2026 Oxford County Municipal Election
Woodstock — City & County Council
We asked. Mark Schadenberg answered. You decide.
Answers are published as submitted.
I. Candidate & Municipal Governance
1. Candidate Introduction
Please introduce yourself to the residents of Oxford County. Briefly tell us why you are running for municipal office, what principles or values would guide you as an elected official, and what you believe is the most important issue facing the municipality you are seeking to represent. What would you do about it?
Firstly, my background and info is aplenty and can be discovered at www.markschadenberg.blogspot.com I have 8 years on Woodstock council, 25 years on recreation advisory committee, 8 years on UTRCA board, 8 years on environment advisory committee, and 4 on museum committee, plus 20 years in Lions Club of Woodstock, and past chair and master of ceremonies for Cancer Society’s Relay For Life and WDDS’s sports celebrity dinner, and I’m just giving you a brief summary.
Most important issue is to continue improving Asset Management in the City, including depreciating roads and bridges, plus aging facilities like Civic Centre Arena. Woodstock’s indoor soccer facility just had its artificial turf replaced. I wanted Lions Pool upgraded as a local investment in youth so it would last another 20 years but 4 on council voted to close it.
The Downtown Streetscape coincides with this as it’s a waste of tax money and does not improve the life span of elements versus the costs attached. The underground infrastructure is about 20 years old so Streetscape was a very fancy shave-and-pave.
Homelessness support centre that is 24-7 so unhoused people don’t have to move around from The Inn to Operation Sharing to CMHA, etc. Residents would have storage units for their belongings.
2. Local vs. Provincial Authority
Municipalities are increasingly affected by decisions, policies and requirements established by the provincial government. What degree of local discretion do you believe municipalities should have when provincial direction affects decisions within municipal jurisdiction? When, if ever, should a municipality challenge or oppose provincial direction? Please explain.
Provincial land tribunal can over-turn a city’s opinion on a building project – especially an intensified zoning of a subdivision. We must save farm land, but we can not develop subdivisions which are all multi-storey or stacked townhouses with no green space. Province also created a policy which permits all homes to have an ‘additional residential unit’, which is a basement apartment or a detached garden house in the backyard. ARUs are not a good idea across the board.
Province also destroying the local input on conservation authorities by reducing 36 to just 9, including the UTRCA being combined with 3 other CAs.
3. Accountability & Access
Once elected, how will you maintain open communication and accountability with your constituents? What level of access should residents have to you, and what responsibility do you have to explain and defend your decisions and votes, particularly when constituents disagree with them?
I love receiving phone calls and emails. It’s important that Woodstock does not have a ward system as a council member represents everyone so they can not lobby for (example) an arena to be built in their corner of the city. Social media is important and all council members should be willing to answer questions posted there. I always place a council meeting preview with top agenda items.
Listen first though as there are many good ideas out there not just citizens complaining.
4. Staff vs. Elected Council
What do you believe is the proper division of responsibility between municipal staff and elected council? What decisions should be made by staff, what decisions should be made by council, and what responsibility should elected officials retain for decisions recommended or implemented by staff?
Senior staff must create department budgets, but must do so with a balance sheet in mind. Staff writes reports and makes recommendations on bylaw changes and significant projects or perhaps rate changes for services (transit, swimming lessons, etc). Staff has the background and experience. Council approves the changes after asking many questions and dissecting the prepared reports. Council can truly only eliminate (fire) one person and that’s the CAO. Advice given to council is NOT always agreeable with council, and that’s fine. Council in Woodstock includes 7 people.
5. Candidate Social-Media History
Have you ever deleted, hidden or substantially altered past social-media posts or other publicly available online content because you believed it might affect how voters viewed you or your candidacy? If so, what did you change and why?
Over time and when full information is gathered, it’s fine for a decision maker to change their mind. A Council member could think we need a new ‘facility’, but if the price tag and staffing requirements are too high, the project must be re-analyzed. I have never searched back on a previous social media quote, but I have added additional comments if a reader didn’t understand the entire scope of the issue.
Biggest problem with social media is the on-going bullying I receive. I replied to one person that I can’t re-build a car engine or skate backwards, but I most certainly know how to sit on council and know the procedures and content there, and study and do my homework. The bullying MUST stop.
II. Taxes, Growth & Development
6. Taxes & Services
What annual municipal property-tax increase do you consider reasonable over the next four years? If maintaining existing services would require an increase above that level, what principles would you use to determine which services or expenditures should be reduced, delayed or eliminated instead? Please explain.
Minimum 3% and much of that is attached to wages for fire, police, outside workers and inside workers as they are all negotiated contracts. Woodstock fire dept is currently working without a contract, so council and financial services is setting aside money in a reserve for an expectant retro-active pay. If a department head doesn’t receive a similar increase of 3% annually, that is simply wrong.
Upkeep of buildings and roads by studying the Asset Management Plan will likely fill the gap to an overall tax increase. Don’t dare think we could have a zero increase in taxes over any particular year – not possible. Having noted that, a fine analysis of all departments could discover cutbacks, and the area I often think about is the work done by County tourism office.
7. Population Growth & Agricultural Land
Oxford County’s current planning projections anticipate substantial population growth over the coming decades, creating increasing pressure on agricultural land. Should Oxford plan to accommodate the projected level of growth, or should the County and its municipalities seek to influence the rate and/or location of future growth? When development competes with agricultural and food-production uses, should agricultural land and food production receive priority? What principles should guide these decisions? Please explain.
