6 - Friday, November 14, 1986 - North Shore News THE VOICE OF NOATH ANO WEST VANCOUVER Publisher: Editor-in-Chief Peter Speck Noel Wright Barret! Fisher Linda Stewart Display Advertising 980-0511 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution ga6aa37 «Managing Editor Subscriptions 986-1337 Advertising Director North Shora News, tounded in Seda, at odegendent yDurban pew stale and quahbed under Scneduie 1 Pytaghent dl cat the eo Bee Pens Lit and sintaaten) 10 deiy door oF at 4 ncoueet Sib per year Mailing fates Dokl, tot utile sted Malet iC ROG Mauss ttl “News Viewpoint SUNDAY - WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 10 vital minutes n tomorrow’s North Van District and West Van civic elections the basic choice for voters is be- tween incumbent office-holders and outside can- didates seeking to oust them. Once again there’s a danger that the results may not accurately reflect the preferences of the community as a whole. ee ; The reason is the traditionally low voter participa- ; ; nw SP ana tion in civic polls, where hitherto a 30-40% turnout has been hailed as a success story. HOW TD HANDLE A Bll. Such poor turnout figures tend to favor challengers over incumbents. The former — interesting because they are fresh faces with clean slates — invariably suc- ceed in getting whatever supporters they can muster out to vote. Their backing, large or small, is always dedicated. And even if they don’t win, they split the total vote at a cost to other candidates. Incumbents, even if popular, often lack such dedication from their fans — too many of whom. assume that the serving office-holder they wish to re- tain will get back in anyway. So they ‘‘leave it to George”’ and don’t bother to vote. In North Van District six council and school board incumbents are facing 15 outsiders. In West Van, in- cluding the mayorai contest, it’s 10 against 10. If you favor challengers, you’!ll pretty certainly spare a very important 10 minutes at the polling station tomorrow to mark your X’s. If you prefer incumbents, don’t forget you could iose them simply by NE- GLECTING to spare those vital 10 minutes. Democracy means you vote as you wish. But you Entire contents © 1986 North Shore Free Press Lid All nghts reserved $7,656 (average. Wednesday a foday & Sunday) Maran rercRTE wee VOTE! not an iss Dear Editor: Your newspaper is treating en- dorsement by the Citizens for Good Government as one of, the issues in the municipal election. Some candidates seeni to be seek- ing political credit for rejecting support by this organization, and there is some real confusion in the community. My position on this matter is simple and straightforward. From the beginning I said that I was running as an independent but would meet with any responsible group or organization and accept support if that was their wish. In accordance with this policy, 1 responded to an invitation to meet with the Citizens for Good Gov- ernment and they have chosen to support me. With me, it was clear- ly not a case of ‘‘seeking endorse- ment’’, but rather a case of accep- ting support with no strings or conditions attached. The alter- roup Unbiased reporting called for 1@ native was a bit silly — to tell them I did not want their support. There is an anomaly present here that should be noted. The editor- in-chief of your newspaper seems to feel that he has the right to en- dorse his favorite candidate — and be able to use the power of a vir- tual print monopoly to do it — while at the same time attacking the right of a well meaning organization of more than a hun- dred to enjoy a similar privilege. Don Lanskail West Vancouver (Like the News, the CGG brochure is delivered to every West Van household. Noel Wright’s signed colunins have criticized the CGG solely because its 100-plus members imply by their name that their endorsed choices represent the interests of more than 24,000 voters without having any mandate for that claim. — ED.) Dear Editor: Your masthead, quote ‘Your Community Newspaper’ unquote: a North Shore paper you are, a Com- munity Paper alas you are not. We have an important election in progress in West Vancouver. Surely we are entitled to expect unbiased, non-partisan reporting or editorial writing from you. Up to and in- cluding your last Sunday edition (Nov. 9th) you did well. Your page There really is no substitute for 3, last Sunday, was impartial and Trust, Honesty and Justice. informative. Wednesday Nov. 12, in your paper you have reverted to past style and destroyed a fragile credibility. I wonder if you have the intestinal fortitude to publish this letter, ver- batim, on your Fridays’ (next) editorial page, and without any snide remarks or slanted articles? DEDICATION, ABILITY Lanskai!l has integrity Dear Editor: When Don Lanskail first ran for West Vancouver Council, | had the pleasure of being his campaign manager and since then { have been associated with every one of his many successful campaigns. PERSONAL OPINIONS RESERVED FOR COLUMNISTS News c Statement by the publisher: An anonymous letter, ‘'Paid for by: West Vancouver Voters for Unprejudiced Press,’’ is being delivered to West Van house- holds in connection with the cur- rent West Van mayoral election. The letter alleges that North Shore News editor-in-chief Noel Wright ‘‘has shown a very biased approach in his editorials, in his selection of letters...and in the important positioning of articles and ads regarding the candidates for this election.” Election news coverage has been coordinated by North Shore News managing editor Barrett Fisher, and — as a perusal of the past several issues of the paper shows — has been scrupulously fair, balanced and without com- ment, The same perusal shows that unsigned editorials reflecting the viewpoint of the paper have nei- The reasons why I supported Don are many — dedication and ability come to mind. But the overpowering reason why | have supported Don is his integrity. Over the years, Don has proven to me time and time again that his in- Capt. G.E. Murrell West Vancouver (Yes, we do have the ‘intestinal for- titude.’ We publish all letters, space permitting, and we take pride in our record of printing letters that repre- sent all points of view. — Ed.) tegrity is ingrained in his character. Sometimes Don has fost votes by upholding his integrity. This is why 1 have supported him over the years and will continue to do so. Denis Tuck West Vancouver to fair coverage ther endorsed nor criticized any specific candidates. To the best of the newspaper’s ability, all Jetters supporting the various candidates have been published, but the newspaper has no control over the quantity or content of letters sent. Letters are published as they are received, so if more letters supporting a specific candidate are received at one time, the Setters page will reflect that, as can be seen on to- day’s Mailbox page. Regular columnists, such as Noel Wright, Doug Collins and Bob Hunter, write under their own name and take personal re- sponsibility for their views. Col- umnists’ opinions do not repre- sent those of the newspaper, and column writers are afforded the same freedom of expression as any letter writer or ‘opinion’ contributor to the News. The news and editorial staff have no control over paid adver- tisements and are not informed when or on which pages these will appear. Priority positioning can be bought by the advertiser, which guarantees a _ particular page for an ad. As publisher of the North Shore News, I would like to say for the record that my newspaper does not endorse ANY can- didates in the upcoming municipal election. Publisher Peter Speck North Shore News