8:30 a.m., Adams was poring over a voters list and with a pocket calculator figuring out how many voters he could call on by lunchtime. THORNHILLâ€"“Come early and have breakfast with us," said Bob Adams. Adams sees Langstaff issue He should have been tired after the planning meeting that kept him out until after 2 am. but it didn‘t show. “You know what happened last night. We approved an entire town without any fanfare.“ The “town”, five subdivisions behind Thornlea High School was close enough that his wife, for one, was sorry to hear more fields would be falling to the bulldozer. Adams is known for his energy. He rose through the ranks of community organizations from coach to president of the Thornhill Community Hockey League. He became a member of the Thornhill District Lions Club and went on to be president of “that very suc- cessful organization". He was chairman of the building committee for the Thornhill Com- munity Centre, sits as a trustee on the York Central Hospital Board and is a member of the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. A Bell Canada manager, Adams built his house on Ida Street and moved here 20 years ago. He and his wife Margaret have raised three children. THORNHILL â€" “Tony Roman is just an ordinary guy who happens to be the mayor," says Tony Rom_2_1n. An o}dihary 'guy vCIho talks about himself in the third person, Roman still has to get up at 7 am. t9 feed cagtlg; That's not the easiest thing to do if council has been sitting until 1 ams or 2 am. as it often does. But politics “gets into your blood," says Roman. Hevlikes working vslith people and the feeling of achievement when something is accomplished. Roman- and his wife Elsie, moved onto a farm at Victoria Square in 1962. He first became involved in local politics because of some sloppy sideyards in old Markham Township. The first time he ran, he lost by 13 votes, but in 1966, he was elected to the old township council. He ran for mayor of the new town in 1969 and won. He said he realized he could not do two jobs, so he resigned the one he had in the city, went into the cattle exporting business as a sideline and went to work as mayor. Over a steak sandwich at the Park- way Friday, he talked forcefully about some of the things that bothered him in the current campaign. “I don‘t make deals with any members of council". He said he told Adams he would make up his mind about running again by the end of June. Before the end of June, he read the announcement in the paper. The Sabiston Pit, he said, has cost him two elections. the two in which he ran for a provincial seat for the Progressive Conservatives. THORNHILL - A late entry for the regional council race in Markham is Roy Muldrew. 48, of Th0rnhil_1.> _ lint Muldrew does not think his decision to run was made too late last month to jeopardize his chances. Muldrew says he is running because “a number of citizens approached me some months ago and asked me about responsible representation.“ Muldrew touts expefience He was a céuncillor from Thornhill for four years and chairman of the Markham finance committee. “I feel I have to offer business sen- se." he said on a recent Cable television 10 program. “I think I proved my love for the town." The Muldrews raised their family in a home in Thornhill and. now that the children have moved away, are living in a high rise luxury condominium on Yonge Street. Muldrew says it is a misconception that condominium living is only for people with lower incomes. l “ft is for all levels,“ he says, and emphasizes that condominium residents own their own homes. He is opposed to a you-scratch~my- back-and-I'll-scratch-yours system at York Region, the system that requires that you vote for something in someone else's municipality and they support you in return. He thinks proposals should be con- sidered on their individual merits. He is pleased the Markham Official Plan is completed but thinks it is two years later than it should have been. Markham gave the region $25,000 to do an official plan for it, but it was never done. he says. He thinks it is important from the point of view of representation that Thornhill have a regional represen- tative. Tfie ratepayers in the area just By Larry Johnston the flay 'are the can- out of hearing range. Such is the nature of politics. Botli are politically ambitious, Roman has run twice for the legislature for the Progressive Conservatives and lost. V 7 Adams sought the Liberal nomination last time and also lost. Opinions of their talents vary from that of most councillors that it is too bad to lose both of them to one overheard last week that “they‘re both jerks.“ Markham has undergone tremendous growth over the past six years and borrowed heavily against future growth to keep taxes in line. At the same time‘ (with ratepayers‘ associations watâ€" ching them from every corner), the He first became involved in politics when Darcy McKeough threatened to merge Thornhill with North York. “We have a different way of life up here.