Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Woodstock is run by an elected council of 7 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the city day to day.

Current council

• MayorJerry Acchionejacchione@cityofwoodstock.ca
• CouncillorDeb Taitdtait@cityofwoodstock.ca
• CouncillorBernia Martinbmartin@cityofwoodstock.ca
• CouncillorConnie Lauderclauder@cityofwoodstock.ca
• CouncillorKate Leatherbarrowkleatherbarrow@cityofwoodstock.ca
• CouncillorMark Schadenbergmschadenberg@cityofwoodstock.ca
• CouncillorLiz Wismer-Van Meerlwismervanmeer@cityofwoodstock.ca

Names and official email addresses from the city's council page. None of the members lists a public social media account there.

• Yes
  Budgets posted online

  The 2026 capital budget (adopted December 11, 2025), the 2026 operating budget (adopted March 19, 2026), department presentations for 2025 and 2026, and budgets back to 2022 are posted on one page. The operating budget book is a list of account lines with no plain-language summary in the book itself. Source

• Yes
  Audited financial statements

  Consolidated statements for 2021 to 2025 are posted. The 2025 statements carry an auditor's report dated July 9, 2026 that says they "present fairly" (Scrimgeour & Company). Every page of the 2025 file is a scanned image, so we read it by eye and used it only for this item. The 2024 statements are text, except the two pages of the auditor's report. Source

• Unknown
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  We did not find a yearly statement of council pay and expenses on the budget, Mayor and Council, or accountability pages. It may be filed with a council agenda, which we could not search (see below). Source

• Unknown
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  Agendas and minutes are on the City's meeting calendar and an eScribe portal. Our scripted requests for the calendar page and for a document on the portal were refused (HTTP 403), and the portal's meeting list loads by script. We did not read any agenda or minutes. Source

• Yes
  Conflict of interest registry

  A chart of declarations, with the meeting date, item and reason, is posted in three versions (June 18, August 13 and October 1, 2026). Source

• Partly
  Integrity Commissioner and closed meeting reports

  One Integrity Commissioner report (March 25, 2025) and three closed meeting reports (the latest May 6, 2021) are listed. The Integrity Commissioner report was blocked to us. Source

• City of Woodstock on YouTube (council meetings)

  The City's Mayor and Council page links this YouTube page under "Watch a meeting". We did not check how many meetings are posted or how long they are kept.

1. Send the request in writing to the city clerk (the freedom of information coordinator), on the city’s form or in a letter, with the $5 application fee.
2. Describe the records, not the answer you want. Dates, departments and the kind of record (a list, invoices, emails) make a request quicker and cheaper.
3. The city has 45 business days to answer (the law changed in 2026; older guides say 30 days). It can charge for search time and copies, but must send an estimate first if the fees will be over $25.
4. Some parts can be held back, such as legal advice or personal information about other people. The city must say which part of the law it relied on.
5. If you are refused, or the fees seem too high, you can appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner within 30 business days of the city’s decision.

The city's request form (on its Forms page) · The law · Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

• Boundary adjustment agreements

  The 2026 budget carries four boundary payment lines but gives no end dates or totals. Related question: How long will Woodstock keep making boundary adjustment payments to neighbouring municipalities, and how much more is owed?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the boundary adjustment agreements with Norwich Township, Zorra, Southwest Oxford and Blandford-Blenheim, and a schedule of the payments made under each since it began and those still to be made.

  Copy the wording

• Council remuneration and expenses statements, 2022 to 2025

  We did not find the yearly statement on the pages we read. Related question: Where is the City's yearly statement of what each member of council is paid and spends?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the yearly statements of remuneration and expenses for each member of council required by section 284 of the Municipal Act, 2001, for each of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

  Copy the wording

The wording is a starting point, not legal advice. Narrow the dates if the city says a request is too broad or too costly.

1. Integrity Commissioner

   Council has appointed an outside Integrity Commissioner (a lawyer at the firm Aird & Berlis LLP) to look into complaints under the Code of Conduct and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The City's page lists one report, dated March 25, 2025, about three applications under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The portal refused our scripted download of it (HTTP 403), so we did not read it.

2. Closed meeting investigator

   Complaints about a meeting closed to the public go to the City Clerk, who forwards them to the Closed Meeting Investigator. The City's page lists three investigation reports, dated January 13, 2011, September 19, 2014 and May 6, 2021. It lists none since.

3. Registry of declarations of interest

   The City posts a chart of every declaration of a conflict of interest made by members of council and the Committee of Adjustment since 2019. The newest version we read is dated October 1, 2026. The City says the written declarations themselves are kept at the Clerk's office at City Hall.