Returned home to discover my political party affiliation had magically changed! Some of my Ward 33 longtime friends may have been confused to read in the paper that there was an NDPer taking over the Works Committee. There seems to be no way to convince the folks writing for the more right-leaning media that up here in Don Valley East I have been carrying a Liberal membership card around for quite some time. As the granddaughter of a lovely man who once worked for Lester B. Pearson, I returned home from high school one day to find my first Liberal Party membership card affixed to the refrigerator door. Genetics, I suppose. While I have some serious questions, both Provincially and Federally like anyone else these days, I haven't ripped up my card and walked away yet. While I will own up to getting along very well with our Mayor, it may come as shock to some that David Miller actually fraternizes with folks ofALL party persuasions. I vote much the way I did before I met David Miller in July 2003. When faced with a difficult decision, I gather opinions from a number of councillors from Holyday to Moscoe to Shiner to Chow, and so on. The beauty of non-partisan Municipal governance is that when others vote in a way that might disadvantage Don Valley East, my only commitment is to the Ward and I can vote accordingly. I was very honoured to be voted Chair of Works by my colleagues and not with any ex-officio vote from the Mayor. There are Works Committee veterans representing a range of viewpoints, Councillor experts given the depth of their background knowledge. I will be happy to take the Chair so that all of their voices can continue to be given fair hearing as major debates hit the agenda concerning Water/Wastewater Management and Solid Waste Management. As for my own reason for joining the Works Committee in the first place: We have some challenges ahead in getting North York on the Green Bin program. Source Separated Organics collection is at capacity and I know North York homeowners are just as keen to begin taking part as other parts of the City were last year. We need to be ready for them with SSO Processing capacity. In Ward 33, all forms of waste diversion need to be introduced in all of our many multi-residential homes. Whether in high-rises, townhouses or second suites, lots of education will be necessary. We invite all active tenant associations and condo boards to contact our office to arrange for a visit from your Councillor and Waste Diversion staff in the Fall to discuss how you can help reduce the city's waste costs. Give Justin, Collette or Jenny a call at 416-392-4038 so we can start scheduling these. If you have a small group, perhaps we can partner you with a nearby building for an evening meeting.