NORTH VANCOUVER District Council would like to dance the amalgamation tango, but. acknowledges that city politicians are not interested. Nevertheless, a 5-2 district coun- cil majority supported a motion Monday by Coun. Ernie Crist ask- ing the city mayor and council to meet with the district to set up a joint task force on amalgamation. “There is no way anybody could say this (motion) is heavy-handed or biased. This is an opportunity for the people of both municipalities to carry the ball forward,’ argued Crist. He proposed a 16-member com- mittee of citizens representing both municipalities equally. From page 1 Schreck, means one of two things: trustees either withheld information ~ from the public up until the last pos- sible moment, or they are nat fit io manage.’ “IT think what they have done is destroy their own credibility,” he said. “All they do is whine for more money.” MacLellan, however, repeated district contentions that if 8.1993 report showing the local school board is underfunded was -.imple- “mented, District 44 would not be :Staring at today’s massive deficit. She points to the district's 43. : schoois, 2,000 employees and $100- million budget. “It’s quite a balanc- ing act and 1 think we do a pretty ‘good job at it," she said. ‘ :« “If someone can run the school district better than we can, then they should go-ahead,” she said. i But she added the government : . Should examine the district's finan- cial situation and realize (ie:limita- Selections would be made by the chamber of commerce, firefighters union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), arts council, North Shore Family Services and the Sports and Recreation Advisory Council. But discussion centred on the issue of whether city politicians would even discuss the issue. Coun. Pat Munroe suggested Crist's motion was much too speci!- ic. “It takes two sides to tango,” said Munroe. He suggested softening the approach to the city by asking fora meeting “to discuss harmonization of services that would be of mutual benefit.” But Coun. Don Bell argued that 7 GE If someone can run the school district better than we can, then lesi NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL By Martin Millerchip such an approach wauld move too far from the central question of whether city councillors would sup- port amalgamation if it could be shown to benefit both the city and the district, He said if city councillors con- tinued to oppose amalgamation at that point, then their opposition was purely political. “If it isn’t to the benefit of both municipalities we don’t want it.” said Bell. Coun. Pam Goldsmith-Jones also questioned the basis of the city’s opposition to debating the issue. “How do we know the citizens of the city are so opposed?” she asked. “if the city is so well run, why wouldn't we want to run everything their way? Instead, we get mired in silly debates like who's responsible for a curling rink and who gels a covered tennis court.” Only Coun. Janice Harris voiced any opposition to the concept of amalgamation. Describing herself as “a creature of habit,” Harris said she did not have a clear vision of what amalga- mation would look like. Mayor Murray Dykeman also voted against Crist's motion, but not because he opposed amalgamation. Dykeman said approaching the city again on the issue would be a waste of time and argued it would be better to pursue a North Vancouver referendum a year from Noveniber. However, provincial officials at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs have previously told the News that the province would be unlikely to sanction a referendum unless both councils were in agreement on the topic. While Crist's suggestions for the composition of the proposed task force were defeated, his terms of reference would see the tusk force: @ determine the financial imptica- tions and short- and long-term ben- efits: @ recommend changes to make amalgamation acceptable to either disadvantaged municipality; @ recommend steps to achieve amalgamaticn; complete its report by June 1, 1996. . NEWS photo’ Mike iyakareld NORTH VANCCUVER'S Rob Penner bagged a handgun on Saturday when he pulled off sonie basement wall panels. Police are attempting to trace the gun’s owner. The weapon was wrapped and piaced in this paper bag befora it was stashed behind the walt. “ yives UP a secret to iV home renovator they should go ahead. g b | -- Schoo! Board chairman Barbara MacLellan tions under which the board works. “df they had to operate under the -) constraints we do, we don't think they can doa better job.” Macl.cllan said, Constraints include the School - Act, workers’ compensation regula- tions, contracts with employees, and an “unfair” funding formula, she said. ‘Referring to the face that the true size of the deficit was not released until recently, more than three months after the June 30 fiscal year-end, MacLellan said; “In retrospect, maybe we should have made some effort to publicly adjust that figure. It rea ally i isn ‘t until you do the