Outgoing St. Joseph County Commissioners Dan Czajkowski (left) and Kathy Pangle (center) receive departure gifts from incoming Second District Commissioner Rick Shaffer (right) during a ceremony at Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — Two members of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners were recognized for their service in a ceremony during their monthly meeting Tuesday.
Outgoing Second District Commissioner and board chair Kathy Pangle and outgoing Fourth District Commissioner and board vice chair Dan Czajkowski, both elected to the board in 2016, were honored at the beginning of the meeting for their six years of service as commissioners.
Czajkowski did not seek re-election in 2022, while Pangle was defeated by Rusty Baker in the Republican primary election for the new Third District seat back in August.
The presentation was led off by incoming Second District Commissioner Rick Shaffer, who presented Czajkowski and Pangle with unique gifts. Czajkowski received a framed original tile from the historic courthouse building that Shaffer got from its 1990s restoration, while Pangle received a replica of the original chairperson’s gavel featured on the commissioners’ podium, along with a stand engraved with the county logo and her name.
Both later received additional gifts, getting honor plaques for their service, while Pangle received an additional plaque with a traditional gavel.
Following the gift-giving, Third District Commissioner Dennis Allen gave his thoughts on the duo’s accomplishments over the past six years. Elected along with Pangle and Czajkowski in 2016, he recalled that there were “unsettling times” with the commission before they were elected with board disagreements about the tax delinquent fund and using $4 million to make the county’s retirement fund whole. He then recalled the first meeting they had together as commissioners in January of 2017, where they learned about how much the county budget was in the hole.
“I remember asking, us three new commissioners, and Pat Yoder looked at all of us and said she had bad news in reference to the budget. The county is $1.3 million short in the general fund budget,” Allen said. “I remember looking at Pat and asking the other two commissioners from the previous board if they knew this was going to happen, and they said they did. Here we were, three brand-new commissioners out of five, and suddenly we’re $1.3 million short in the budget after $11 million had been distributed. I then looked to Kathy and Dan and their faces looked shocked, but the next question – I can’t remember if it was from Dan or Kathy – was, OK, what is the plan we’re going to do to fix this problem? That’s how it’s been from the start, we looked at problems and began to move forward.”
From that point on, Allen said, together they focused to fix the financial problems the county had, helping to come up with ideas to get expenses under control, such as implementing a hiring freeze, early buyouts for retirements, wage freezes, and putting a $6 million “cap” on the tax delinquent fund, so that $6 million was in the fund at all times.
Allen also noted improved relationships with the road commission and other agencies during their tenure, and the projects that Pangle and Czajkowski helped approve and oversee, including the Rivers Enrichment Center project and an HVAC project for county buildings.
“These are just a few things Kathy, Dan, the rest of the board and staff have been involved in over the last six years. I say this, because Kathy and Dan are very conservative people, but continue to do everything possible for the people of St. Joseph County,” Allen said. “It doesn’t matter what district they represented, they had no boundaries, then it was all about representing all of the people of St. Joseph County.”
Allen said Pangle was a “true example of a professional person,” while Czajkowski was “never afraid to speak his mind,” and “truly cared about this county as a whole.” Overall, he said both would be missed as commissioners.
“They have served this county in some of the toughest time over the last six years. They have served with honesty, dignity and integrity,” Allen said. “Chairman Pangle and Commissioner Czajkowski have always kept the people of St. Joseph County’s interests in mind, and always will. This board, and the people of St. Joseph County, wish Kathy and Dan nothing but the best for them and their families.”
Pangle then reminisced on her time with the county commission, saying she thought, “What have I gotten myself into” when she heard about the budget deficit at that first meeting, but then thought, “if I’m running my house like this, I’d be out on the street.”
“I think now we’ve secured the budget, and I’ve met the goals I had set,” Pangle said. “We were in a very bad position six years ago, but I feel confident that we’re leaving the new commissioners that are coming on in a better place than what we were.”
Pangle also gave advice to the new commissioners coming on this January.
“The new commissioners coming on, I want them to remember, like Judge Judy says, you have two ears and one mouth for a reason: listen to your constituents, and remember that every decision you make up here affects the whole county, not just you or personal friends, it affects every one of us. I hope they keep that in mind,” Pangle said.
Finally, Czajkowski remarked on his tenure, saying all of their accomplishments the past six years were done through teamwork with each other, praising his fellow commissioners and the department heads in the county for their work. He also welcomed the new commissioners coming on, saying having seven commissioners is a “good format,” and also gave them some advice.
“If you can keep that teamwork going, if you can work together, it provides results, and the residents of St. Joseph County look for that,” Czajkowski said.
He also gave a shout-out to his fellow commissioners individually, saying while he might not agree with Fifth District Commissioner Ken Malone often, they go along with the vote and “at the end of the meeting, we get up, have our Polish handshake and we start talking about snowmobiling or something else.” He also said Malone would “serve well on this board in the future.” For Pangle, Czajkowski said she would be the “most missed” out of all of them. He also called First District Commissioner Jared Hoffmaster the “future of this commission,” saying he “makes good decisions after listening to everything.” For Allen, he thanked him for his kind words and leadership, and said he was a “mentor” to him on the commission.
Overall, Czajkowski called it an “honor and privilege” to be on the board.
“You’ve all said a lot of nice things and we’ve got a lot of nice gifts, but I tell you what, it’s the other way around. It’s been truly an honor and a privilege to serve with all of you, and I’m going to miss that, and I wish you all well,” Czajkowski said.
In other business…
- The board approved the 2023 and 2024 budget for the county. More on the budget will be in an upcoming edition of the Commercial-News.
- The board approved the master plan for the court building renovation project.
- The board approved American Rescue Plan funding agreements with St. Joseph County to execute agreements with the 31 entities receiving ARP funds from the county.
- The board heard annual reports from District Court, Probate Court and the Juvenile Division and Family Court division.
- The board held a closed session to discuss trial and/or settlement strategy in the pending lawsuit of Grainger v. County of Ottawa, et al., which has to do with sales of tax-delinquent properties.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@threeriversnews.com.