diff --git a/pkg/cache/cache.go b/pkg/cache/cache.go
index 71dfbd0454..b42d1e6f32 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/cache.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/cache.go
@@ -84,6 +84,16 @@ type Informer interface {
 	AddIndexers(indexers toolscache.Indexers) error
 	//HasSynced return true if the informers underlying store has synced
 	HasSynced() bool
+
+	// ModifyEventHandlerCount updates and retrieves the number of references for an informer.
+	// Passing a positive delta increments the EventHandler referece count a negative delta
+	// decrements it (by delta) and a delta of 0 is just a getter.
+
+	// This is just a hacky way to test out ref counting without having to pipe a bunch of
+	// ref counting functions down the stack.
+
+	// Alternatly, we could (and probably should) have separate inc, dec, and get functions
+	ModifyEventHandlerCount(delta int) int
 }
 
 // Options are the optional arguments for creating a new InformersMap object
diff --git a/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go b/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go
index bc450d8781..323b7d04a6 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go
@@ -63,10 +63,26 @@ func newSpecificInformersMap(config *rest.Config,
 	return ip
 }
 
+//TODO: comment
+// we can get rid of this if apimachinery adds the ability to retrieve this from the SharedIndexInformer
+// but until then, we have to track it ourselves
+type HandlerCountingInformer struct {
+	// Informer is the cached informer
+	cache.SharedIndexInformer
+
+	// count indicates the number of EventHandlers registered on the informer
+	count int
+}
+
+func (i *HandlerCountingInformer) ModifyEventHandlerCount(delta int) int {
+	i.count += delta
+	return i.count
+}
+
 // MapEntry contains the cached data for an Informer
 type MapEntry struct {
-	// Informer is the cached informer
-	Informer cache.SharedIndexInformer
+	//Informer is the HandlerCountingInformer
+	Informer *HandlerCountingInformer
 
 	// CacheReader wraps Informer and implements the CacheReader interface for a single type
 	Reader CacheReader
@@ -212,7 +228,7 @@ func (ip *specificInformersMap) addInformerToMap(gvk schema.GroupVersionKind, ob
 		cache.NamespaceIndex: cache.MetaNamespaceIndexFunc,
 	})
 	i := &MapEntry{
-		Informer: ni,
+		Informer: &HandlerCountingInformer{ni, 0},
 		Reader:   CacheReader{indexer: ni.GetIndexer(), groupVersionKind: gvk},
 	}
 	ip.informersByGVK[gvk] = i
diff --git a/pkg/cache/multi_namespace_cache.go b/pkg/cache/multi_namespace_cache.go
index f0e18c09b0..5b88e4de40 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/multi_namespace_cache.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/multi_namespace_cache.go
@@ -186,6 +186,15 @@ type multiNamespaceInformer struct {
 
 var _ Informer = &multiNamespaceInformer{}
 
+// ModifyEventHandlerCount TODO: comment
+func (i *multiNamespaceInformer) ModifyEventHandlerCount(delta int) int {
+	total := 0
+	for _, informer := range i.namespaceToInformer {
+		total += informer.ModifyEventHandlerCount(delta)
+	}
+	return total
+}
+
 // AddEventHandler adds the handler to each namespaced informer
 func (i *multiNamespaceInformer) AddEventHandler(handler toolscache.ResourceEventHandler) {
 	for _, informer := range i.namespaceToInformer {
diff --git a/pkg/internal/controller/controller.go b/pkg/internal/controller/controller.go
index 83866606c2..6e77623739 100644
--- a/pkg/internal/controller/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/internal/controller/controller.go
@@ -155,9 +155,16 @@ func (c *Controller) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 		// caches to sync so that they have a chance to register their intendeded
 		// caches.
 		for _, watch := range c.startWatches {
-			c.Log.Info("Starting EventSource", "source", watch.src)
-			if err := watch.src.Start(ctx, watch.handler, c.Queue, watch.predicates...); err != nil {
-				return err
+			stoppableSource, ok := watch.src.(source.StoppableSource)
+			if ok {
+				// TODO: apply daniel's suggested pattern
+				go stoppableSource.StartStoppable(ctx, watch.handler, c.Queue, watch.predicates...)
+				c.Log.Info("Starting STOPPABLE EventSource", "source", watch.src)
+			} else {
+				c.Log.Info("Starting EventSource", "source", watch.src)
+				if err := watch.src.Start(ctx, watch.handler, c.Queue, watch.predicates...); err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/source/source.go b/pkg/source/source.go
index fe0e47150a..0bb6e954c6 100644
--- a/pkg/source/source.go
+++ b/pkg/source/source.go
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ type SyncingSource interface {
 	WaitForSync(ctx context.Context) error
 }
 
+type StoppableSource interface {
+	Source
+	StartStoppable(context.Context, handler.EventHandler, workqueue.RateLimitingInterface, ...predicate.Predicate) error
+}
+
 // NewKindWithCache creates a Source without InjectCache, so that it is assured that the given cache is used
 // and not overwritten. It can be used to watch objects in a different cluster by passing the cache
 // from that other cluster
@@ -120,6 +125,27 @@ func (ks *Kind) Start(ctx context.Context, handler handler.EventHandler, queue w
 		return err
 	}
 	i.AddEventHandler(internal.EventHandler{Queue: queue, EventHandler: handler, Predicates: prct})
+	//if handlerCountingInformer, ok := i.(*cache.HandlerCountingInformer); ok {
+	//handlerCountingInformer.Count += 1
+	newCount := i.ModifyEventHandlerCount(1)
+	fmt.Printf("increment, newCount is%+v\n", newCount)
+	//}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (ks *Kind) StartStoppable(ctx context.Context, handler handler.EventHandler, queue workqueue.RateLimitingInterface,
+	prct ...predicate.Predicate) error {
+	i, err := ks.cache.GetInformer(ctx, ks.Type)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := ks.Start(ctx, handler, queue, prct...); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	<-ctx.Done()
+	newCount := i.ModifyEventHandlerCount(-1)
+	fmt.Printf("decrement, newCount is%+v\n", newCount)
+	// TODO: do we need to actually stop something with the context?
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -143,7 +169,7 @@ func (ks *Kind) WaitForSync(ctx context.Context) error {
 var _ inject.Cache = &Kind{}
 
 // InjectCache is internal should be called only by the Controller.  InjectCache is used to inject
-// the Cache dependency initialized by the ControllerManager.
+// the cache dependency initialized by the ControllerManager.
 func (ks *Kind) InjectCache(c cache.Cache) error {
 	if ks.cache == nil {
 		ks.cache = c