“ He sees two big issues at this stage in the campaign and Langstaff is one of them. “It is preposterous that people of Langstaff when they tried to make their case at the public hearings, all they could do was object to where it is. They could not propose an alternate route.” Since first elected in 1970, he has served one term as a local councillor and two as regional councillor. He announced last June that he was run- ning this time for mayor. A court ruling prevented the public hearings from dealing with land outside the Parkway Belt which made it im- possible to discuss the merits of using the jail farm. V The Ontario government decided not to appeal the court decision and has not amended the legislation on which it was based. The other major issue is the noise of CN trains in the Bayview Fairways and Bayview Glen areas. Adams says he would like to “clean up that situation" and stop all the shunting there. Adams says the housing shortage will be over in five years when most of the post-war babies will be through buying their first homes. Meanwhile‘ developers will be scrambling to get as many houses on the market as soon as possible. wanted the dumping stopped He had an agreement worked out to provide for the restoration of the land with Sabiston in 1972 but council chose to reject it. “In my opinion, we blew it then." “People think I was a friend of Sabiston‘s. I don‘t know him any better than I know you. Most of the negotiation Knowing his way around Queen‘s Park has helped Markham too. he said. The Official Plan was paid for entirely by the province. “Do you think anyone could do that now with spending restraints? Do you see what happened to Vaughan when they tried to get more money?“ On cliques, and friends, he said people go to lawyers in Markham because there happen to be some ex- cellent lawyers there, not because they think they can get a better deal out of the town of Markham. “People think I was a friend of Sabiston‘s. I don't know him any better than 1 know you. Most of the negotiation was done through his lawyer who happens to be Don Hindson.“ “IiHiiidsm hasn't got a case, I tell him he is full of s . . . and to tell his client that.“ “I am tougher on my friends. if anything that) with strangers.“ He said there was such a thing as diplomacyi When it came time to discuss the Thornhill-Vaughan plan with Vaughan, he is the one who will be able to talk to Garnet Williams about it, not Adams. Roman‘s monologue was punctuated by finger pointing and four letter words. “That's business,“ he said. He recalled when Adams tried to ram through a $1 million debenture for Markham (the region does the borrowing). “Markham would have been in a might embarrassing position if that had not gone through. I had to collect a lot of IOUs to get that through,“ said Roman. There are things Markham needs from Vaughan too. for example when the regional waste management con- tract is up for renewal‘ Roy Muldrew ...... regional bid Key issues Key issues in Thornhill include restricting Yonge Street to five lanes and providing alternate north-south routes so that Thornhill will not be split. Region misunderstood Muldrew says many people do not understand the role of a regional councillor as opposed to a ward councillor. “I believe the region requires someone who can work with and make responsible decision on matters which affect long range planning, long range development, long range concern for the residents of our communities.“ yum-puny. The regional councillor has to provide leadership to pursue issues with senior levels of government after they have passed the local level. town has made a reputation for being tough to deal w_ith.r says Roman_._ Aaams says he is the one with the reputation for toughness and as a result “sgme people want his out 70f Lthgre." serve , Romzrin says the difference between him and Adams is one of approach. that there are times when you have to use diplomacyr “I have had to mend so many fences after he charged right through them." Adams says he wants “to turn the town around" by providing office space to provide white collar workers who live in Markham with a place to work as well. The election has opened rifts that reach down into the race for regional Adams says he would have liked to see the fairgrounds in Markham as a park. While there were many things wrong with the Save the Fairgrounds brief‘ he believes it made one key point, “how often does a community get a second chance in history to have a park in its downtown area?“ He believes in community in volvement in planning. One place where his views vary the most from those of the present mayor is in the attitude to the region which he says includes “all the worst things of county council.“ His? two provincial campaigns are worth some marks with the provincial government too, he said. But so long as there is no one to protect, (a Tory MPP) Markham won't get the new transportation links like Highway 404. Highways like 410 (to Brampton) are getting priority. Othér concerné at thé Eegion include: the police budget. “We have not got the uu vuo... “I have been compared to such inâ€" tellects as Charlotte Whitton." says the 60-year-old Mrs. Walker who is about the same height. has the same red hair color and the reputation for speaking her mind as the former mayor of Ottawa. MARKHAM â€" Alma Walker‘s most famous official remarks as a regional councillor were made behind closed doors, but they canie barreHing through. I ‘7 ,.A_I_ :â€" Walker known to speak out VLWI- On this occasion, whe was chastizing the Save the Fairgrounds Committee for its criticism of the Markham fair board. No one could defend old Markham better than the former mayor of the old town who was first elected