audit you can be sure of these things.” Auditors KPMG Peat Marwick Thorne acknowledged that the board ‘contravened the School Act by incurring a deficit without the minister’s consent. Schreck: told auditor general George Morfitt he was not immediately concemed. about ‘that breach of the act, but was concerned -about the $2,633,754 final deficit figure appearing so late. ' “I consider it to be a failure of reporting, control, and accountability.” said Schreck in a Sept. 27 letter to Morfitt. “I seek your advice on whether this is 4 matter which deserves greater attention.” Morfitt was away from his Victoria office and could not be reached for comment to press time. The board asked for, and finally received, ministerial approval to incur the $1.7 million deficit'as long as the board paid off $300,000 of the deficit _in the upcorning fiscai year, and the remainder next year. On Sept. 26, the board decided to seck approval for the revised $2.6 mil- lion operating deficit. The board asked district superintendent, Robin Brayne to review the 1995-96 operating budget to reduce expenditures and expand revenue to retire $300,000 of the debt. Schreck said the ministry. will make an announcement later this fall to finalize block funding for schools. Parent Dave Jamieson, who said he's been “observing” the board's fis- ‘eal situation for five years, also put finger to keyboard when he learned of the hike on the accumulated deficit. : Said Jamieson 10 MacLeilan: “Most entities managing a budget as large “as the NVSD's have regular quarterly reporting in order that fiscal surpris- . es do not occur.” ~ Said Jamieson to the News: “I’m not ona mission, Pm just really annoyed at the flagrant abuses.” A HOME renovator stumbled upon hidden mys- tery Saturday when he pulled off some wall pan- eling to find a 9-mm handgun. By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter “It wasn “touted. It wasn ‘tthat old and it was in pret- ty goad shape.” suid Rob Penner, The North Vancouver man moved into a rented house in the 900-block of Calverital Street one month ago. He was tearing out the last bit of old paneling when he found # brown paper bag. At first Penner thought the heavy bag was full of nails. Then he saw the black butt of the gun and “knew right away.” The renovation work also involved king up the home's old carpet. “We found a half-filled syringe under the curpet.” said Penner. Penner said a North Vancouver RCMP officer put the syringe, complete with needle and clear fluid, in an evi- dence bag. Truckers handed 25 tickets road because the Alberta driver did From page 1 Penner said the house has teen previously rented by quiet, respectable people. He said his landlady was “very shocked” to hear about the gun. The North Vancouver RCMP checked the gun's seri- ‘al number. It did not match any reported lost or stolen handguns listed in the RCMP's nation-wide computer system. r “We can’t trace its history,” said Const. Catherine Galliford. The police are sending the pistol’ s serial number to’ RCMP in Ottawa who will check it against all registered handguns in the country. Canadian law requires all handguns to be registered. Galliford said the the 9-mm automatic Luger, which was found with an ammunition clip. will be sent to Vancouver for testing in the crime lab. Police will attempt to find out if the gun was used in a crime, “te (the gun) will be destroyed,” said Galliford. Judging by the cobwebs and the dust, Penner esti- mated that the gun had been in the wall for about a year. The renovations continue. “We're looking for Jimmy Holta now,” Penner. quipped said that he has been to several acci- dents where the first person to be killed was the trucker. Beaudoin said 25 tickets were -handed out to truck drivers for vari- been adjusted prior to the crash: An Ontario woman and her daughter were killed in the crash. ° On Friday, an army truck lost its brakes in the Horseshoe Bay ferry | line, crushing the back of a car con- taining a family of three adults and; two children. No one was injured in the acci- dent. During Friday’s two-hour truck check in the 900-block ‘of West Ist Street, one truck was taken off the ‘some unsuspecting not have permission to be driving to various stops, said Beaudoin, He said the most serious road sufety concem involved a truck with an improperly secured load of con: struction’ equipment that included latge cement pipes. The truck was heading for Vancouver. “{f he would have been cut off by motorist, - we would. have had u mess on: our hands,” said Beaudoin. He said truckers need alot of - room on the road. The traffic sergeant “ous infractions, including failing to , produce certificates and driving with burned-out fights. Beaudoin said another. truck was ticketed after its ‘construction materi- al cargo was found to be “way, way overweight.” North Vancouver RCMP. traffic section officers and’ Motor Vehicle Branch inspectors: conducted the truck check. Beaudoin said truck inspections are curried out. several times a month.