6 - Wednesday, February 4, 1987 - North Shore News THE VOICE OF NOATH AND WEST VANCOUVER " mare a? Publisher: Editor-in-Chiet Pater Speck Noel Wright Barrett Fisher Linda Stewart Display Advertising 980-0511 Ciassified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 ’ . Distribution 9a6.1337 + Managing Editor Subscriptions 986-1337 Advertising Director Money for value | “fete CUTS oe North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 News Viewpoint Entire contents 1987 North Shore Free Press Lid. All nights reserved he miniscule three per cent pay hike for North Van District's mayor and aldermen, approved by District council fast week, says more for the vote-catching insfinets of council members than for their realism. This is particularly true of the mayor's pay—now raised to $34,814 which is still only a shade higher (han Weg parang J the mayoral stipends in North Van City and West Van, 5 ‘ i DIDNT YOU HEAR JAKE each with oniy about half of the District's population. EPP SAY CHILDREN With usemployment at 15% or more nobody would condone a wildly extravagant remuneration of elected SHOULD BE AT HOME. HE NEVER SPECIFIED officials. Nevertheless, that remuneration should bear WHOSE HOME... 58,287 (average. Wednesday a Friday & Sunday) Sat DIVISORS some realistic relation te the value of services expected of them if the best people from the private sector are to continue to be attracted to the job, The full-time mayor—presiding over an cight-figure budget and all the responsibilities that go with that kind of money—is, in effect, equivalent to the chief executive officer of a medium-size industrial corpora- tion, who would command two to three times the District figure. Mayor Baker, supporting the limiting of her own increase to three per cent, claimed ‘‘we couldn't afford to be paid what we're really worth'’. That’s a risky viewpoint. The District may not always be able to count on having a mayor of Mrs.. Baker’s calibre for the price of a mid-scale school teacher. Given the tiny fraction of the municipal budget represented by council indem- nities and the much higher salaries enjoyed by senior NON-elected municipal officials, taxpayers could one day wind up getting exactly what they pay for in those running their affairs. Bargaining beats beachcombing in P.V.! PLANNING YOUR FIRST MEXICAN VACATION? Youv'll doubtless remember to pack the tan lotion and the kaopectin. But you just might forget the most important item of all. A pocket calculator. At Mexican winter holiday par- adises, fun under the tropical sun is a lot more than lazing on the beach or by the pool with margaritas and mariachi music. It’s also a crash course in a whole new economic system — the national art form known as bargaining. The faster you gradu- ate, the more you gain. As a raw first-timer, I got my first lesson only an hour after checking into my Puerto Vallarta hotel three weeks ago. I watched in awe a Canadian lady, who ob- viously had a doctorate in the sub- ject, buying a lace tablecloth from one of the innumerable beach pedlars. His opening price: was 19,000 pesos (about $29 Canadian). She laughed with scorn and offered him 9,000 pesos. He moaned and groaned, but gradually lowered the price 1,000 pesos at a time. She shook her head firmly at each fresh insult to her financial in- telligence. When he got down to 11,000 pesos she suddenly countered with 10,000. This time it was the pedlar who shook -his head firmly. The lady turned her back on him and began to saunter away. Weighed down by his merchandise, he stag- gered after her and the game vack at the beaches and pools. Free enterprise shopping is where the action is. As one prosperous- looking storekeeper admitted: ‘If Noel Wright resumed. A quarter of an hour later he handed over the tablecloth in ex- change for a 5,000 pesos bill. A day or two afterwards I found identical tablecloths at a stall in the downtown municipal market pric- ed at 4,000 pesos — and that just for starters. Canadian lady had lost out to the beach boy after all — but with both of them enjoying every minute of the battle. : Day and night.the picturesque cobblestone streets of Puerto Vallarta — lined with hundreds of stores and boutiques selling native crafts, silver jewelry and souvenirs — are thronged with thousands of “‘gringo’’ tourists. As ‘they happily haggle over prices, one often wonders whether anyone at all is simply relaxing LETTER OF THE DAY Why toll-free telephone rates differ by area @ focus @ 1 didn’t business.”’ Puerto Vallarta (native popula- tion something over 80,000) boasts no less than 560 taxis which cun- stantly ferry tourists between the hotel area and the downtown fleshpots. None have meters and exuctly the same procedure applies. You bargain over the fare before you get in. It can vary con- siderably, though the average last week for a two mile trip was around 1,100 pesos ($1.70). The proviso ‘‘last week’? is a meaningful one in Mexico, where the annual inflation rate runs at 100 per cent and investors can earn up to 96 per cent interest on three-month deposits, By the time you get there, you may have to double all the figures quoted, though not their dollar bargain, I’d have no Dear Editor: I am writing in response to a let- ter to the editor from Mr. David Macaree. Mr. Macaree queries why Van- couver residents may call many more exchanges outside their own on a toll free basis than North Shore residents, while paying only a relatively small additional mon- thly line rate. The reggon is that the line rate is not based’ on;the number of other exchanges in the flat rate calling equivalents. For Canadian visitors the masses.of exotic and attractive merchandise — clothes, silver jew- elry, carvings, blankets, toys and trinkets of every type — are usual- ly bargains even at the starting price. Settling for that, however, will not only cost you money but will earn the scorn of your Mexican hosts. They have scant respect for commercial wimps. You can bring back a healthy cargo of delightful goods and sou- venirs while stil) staying within your $100 or $300 Canadian customs allowance. And if your Spanish phrase book is up to it at the local post office, you can even mail home, duty-free, additional presents up to $40 in value if ac- companied by a gift card to the recipient. In fact, your main problem in between bargaining and _patroniz- ing the scores of excellent restau- rants (the only places where you DON’T bargain) may be to find time for doing what you originally came to do. ; Nothing at ail! Soe) NEWS photo submitted PUERTO VALLARTA'S twelve magnificent beaches are rarely as des- erted 2s this—but there’s never any shortage, day or night, of bargaining “‘gringo’’ tourists in the crowded downtown stores and markets, area; it is based on the number of telephone lines in the flat rate call- ing area, and the distance from the home exchange to other exchanges in the flat rate calling area. Rate groupings for each ex- change in the province are deter- mined on this basis. When the number of lines in the flat rate calling area and the distances in- volved are computed, West Van- couver’s resulting figures fit within rate group !2 and Vancouver's within rate group 13. North Van- couver, which has the same com- munities in its flat rate calling area as West Vancouver but is closer to them, fits within rate group 11. I hope that this helps to clarify the way in which local exchange groupings are computed, The approach used by B.C. Tel — which is known as the ‘‘value of service’? concept — is the standard in Canada. Dave Welsford B.C. Tel Customer Service Manager North Vancouver