G — North Shore News — Friday, Aprif 14, 2000 — Guesswt T is going on with our jury system to allow such bizarre relationships to come to fruition as witnessed in the sordid cases of Gillian Guess and Kathy Macdonald? The less said about Guess, North Vancouver’s own infamous juror, the better. The acquittal of her alleged former-lover Peter Gill speaks for itself. The guy beat a murder rap while Guess says she was intimately involved with the man. Their grow- . ing invoivement was self-evident over the course of the trial. Macdonald was a juror in the trial of Shannon’ Murrin. Marrin was acquitted of a murder charge in the death of eight-year-old Mindy Tran. Macdonald and Murrin are now lovers. © ———VIEW POINT: rie revealed earlier this week that Macdonald had turned to Guess for love advice. It’s fitting that they met at the Ambleside dog-walk park. It’s a tough area to get through without stepping into poop. Is our criminal justice system sub- servient to hormonal imperatives and the sexual appeal of men who are accused of murder? Any high-profile trials of any length should be heard before a judge only, This would prevent the kind of shameful shenanigans we've wit- nessed in the Gill and Murrin trials. Suitable jurors, who in theory are meant to represent a cross-section of society, are ideally without bias or opinion. In sensational cases that have received saturation coverage in the media, it’s highly unlikely that | SWEAR To TeLt THE TruTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTAING Bur THE TRUTH — RESERVING A TINY BIT OF WRIGGLE ROOM. To add insult to injury, it was mailbox - Something rotten in * Dear Editor: os ; | have just read the April 2 News Viewpoint (District sell-off) and L-agree that the majority of North Vancouver District ; councillors, with few exceptions, are showing their pro-development, self-appointed mandate. I disagree somewhat with the penultimate paragraph in the ‘atticle,.in theory the ncighbourhonds are purported- ly creating their own look, but the operant word is “the- OLY. ee, , . . In Sct each ‘neighbourhood is being rezoned like the one before it; because the desire to increase the mass and height. of future residential, development is being con- trolled by the district and its consultants. A number of the “working: group” participants have. expréssed concern that the guidance was toward bigger uses, a : None’ of the. Canyon. Heights/Forest Hiils working were given the original surveys to review. | id the szavided with a summary of the sur- ct’s consultants. | «contained: false. and misleading ION? Write to our Managing Edisor Tim Renshaw 985-2131 (114) ~ Call $85-2104 for the fax line Serid itto trenshaw@nsnews.com _ independent suburban newspaper and qualified + der Schedule 11%, Paragraph 115 of the Emciga Tax Act, s published sach Weanesday, Friday and Sunday by HCH Publications ~ Company and distributed ta every door on the _ arth Shore, Canada Post Canadian Prosications ~ Mall Sales Product Agreement No, 087238. Maikng rales avaiable on request. . txbara Emo Distribution Manager 985-1337 (124) bemoensnews.com 61.582 tavetage citcutation, Vecnesday, Friday & Sunday) Alask Creative Services Director 965-2131 (127) mMiancher@nsnews.com such people will be found. Board not being open with pu THE plot thickens: With all the ease of squeezing blood from a stone, a little more information is seeping out about West Vancouver school board’s opaque operations. We now know that the board, by a 3-2 vote — chairman David Stevenson joining trustees Clive Bird and Rick Francis in favour, opposed by Erica Bell- Lowther and Mary Fawley — sneaked in raises of about 40% for itself at the end of its March 14 public meet- ing. That wasn’t on the . printed agenda. Nor was it verbally added ~ at the beginning of the meeting, as appar- ently required by its own rules (Stevenson has disputed this). There are conflictin versions of how and when it was place on the agenda. More stunning; the minutes of an in- camera meeting omitted any mention of _ trustee approval of senior staff raises ‘ranging up tu about 6%. And when Bell-Lowther publicly drew attention to the mysterious missing min- utes and. moved to add them, she was voted down. | | : Incredible. Looe ; Latest: More on the board’s January retreat té Victoria’s Ocean Pointe Resort, first revealed in Timothy Renshaw’s Ripping Yarns News column. It’s unustial — though, Stevenson —_. claims, not unprecedented — to hold the retreat out of town, and notably at such an upscale locale. Last year’s venue was - Cedardale, the board’s very utilitarian centre in West Van. ‘ 2 ‘anche’ * rth Shore News is pustished by HON Publications Company, Publisher Pete n oe ‘ MIAN SE EPA EET Per ee ee Oe, . a » sStephensomBnsnaws.com - Entire contents @ 2000 HCN Publications Company. All rights reserved. Lo peck, from 1139 Lonsd REE AEA COLLLEL ELIS SN. In contrast, Ocean Pointe gets a four- star rating (tops is five) in the B.C. gov- ernment’s Accommodatiens 1999, Its amenities include “mini bars; spa with esthetics; hydrotherapy; indoor pool(s); " whirlpool(s); sauna(s); racquetball /squash; ten- nis; circuit training; piano lounge.” Price range: $134 to $538. A substantial cut above Cedardale’s ambience, I ‘should think. But of further interest is: Who went? ' My information is: not just the five trustees but ; also five administrators, plus a secretary. Total, Trevor garden of biases Then there is the matter of spouses. Were they invited? I asked chairman Stevenson. He replied: “That was discussed.” OK, but were they actually invited? Stevenson" doggedly repeated: “That was discussed.” Bell-Lowther — who voted against. holding the retreat at Ocean Pointe — has no doubts. She says they were invit- ed. ; a Did any accept?. Her recollection is. less clear: she’s certain one did — an ~- - administrator’s spouse. . Newcomer Fawley praised the Victoria retreat because the deputy education minister was to meet the trustees — hard- ly likely if they'd met at Cedardate, In the event, he begged off sick. But a ministry - official went in his place, and the meeting +. was highly inst uctive, Fawley says. Now. she bedrock jssue in’all of this is “not whether the trustees merited a raise. (Secretary-treasurer Len Archer’s compar- ative figures for Lower Mainland boards support their case.) Nor even whether’: fn they merited a retreat, at no small taxpay-"" fl er cost, at 4 somewhat classier venue than’” ”. § ’ Cedardale. The issue is being up front with the, oe public. In either its arrogance or its igno- rance, not to dismiss a mixture of both, : instead the board ducks and dodges anid : splits hairs and rations any uncomfortable: facts until they can be wienched out of it like ‘a bad appendix. ey Readers have recently vented some”. scorching criticisms of the board.” Superintendent Doug Player — always. amiable and accessible to this chronicler.’ — seems puzzlingly controversial, darkly ~ suspected of being successive boards’... =: _puppet-master. | This fuss could hardly be more ill- timed for. Player (present salary: * $117,180). : He’s nearing the end of the second ” year of a three-year contract, urider which the trustees must give notice one year ~ before its expiration if it will not be- ten and redevelop.’ : oo 5O0 ‘Touch of droilery: N Canada’s power centre. ” there just bas to be! .. from the east if the new A +. to.be taken, well; seviously o : LETTERS TO THE EDITOR a : "Letters must include your name, - _ full address & telephone number. VIA e-matt trenshaw@nsnews.com + ~" Display Advertising Manager 980-0511 (317) evshitmantgnsnews.com :