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| Berrien County Treasurer Bret Witkowski is also a sports broadcaster for WSJM. John Madill / H-P staff |
You can count on Witkowski
Published: Monday, March 1, 2010 1:09 PM EST
Anyone who follows news and sports these days knows the name Bret Witkowski.
Witkowski, 42, wears a lot of hats. His day job is treasurer of Berrien County. But Three Oaks, Stevensville and Benton Harbor have been experiencing financial problems, and he's gotten involved with those municipalities as well.
In the sports seasons, Witkowski is well known as a broadcaster for WSJM. He's a 1986 graduate of St. Joseph High School and was inducted into that school's sports Hall of Fame in 2003. No one who listens to him on the radio wonders where his sympathies lie.
He's a former village manager of Stevensville, and when the village ran into a fiscal morass, officials asked him to come back as interim manager to help get things straightened out. State officials asked him to help out with Three Oaks and Benton Harbor.
Witkowski, county treasurer since 2005, is also a former county commissioner. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, with an emphasis on finance and insurance, from Ball State University in 1990. He also played tight end on the varsity football team there, and his team won the Mid-American Conference title in 1989.
Witkowski and his wife, Amy, have two children - Elizabeth, 15, a freshman at Michigan Lutheran High School, and Emily, 11, a fifth-grader at Grace Lutheran School. He recently took time to answer a few questions from Herald-Palladium staff writer William F. Ast III:
Do you have a financial background?
Oh, yeah. My first job, I was an accountant for Industrial Electric on Klock Road. That was my first job out of college - accountants payable and all that.
How did you get involved in Three Oaks and Benton Harbor?
In Three Oaks, actually the current (council) president and Chris Siebenmark, Sen. (Ron) Jelinek's representative, they called me. They said 'We want to sit down with you' and St. Joseph City Manager Frank Walsh to go over the financials. (At first) we didn't think it was as bad as they said it was, but once we did, they had a huge financial hole. They were spending more than they were taking in.
For Benton Harbor - Three Oaks had that (financial emergency) committee that I was on. Sen. Jelinek gets to ask one person to be on it. It was the same thing for Benton Harbor.
In my spare time, I play with a calculator all the time. That and sports. Maybe it's a little morbid, but I enjoy looking at those situations.
How long have your workweeks been?
In Three Oaks, once they appointed Pam Amato (as financial manager), other than making some phone calls, there wasn't a whole lot. I'd go down once or twice a week. But leading up to it was pretty busy. With Stevensville, I've been going there one or two nights a week. I'd get home between 10 and 11 (p.m.). And there were some weekends. Probably I'd say on average 60 hours (a week).
Doesn't that make you tired?
Yeah. It's all a lot of responsibility, so it does wear you out. Stevensville wore me out a little more, because I knew what was going to eventually come out. It was bothersome and I felt bad for a lot of people. Having been out there and how good the people were to me, the residents and the board, and knowing what they're going to face to rebuild ... It's daunting, but it's doable.
Am I tired? Yeah ... But now I know what the questions should be and I know the answers. The light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train. It's actually light.
Do you have any hobbies?
I really enjoy coaching my kids in sports. I really enjoy that. That is just fun. I love teaching kids and being around them. That makes you realize you should just go have fun, play hard, forget about the political side of the world.
I try to play golf, but we don't get along well. I enjoy playing softball.
Broadcasting is always fun. And just being around kids is fun.
Any lessons to be learned from all these financial problems here?
It's not just here, it's statewide. Revenues are less than they were five years ago ... When I talk with other treasurers around the state, municipalities and counties are really struggling overall. It isn't just a Berrien County problem, it's a common problem. In the next three years, it will become more prevalent.
There are now at least 20 people (in Michigan) who are qualified to be emergency (financial) managers. A year ago, it was two or three people. That's kind of an indicator that we're gearing up in case there are more problems statewide.
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