Freedom Flyer Winter 1988-89 Cover

Freedom Flyer 13

the official newsletter of the
Freedom Party of Ontario

Winter 1988-89




Article electronically reproduced from:

The Toronto Star

June 14, 1988


Clarkson business group in turmoil

By Chris Flanagan Toronto Star

Merchants in Clarkson are gearing up for a battle tonight at a meeting which could spell the end of the local Business Improvement Area (BIA) after years of dissension.

Ted Biss, president of the group which represents most of the businesses in Clarkson, says he has called for a vote of confidence at the meeting, to end the ill-feeling which has split the business community.

Pat Pleich, the BIA's vice-president, wants the group disbanded because of what she calls mismanagement and questionable electoral practices.

In particular, she says that the president will not let her see the group's financial statements.

Biss said he hasn't sent her copies of the reports "because of her association with the Freedom Party.

"I suggested that she come to the board meeting to see them."

Pleich told The Star that she is not a member of the Freedom Party, a political group which opposes constraints on business, but has received help from members in putting together newsletters which condemn the Clarkson BIA.

The Freedom Party is campaigning throughout Ontario to disband BIAs, and has been successful in North York and Aurora, she says.

Mayor Hazel McCallion plans to be at tonight's meeting, as will lawyers from both sides.

BIAs - there are 20 of them in Toronto - are established by municipalities to effect improvements in business areas. A special business tax is levied on members and administered by an elected board.

Pleich says she has the support of more than half of the 126 merchants in the area, while Biss is confident he will be able to get the support he is looking for.

The BIA has installed new brick sidewalks, trees and traffic islands along Lakeshore Rd. which runs through Clarkson.

Pleich says that not only are the traffic islands a waste of money, they are a hazard to motorists.

The dispute has been fuelled by a traffic accident that occurred in March 1987 during island construction, in which a woman was seriously injured. She was to appear in court today on a charge of careless driving but has filed a suit against the city for negligence in the accident.

About 10 merchants opposed to the BIA held an informal meeting last week. Most are disillusioned with the group because it has no official constitution and is only governed by a municipal bylaw.

Merchants at the meeting maintained that the real problem is the amount of money spent in the last three years and the nature of the expenditures.

The Clarkson BIA's annual budget averaged $9,000 from 1976 to 1983 but jumped to $21,000 for the next three years. In 1987, its budget ballooned to $500,000, when it secured a $200,000 loan from the city of Mississauga coupled with a $250,000 grant from the province.

Pleich also charges that at the last election, where Ted Biss succeeded his son James as president, votes were not properly counted.

James Biss says his father won a clear majority in the election, conducted by a raising of hands, and that a recorded vote was never requested.

Biss adds that he asked Pleich to run as vice-president in a gesture of good will after she lost the election for presidency.

Another Clarkson merchant, Pat Melhuish of Countrywide Realty says many businesses In the area are "read to pack it in," because of the trouble with the group.




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