to council in 1952 when it was a village of 1,200 people. J __ Over the years. she served as councillor, deputy-reeve and reeve. She ran for mayor of the new town when it was formed and lost and the following two years were the only time she was out of office. She returned as a ward councillor in 1972 and in 1974 lost a close race on election night for regional council. She took office six months later following a recount. a big spender in election contests‘ she said the recount cost her more than the previous campaign. A busy person around and beyond the town borders. Mrs. Walker is a director of the Markham fair, active in Grace Anglican Church and has been honored for her long service as hydro com‘ missioner by the Ontario Municipal Electrical Association. Mrs. Walker notes that the council made an agreement with the new owners of the old fairgrounds when she was off council. Looking back, she Says she probably would have voted the same way since the land changed hands Bob Ada ms . . . . . . turn town around Tony Roman ...... mends fences council where Alma Walker from old Markham. Roy Muldrew from Thor- nhill and Ron Moran‘ who tries to be in as many places as possible. are after the two seats. Even in ward races, watching the candidates debate at Bayview Fair- ways Public School last week, while Peter Grosskurth talked the mayor beamed behind him and Adams looked up at the ceiling. Adams seemed much more interested in what Grosskurth‘s opponent, Tom Gove had to say. There is a difference between the two candidates for mayor even if it is no more or less subtle than one inviting you home for breakfast while the other takes you out to lunch. He is vice-chairman of the regional planning committee. (where the Markham plan goes next) as well as chairman of the Markham committee that has worked on it for two years. No Official Plan is perfect, he says. but the hope through the OP is to change Markham to a vital community which will give more people a chance to work there as well as live there. Adams would like to avoid highrises. “Kids should not be in highrises," he says. “There are studies in Europe that show it is harmful to children in their formative years not to be living on the ground. He thinks Markham's record in the area of senior citizens apartments is “abysmal”. There are no senior citizens, rent-geared-to-income apartments in town now and the first one is being built by a church group. Another church group is planning one for Thornhill. He thinks the density in the Thornhill- Vaughan plan is far too high. The people there do not know what they are getting themselves into. “It is like the old Markham Township." The density of 40 units per acre compares to 22 units on the Markham side of Thornhill, he says. Again turâ€" ning to his pocket calculator. he said that Vaughan would bell lanes short on moving the traffic out of the Thornhill- Vaughan development. manpower now for preventative crime. Chief Crawford wanted three more men for the youth bu-reau“; u AIAA -v.â€"wt-I:a;1§66rtation. Markham has the largest public {rajsit system now. ,AJ vatflnerdfvflciial Plan Has to be passed by the region or the town will be doing its planning piecemeal. q A,A, Roman does not think the council gets enough credit for passing the Official Plan. Being a town of communities, it should have been more difficult to put together than one for a small town like Aurora. he said. Wlétréi éouncillors bring forward their own ideas, as well as staff, and comments on them in open counci_l. He said he would néver muzzle a councillor or criticize a staff member in public. 7 .A . . .. VA,V_A the staff is getting to the point where the late hours of night council meetings are too rnuch. He sEid that so far as he was,con- cerned, there will be more daytime council meetings next year to ease the load‘ The Roman family first moved to Markham in 1952 and Tony was sent to board at‘ St. Michael‘s College School where he played football and hockey. He also played football at the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. worked four years in the meat packing industry and eight for Denison Mines. “fie i; the nephew of Stephen Roman the mining millionaire. The Roman‘s have four children, Michael, 16‘ Maria, 14, Paula. 12 and Edward 6 and the whole family gets involved in politics which is a good thing considering the demands it makes on their father‘s timei twice She says she is running again because of the need for strong representation at the region. “I believe in regional government, but we must work to improve regional government, Mrs. Walker saw few issues in the current campaign. “The council has dealt with most of them. “It was too expensive for a park. We can buy a whole farm in the parkway belt and have room for all kinds of things would not have there," she said, in an interview. She felt the main concerns of residents near the fairgrounds was not to have a park, but the kind of homes that will be built. “They will be con- sulted." There must be regional approval for the Markham Official Plan and secondary plan, she said. That brings up a second reason fur running, “To finish what we started." The aircraft must finally be dealt with at Buttonville and the CN trains and federal government must come up with a decision that will help the people in the Bayview Glen area. Alma Walker ..former mayor