there. Tonight. About an hour ago. I'd have to be pretty fucking dense not to get it, wouldn't I?"

A pause.

"Look. Look at this," Trudie said. She held out her hand, which was shaking visibly. "An hour. It just won't stop." She took a deep breath and stood. Her hand fell to her side again, the fingers flexing and clenching. "Principled resignations," she said, shaking her head somberly. "They look really bad on your CV, don't they? Nobody likes a quitter. Especially a holier-than-thou quitter."

I took a step toward her, but the hand came up again like a shot, warding me off. She didn't want any consolation that I could offer, even though it looked as though the tears were starting again.

"You're still wrong," she said, "and Mulbridge isThese days, former city councillor Sarah Doucette enjoys hanging out in her backyard garden with her two chickens, Milly and Roxy.

Since retiring as councillor for Parkdale—High Park in 2018 after two terms, Doucette has rejoined the board of Friends of High Park Zoo. She volunteers for Stone Soup Network, which matches products and services donated by businesses to people in the community who need them most. She’s taking the summer off before looking for work.

Like other former city councillors contacted by the Star recently, there is much she misses about life at city hall, in Doucette’s case after choosing not to run for a third time after Premier Doug Ford’s government slashed the size of council to 25 wards from a planned 47.

“It took me till the end