Debate was an opportunity to display my knowledge

My speech at UNIFOR Hall back on Oct. 12

My intention at the recorded debate was to impress all the voters in the audience with my acquired understanding on city council procedures, responsibilities, issues and facts. 

Other candidates seemingly talked in the form of cliches, idioms, sell lines, slogans and over-used resume contexts hinting at terms such as team work, dedication and transparency. In other words, lots of words but very little actual content to reflect any accumulated knowledge on the workings of municipal governance.  

The stop watch included a 3-minute introduction and later the identical 3 questions were offered to all 17 candidates present.  

Since the election debate at UNIFOR Hall has aired a couple times on Rogers TV, I thought it was a good idea to post my entire introduction speech as it was never really truly finished when the buzzer sounded. 

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I firstly want to thank the residents of Woodstock for having trust in myself to elect me to City Council in 2018.

I’m Mark Schadenberg and I now seek re-election to a city-only seat at Woodstock City Council.

I’ve resided in Woodstock for 50 years and my background includes a long list of leadership in volunteer opportunities – 7 years as chair of the recreation advisory committee (and 21 years as a member in total), 3 years co-chair of the cancer society’s Relay For Life, and 3 years chairing the Woodstock Sports Celebrity Dinner including 6 years as master of ceremonies. I don’t sit in a chair with a gavel in hand – I’m hands-on -- I work. I’m also a dedicated member of the Lions Club of Woodstock, and was a long-time volunteer in community-access Rogers television.

Yes, I’m running for a City-only seat? Does this mean I have no thoughts or visions on how we can assist the homeless in our community, and those with mental health issues or addictions. Absolutely Not. I have toured The Inn, Huron House, Operation Sharing, Salvation Army resources, and I’ve sat around a big table with staff at Oxford County Community Health Centre, but most important? I have volunteered with groups like Cycles Of Life and the Community Free Table.

My roles on current council include recreation advisory, accessibility, environment, UTRCA, and two years chairing the planning meetings.  

One of my goals after the 2018 election was to analyze the City’s list of suggested street names for future roads – to thereby create new themes as the city had already utilized birds, trees, golf courses, poets, renowned Canadian politicians, and even streets to recognize former ORC buildings. After many discussions with museum curator Karen Houston a new list was created with some fresh themes and local historical names to move into the future.

City council and senior staff have work diligently through the pandemic on concerns ranging from Downtown revitalization, and a Woodstock recreation needs assessment study which encourages the expansion of the current Southgate Centre and the replacement of the 52-year-old Civic Centre Arena.

The City completed a development charges study which could see a key modification in how the economic development office negotiates land sales and building permits with possible new industry.

With a population rather quickly approaching 50,000, residential quantity is a very important issue as the Ontario government stresses intensification through its Provincial Policy Statement 2020 and the Bill 108 More Homes More Choices Act. The trend is to see more apartment buildings and row townhouses, but council must stress that some apartments should be condominium ownership so residents are not paying rent and watching retirement savings gradually disappear.

Some people like the idea of permitting ARUs (additional residential units) in all zoning areas.  Some day this could be a reality. Certainly Woodstock is surrounded by precious farmland, but at the same time people bought homes with a R1 zoning to live in uncrowded neighbourhoods without basement living quarters for unrelated tenants.

Budgets are important – extremely important, but departments in Woodstock annually ‘ask’ for very modest additions to base budget, so beyond the list of roads to be replaced, buildings to be added, and fleet requests like perhaps a fire truck, there is insignificant upward movement. By the way, 42% of the budget is allocated to police and fire departments.

The capital budget for road replacing, updated facilities and even buying fire trucks is strict, well-planned and based on a 5-year rolling financial commitment with the current year approved and the next four calendars as projections.

When you factor in terminology such as the Asset Management plan and depreciation, Woodstock is a very strong community in its ownership groupings and lack of collected debt, . . . now and into the future. Brand new parks and added amenities can often be paid for by development charges as submitted by home builders. 

The accumulated values of facilities such as city hall, the library, art gallery and its collection, the museum and its artifacts, market theatre, aquatics centre, arenas and the engineering offices is astounding. The City is in excellent shape.

Be sure to study the knowledge each candidate actually possesses as we are not here to listen to clichés, catch phrases and slogans, but rather a true understanding of procedure and budgeting, and overall municipal governance.

And if you want to discover more of my thoughts please see: www.marklivesinwoodstock.blogspot.com  

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