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You can fight in different ways. I have found that I‘ve had to, right from the start, some issues very vocal up front, other issues very vocal behind the scenes. When you are the first woman on council, and people are looking askance at you, you find a lot of different routes to get your input through. I think I‘ve had to develop a lot of different roles that I play. _I don‘t think you necessarily have to always be aggressive. I think you can sometimes accomplish what you‘re atâ€" I‘m told that when you first came on council in 1972, that you were a "fighter" and that you very definitely brought a new perspective to council. How do you see yourself now? then I can fight for it very strongly. I have followed that concept for myself right from the start. The fact of the matter is that I‘m an issueâ€"oriented person. I enjoy the issues as they come along. J always feel that I have to be comfortable with an issue, and You‘ve been around for a long time now. What accomplishments on the part of council are you proud of? As a member of council, I am a part of the recent staff hirings that have recenâ€" tly come along, and I feel we have an excellent staff here at the city. I‘ve been very imvolved in a lot of health and social services issues at the Region. They have been a priority for me. I‘ve been particularly involved in comâ€" munity support services for the elderly, which is now in an implementation stage, but we‘ve worked very hard over a number of years to bring that along. It‘s been an interesting perspective for me to see the city change over the years, and yet maintain its quality of life which I think is good. So there‘s been a lot of changes, but there‘s a lot of that same feeling that was expressed by the Fuâ€" tures Committee â€" that it‘s a nice place to live. I think I‘ve been part of it. They‘re difficult to express. I‘ve been involved with a lot of groups and supâ€" ported what they were looking for. So if they were talking about the adult recreâ€" ation centre, for instance, I was supportâ€" ing a senior‘s group who were looking for a facility. Then that facility came to be. I certainly supported the skaters when they were looking for a facility and now we have Rink in the Park. I just think the fact that you can work with different groups and their objecâ€" tives, see them through and give them information â€" being a conduit for them has been an important role for me. In fact, I sat down with the initial group that formed the Downtown Resiâ€" dents Association and helped them come into being. I was really a part of all the resident‘s associations that formed over the years and have supported them. So, I think the fact that they‘re out there and we can communicate with them has been a very important goal of mine and something that I‘ve been very proud to see accomplished. Mary Jane Mewhinney, 45, was first elected to city council in 1972. A former NDP candidate (in the 1975 provincial election), Mewhinney has pursued a career as a real estate salesperâ€" Mewhinney is a city representative on Regional council. What do you see as your personal accomplishments in your years on counâ€" cil? city hall during the past six months. First there was the coal tar issue, and then a direct spinoff â€" council secrecy â€" has been debated, with opposing sides rarely reaching a middle ground. The current threeâ€"year term of office for this council now heads into its final year. The Chronicle will interview councillors in alphabetical order to ensure fairness. Today Mary Jane Mewhinney is feaâ€" tured, and the next councillor to appear on these pages will be Dorothy Schnarr. There has been much controversy at However, if it is being prortrayed that way, I guess we‘il just have to work through that or deal with it. It‘s very interesting as a perception, because I‘ve worked with all of the people on our council for many years, in diffeâ€" rent apects of their career and their lives. I don‘t feel there is that separation. There‘s a perception that council is divided into the "old guard" and the ‘"newcomers". Where do you see yourself fitting in? I think a person does mature and grow as they become part of the process. Whether or not that means one becomes less effective, I‘m not quite sure. I certainly feel that I am accomplishing as much, and working with groups as much, handling as many individual concerns, as I always have. I certainly, in council, have not joined in debates that I felt were not going anywhere. And I would back away from them, because I don‘t feel that personalities are the issue. I feel we should be more issueâ€"oriented and interested in what we are accomâ€" plishing for the community. _ It just takes us a little longer these days. I‘m new to observing council, but I don‘t see that "fighter" for issues. Have you become part of the "statusâ€"quo"‘. tempting to accomplish in other ways. But just have that goal in front of you and work toward it, is what I try to do. Mary Jane Mewhinney, who has been on city council since 1972, thinks city hall should be more ‘"issueâ€"oriented and interested in what we are accomplishing for the community". Residents find ally in Mewhinney Council Profile The issue of a ward system has come up a number of times when I‘ve been on council, and I‘ve worked with a number of students who have done surveys regarding a ward system. Do you see the issues of a ward electoral system and a more debateâ€" oriented council as part of a maturing into a political system more suitable for a larger, growing city? to be very aware of that, and just organize you business around it. Well, not really. I have found that, since the Conflict of Interest Act has come in, and I‘ve always had to be aware of conflict of interest, therefore I do not get involved in development or anything that might possibly be a conflict. One has Do you think it affects the way you vote on council? I meet a lot of people. I hear a lot of things through the community. And then again, I think I‘ve benefitted my clients with my knowledge of the community. So, it‘s been a good twoâ€"way street I‘ve found. From a real estate perspective, I find it gives me more flexibility to spend time on council, yet I can be involved in business. As a real estate agent, do you think you bring a perspective to council? WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY DECEMBEAR 2, 1987 â€" PAGE 5 lan Kirkby photo Not at this moment, I don‘t. I was the candidate for the NDP in 1975. That does go back to the days of Stephen Lewis, and I really felt very much committed to an idealistic position at that time. Which I find has kind of dissipated. It‘s a time when you just wonder what happens to politicians when they are elected. I think you just get rather cynical, just seeing the results of different parties, and how they handle things. I feel a certain cynicism creeping into my thinking around politics, and I find myself much less partyâ€"oriented, and much more oriented to the individual candidates. I think you have to look very closely at who you‘re voting for these days, to find out what direction you want to be heading. I guess when one has a profile then, one just works with the people on knows, and it broadens your base as you go along. I really think it‘s now communityâ€"wide. But one just has to wait and see. Actually, I think I‘ve kind of gotten away from politics. In the last number of years, I‘ve been more businessâ€"oriented. Do you have any higher political career aspirations? You place fairly well in the municipal elections. Where do you think your support comes from? I think it‘s to do with the different issues I have been involved with and able to support over the years. From my perspective, as an elected representative, I‘m going to present my views as I feel I have been elected to do. And I would expect everyone to have that same perspective. It‘s my perspective that on a quiet night we can stretch that council meeting out as long as we want because there is always debate. I really don‘t think it is unusual because we‘ve always had a measure of debate on our council. If different posiâ€" tions are being taken, I think people are elected to carry out their responsibility the way they think they should. I have no problem with that. I certainly feel that right now, in our community, people have eight people handling their problem, rather than one ward alderman. There‘s no question our community is maturing. There are more interests, there are more activities. We‘e being meetinged to death. Whether a ward system would make us less busy and accomplish more for our residents is a good question. But one finds, when working with 8 people, you have to have their support if you want to accomplish some things. So you work toward that. I‘ve always been interested in it, but have always wondered, ‘Gee, when is the right size to go into a ward system? Are we still too small? So I‘m not convinced that the ward system is the only way, or the most effective way to govern the community at this particular point in its existence. Do you see yourself like any other person on council? But I‘m certainly interested in looking at it, and following what the people want. I think a referendum is definitely having to go out, so that we can get input from our residents. As I said, coming on council as the only woman, it was really quite a challenge. A lot of times, there were issues that I couldn‘t even get a seconder (for a motion). (Laughs). That has not changed. I still find issues I think are important that are not caught up by the rest of council. What is your opinion of the heightened debate of the last while on council? I don‘t believe so. I think that I have always stood out as an individual and I‘ve always felt that I‘m somehow in the middle of a lot of groups, and I‘ve managed to maintain my own individualâ€" ity. Do you have any party affiliations?