The other factor is rich aggregate quantities in Oxford.
Watson & Associates is the consultant that delves into a dozen factors to determine population growth estimates. The province wants land for 15 years growth for all cities ALL the time. Oxford’s Official Plan is under study right now for projections. The Watson numbers in both cases seem to be high, but as stated earlier if Woodstock is going to grow quickly to 60,000 population (example) we can not expect all residential growth to be stackable apartments. Stats Canada numbers from census 2026 will help write the story also. We already have land capacity for about 62,000 population. With homes multiplying we then to need to have the requisite increase in commercial plazas for groceries and maybe a new school in the southwest to accommodate new residents in the Bower Hill Road (southwest corner of city) area.
As for food production, the agricultural industry has done remarkable work in increasing yields. I also ask the question about how much corn do we require if more people are driving electric vehicles, and new residents are not corn eaters.
III. Energy & Major Development
8. Wind & Utility-Scale Solar
What is your position on industrial wind turbine and utility-scale solar developments in Oxford County? If your municipality were asked to determine whether it should be a willing or unwilling host for a large-scale wind or solar project, how would you vote, and what factors would guide your decision? Please explain.
Farm land should not be converted to a solar farm.
I do however believe that wind turbines are an excellent source to create clean hydro which is required. Woodstock could not host a turbine farm within our current boundaries, but Oxford may have low yield areas beyond the current Gunn’s Hill Road windmill projects. Zorra Township has voted ‘No’ to wind turbines numbering up to 25 and that’s good for them as cities require an increase in hydro not the village of Embro. I know East Zorra – Tavistock has also discussed it at their council level. The number of turbines should be limited to avoid a large drop in crop potentials.
Nuclear power creates waste that is difficult to bury or hide, but Bruce and other facilities appear to be expanding.
9. Data Centres
What is your position on approving data centres in Oxford County? Under what circumstances, if any, would you support one? How should council weigh its potential economic benefits against demands on electricity, water, land and other municipal infrastructure? Please explain.
The Catch-22 is that you want Canada’s data to be stored here and not in the U.S., but many municipalities have passed bylaws to not permit one in their area like Strathroy-Caradoc. Data centres utilize a lot of water and I believe water is a precious resource especially when you start to consider numbers like possibly up to 2 million galloons each day. Data centres require a lot of hydro which may also require water to produce or ‘cool down’ their process. When you weigh pros and cons, I would say NO to a data centre in or near Woodstock.
IV. Property Rights, Environment & Climate
10. Property Rights & Environmental Regulation
What principles should determine the balance between private property rights and municipal environmental regulation? What limits, if any, should municipalities place on environmental restrictions affecting the use of privately owned rural land? Please explain.
Water is precious, so no rural employment, including farming, should have an adverse effect on the water table. I would be more concerned about Provincial government insisting on boundary adjustments due to a municipalities need for a consistent 15-year inventory of residential land. Higher yields are often created by fertilizers but their use must be limited to a bare minimum. If you’re thinking about building up and in-fill Woodstock has done of a TON of that in recent years, so you should follow the planning stages closely.
11. Climate Change & CO₂
What role, if any, do you believe carbon dioxide emissions play in climate change? What responsibility, if any, should municipal government have for addressing climate-related issues, and should municipal taxpayers fund those efforts? Please explain.
Obvious answer. Cars and burning fossil fuels have created our climate change woes for the most part. Enough said.
V. Municipal Policy & Public Institutions
12. DEI, Hiring & Public Services
When municipal government makes decisions about hiring employees or providing services, what role, if any, should a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, disability, newcomer status or other demographic characteristics play? Do you support mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion training for municipal employees, and should municipal taxpayers fund it? Please explain.
Best person shall get the job – most qualified and willing to relocate for that job. In other words, if you hire a municipal planner (example) for Oxford they should live within a 45-minute drive to the office in Woodstock. Less commuting; less pollution too. They must know what makes Oxford tick and its unique circumstances, history and opportunities.
Oxford has a diversity specialist and I would love to see what she actually does.
13. International Policy Frameworks
What role, if any, should international policy frameworks such as the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals play in municipal decision-making? If municipal policies are influenced by such frameworks, what responsibility does council have to ensure that those decisions remain transparent and accountable to local residents? Please explain.
Not applicable. Way tooooooo far reaching
VI. Public Safety, Privacy & Emergency Powers
14. Flock Cameras & Surveillance
What is your position on the use of Flock cameras and other automated licence-plate recognition (ALPR) or camera-based surveillance systems by municipalities for public safety? What limits, if any, should apply to their use, and how should council balance public safety with residents’ privacy? Please explain.
Provincial government banned speed traps in school zones and that was a good idea to utilize that technology for traffic calming. If everyone has cameras on their phones and front porches, authorities should be able to assign speeding and safety ticket infractions utilizing cameras. Safety Safety!
15. Public-Health Emergency Powers
If another public-health emergency occurred, what restrictions, if any, should a municipality be able to impose on access to municipal buildings, facilities, programs or community activities? What role should elected council have in approving or overseeing such restrictions, and what limits should apply to municipal authority during an emergency? Please explain.
Public health board regulations, and provincial and federal health mandates must be followed, so masks and physical distancing. Organizations like board of health have their roles. By the way, vaccinations are extremely important and every home should maintain their family’s records always.
Questionnaire sent: September 8, 2026
Response received: September 8, 2026
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