Mark’s priorities are grounded in responsible local government,
fair process, long-term thinking, and respect for the people who
call Strathroy-Caradoc home.
The Deputy Mayor must be prepared to study the material, listen to
residents, understand the municipality’s responsibilities, and make
decisions based on evidence and the public interest.
01
Transparent and accountable government
Council decisions should be open, well explained, and based on the public record.
Residents deserve meaningful opportunities to be heard, without unnecessary procedural barriers.
Council members should come prepared, listen to evidence, ask necessary questions, and explain their decisions clearly.
Council should show how it weighed evidence, public input, municipal responsibilities, and long-term consequences.
Major projects should have clear public reporting on cost, scope, financing, risks, and changes from the approved plan.
02
Responsible planning and land-use decisions
Major land-use decisions must be grounded in planning rules, Official Plan policy, evidence, servicing capacity, and the long-term public interest—not predetermined outcomes or political pressure.
Council should consider staff reports, public input, applicable legislation, planning policy, servicing information, and the full record.
Official Plan and zoning amendments, especially involving agricultural or greenfield land, require careful scrutiny and fair process.
Residents affected by planning proposals deserve clear information, meaningful opportunity to participate, and respectful consideration.
Growth should proceed only where servicing, infrastructure capacity, and a fair financing plan have been demonstrated.
03
Protecting agriculture and rural interests
Agricultural land and rural communities are essential to Strathroy-Caradoc’s identity, economy, and future.
Council must understand development, traffic, servicing, drainage, and land-use impacts on farms and rural residents.
Decisions should apply sound rural-planning principles, including Minimum Distance Separation requirements where applicable.
Council must carefully assess evidence and impacts on agricultural operations, rural residents, and the municipality’s long-term interests.
Rural voices should carry equal weight in municipal decision-making.
04
Financial responsibility and taxpayer protection
Every municipal dollar should be spent carefully, transparently, and with clear public value.
Procurement, tendering, and purchasing practices must protect taxpayers and prevent avoidable costs.
Any exception to normal tendering or purchasing practice should receive careful scrutiny, public explanation, and appropriate documentation.
Council must consider immediate costs as well as long-term operating, maintenance, debt, infrastructure, and legal obligations.
Decisions should seek to reduce avoidable legal costs and unnecessary taxpayer exposure to financial risk.
Council should publish a clear multi-year capital, reserve, and debt plan showing the full cost, funding source, operating impact, and taxpayer exposure for major projects.
Major capital decisions should have transparent budgets, regular public cost-variance reporting, and a clear explanation of funding from taxation, debt, reserves, grants, rates, development charges, or other recoveries.
05
Infrastructure and municipal capacity
Reliable wastewater, water, roads, drainage, and other core services must be properly planned before growth outpaces municipal capacity.
Council must identify capacity constraints early, assess practical alternatives, and understand lifecycle costs and risks.
Council should carefully weigh service needs, affordability, timing, long-term resilience, and impacts on existing residents.
Mark will bring an engineer’s discipline to reviewing infrastructure needs, risks, costs, and options.
The municipality should choose durable, evidence-based investments rather than costly short-term fixes.
The Municipality must maintain a current, publicly available Asset Management Plan identifying asset condition, service levels, lifecycle costs, funding gaps, risks, and a realistic long-term renewal strategy.
Core infrastructure must be funded and maintained before discretionary expansion, with growth-related infrastructure costs recovered fairly from development wherever appropriate.
Prepared leadership. Clear judgment. Decisions built for the long term.
Mark Eyre is running for Deputy Mayor because Strathroy-Caradoc needs
leadership that reads the material, respects the rules, asks difficult
questions, and puts sound long-term decisions ahead of political convenience.