oe a i "" vie wo we 7 -
- He considers
eG ' e oo 7
I his moves
_ By Greg Middleton a
Sitting back in his large, overstuffed easy
chair, in his rather luxurious office,
surrounded by the trappings of his position,

Mayor George Thom looks quite com-
fortable in his place of . - power.

After eight years In clvic government.
four years as an alderman and two two-year
ferms as mayor with a two-year vacation in
between, the robes of his role fit him well. A
self-assured man, Thom makes no bones,
about outwitting his colleagues on the.
regional district board over the Skeena
Health Unit. ; -

Thom admits it was purely and simply a
political ploy to wake. up some sleeping
politicians and prove a point to Terrace.

. “The other members of the regional
district board just -didn’t do their
homework,” sald Thom In an interview with
the Herald recently. “The British Columbia
‘Building -.Corporation changed ihe ball
game," said’ the man who states that haif of
his job Is, keeping up with the latest
developments. = s

“Thom sald the regional board had been
fighting over the cost sharing scheme for
the health unit for seven years. He noted
that there had been a change in the way the
government was dealing with this kind of
situation and the time was right to miove on
the health unit, oo

The provincial government ministry of
municipal affairs sets the rule Thom sald. A
civic politician’s job Is to stay on top of the
‘issues and be ready to act on the changes as
they are made for his area’s best ad-
vantage, commented the mayor.

“They got caught with their pants down,”
Thom said of the health unit issue. “It
shouldn't have become a political issue.”

He sald he had been telling the board in
wommittee for several months that the
provincial government would pay a share
that would work dut to be In excess of the
debt retirement cost. Thom sald all he was
trying to do by offering to pay for the unit

. wndhave It in Kitimat was prove to Terrace
that Kitimat wouldn‘t ask ifs nelghbor to do
anything Kitimat wasn’t prepared to do.

iy “ltwas strictly bucks,” Thom sald.

“agi Thom sald sheorecognizes: that the’ best
place for the unit Is in Terrace. He said he
Agrees with the Idea that Terrace {s to
develop Into the commercial and
bureaucratic centre for the North. He said
Kitima? is and will remain the industrial
centre while Kispiox and Hazelton will be
kept for recreation and farming and the
other areas will be the resource pools.

_ Thom sees this as an extension of the
concept of a planned city. He dascribes his
town as @ survivor, one of the Instant towns
that lasted. He ‘said this resulted from _
overcoming the problems before they oc-
curred. It is this type of planning which
Thom would like to see extended to the
region. * : ;

“We're now looking at a sevior citizen’s
home,” said Thom. oe

He explalned that with Kitimat now being
25 years of age it had matured. He
described the town as having gone through
its childhood, the dangerous years, and now
was building character.

Thom doesn’t deny that the town still has
‘problems, the services are always un-_
derstaffed he sald. This, he added, is
because people tend to use citles like
Kitimat as places to come to far experience
In their field. Then, they: start to look for
better lobs elsewhere, Thom commented.

He also noted that KHimat fs an unusual
fown in that almost everyone Is upper
middle class. He sald they don‘t have those
at elther end of the social scale to any

degree.

Thom emphasized the importance of his
town in the. development of the Pacific
Northwest. He sald the survival of the whole:
area depends on the econamic climate and
survival of Kitimat.

“This is where the buck starts,” Thom
sald succinctly.

He sald that money is generated by the
Industry in Kitimat and multiplies as It
circulates. He said the area would be better
off if it could keep as much of that money In
the area as possible,

His only real complaints are that the civil
servants and government officials he has to
deal with In Victoria don’t know what the
conditions are Hke up _—ihere.

He sald he is annoyed by the attitude thar
those who live here choose to and should be
satisfied with the conditions they find. He
points out that the resources and power
used by those in the south are produced
here. He also states that the people here are
as sophisticated as those in the south and

deserve the amenities.
“The north should neither be denied nor *

Ignored," Thom said, sitting back in the
brown leather chair, next to the sofa in his

quite plush office.

MAYOR GEORGE THOM.

To celebrate our
opening we offer a
selection of exquisite, all
+ leather hand bags at
very substantial savings,

SKEENA MALL

The staff at the Terracd
Misl-Museum wish to invite
decal residents ito visit them

ip them by supporting
their drive for a permanent
iacility here. 1 bing
: Frances Stanley, spea'
for the staff in a recent preas
‘Telease, said a permanent
Museum would “enrich the
community.”

She notes that the Mini-
‘Museum functions with
gtania from Canada Works
and is supported by the
Terrace and District
Chamber of Commerce, but
the funding runs out in
January, 1979, .

“Since January of 1078, we
have been wor! on the
Mini-Museum depicting the
history of the Terrace area,
The project, as described is
progressing nicely,’’ she

pools oo various sane
such as those perta to.
logging or just home im-
provements have been ob-
tained and are arranged In a;
display. The pioneer era is
displayed fully, with a kit.
chen, sewing and washing
‘area highlighted. Un-

Heritage display is yet to be
accomplished, however we
do have a twelve foot totem |
pole, which is called the:

fortunately the Native —

‘ The Herald, Tuesday, October 31, 1978, Page 5

“Pole of Sharp Teeth’:
carved by Horace Stephens
from Greenville, Nass
‘lver,” .
Included with these
displays of different eras is a
display of stone artifacts
from the archaeological

Museum staff asks
for your support

excavations at-the Kiteelas

site, and eonsista of

aloe ott knives,
ta, scra

oad an nee, This diplay .

Museum by the National
Museum of Canada.

Licence approved

The Canadian Radlo-
television and Telecom-
munications Commission
has approved an application

$ 39-95: nae

 Inslatitwa

SHOCK ABSORBERS

“installed

SURE TRACKERS
heavy duly A, series

‘by the Graniale T.V. Society:
for a licence to rebroadcast
the programs of CIFG-TV
from Prince George.

Exphkes Nov. ath

front or rear

J Inspect
all springs

« Steoring linkage
Installation included.
Passanger cats ard light trucks

carry a life-time quaraniee.

Mi af shock absorb

front and rear auapension

steering assambiy

A: teres heavy-duty shock absorbers

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c

sa
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‘TERRACE

a Wen tad err Jwi