Barring any unforeseen changes, the 14 Dufferin County councillors will have to choose between the incumbent warden, Mulmur Mayor Gordon Montgomery, and East Garafraxa Mayor Allen Taylor as their warden for 2010.

Changes can happen, and have happened, in the opening seconds of the warden's election. The election in December 2008 for the 2009 warden was expected to be a race between Mr. Montgomery and the incumbent, East Luther Grand Valley Mayor John Oosterhof but Mr. Oosterhof declined to stand for what could have been his third consecutive term.

At the 2007 inaugural meeting, Mr. Montgomery had withdrawn his nomination in the opening minutes and then there was a third nomination, for Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams who, in an unprecedented move in such a situation, declined the nomination.

(Only five county councillors in recent history have had consecutive terms. The first of those was Amaranth mayor Charles Bryan 1982-83, followed by Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams 1996-97-98-99, Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson 1999-2000, Mono Mayor John Creelman 2001-02 and Mr. Oosterhof 2007-08. Only seven in the past 40 years have served more than one term.)

Voting is at a 4 p.m. meeting today, on the basis of onemember, one-vote.

The weighted vote, designed to ensure a semblance of representation by population, does not apply to the annual election of a warden.

Mr. Montgomery said in a weekend interview that he wants a second year at the helm as he's just beginning to feel totally comfortable in the chair. He said a single year as a first-time warden is not long enough.

He said he favours a twoyear term, but tempered that by adding that such could be accomplished either by continuing the annual elections or holding them every second year.

He intimated that the first year as warden is something of a learning curve, and the past year has been something of a challenge. Although Mr. Montgomery didn't specify the challenges in the interview, it has been a year of preparing for the proposed composter and thermal treatment plant at the EcoEnergy Park (DEEP) along with seeking stimulus grants and other developments.

"Some (councillors) think I did a pretty good job, and some others don't," he said. "To answer your question, I have my mover and seconder. I'll be on the ballot. I suppose you want to know if I'll stand. The answer is Yes," Mr. Montgomery said.

Mr. Taylor had previously announced his candidacy. warden

Oddly enough, he had nominated Mr. Montgomery for the post in the election for the 2008 warden, and again supported him for the 2009 chair.

If both mayors stand for 2010, it might be described as something of a contest between allies, both of whom would be qualified for the position.

In announcing his candidacy, Mr. Taylor described himself as "not a good campaigner," although he is now in a second term as chairman of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and has been invited to serve on a nuclear waste management committee that's "putting together studies to find suitable sites for nuclear waste."

The retired high school teacher and vice-principal says he's excited about the nuclear waste challenge, an undertaking that's not as simple as finding a safe dumping ground.

But next year's warden will be concerned about a different kind of waste —organics and just plain garbage — as decisions will have to be made on a DEEP (Dufferin EcoEnergy Park) composter in partnership with York Region, and Alter NRG is now asking to expand the capacity of a proposed thermal treatment facility to a design maximum tonnage of 70,000 from the now-suggested 50,000.