Frank Sawicki will chair his final meeting of the Northumberland County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday.
After eight years in office, the last four as chairman, Sawicki completes his final days in office this week before the new board is sworn in during a ceremony at the county courthouse next Tuesday.
The 65-year-old resident of Atlas acknowledged some unfinished business that he won't get to because of his defeat in November's election, but he seemed content in briefly discussing his service Monday.
"It's been my pleasure to serve the county, but now the sun will shine on a new board," he said.
Sawicki hopes to make the transfer of power easier for the board's two new members, Republican Rick Shoch, a Sunbury attorney who won election in his first bid for office, and Stephen Bridy, an Elysburg financial consultant who made county history as the first Independent to win election as commissioner. Shoch and
Bridy join Democrat incumbent Vinny Clausi, who won re-election to another four-year term, while Merle Phillips, who served one year in an interim basis, leaves office along with Sawicki.
Sawicki said he has saved every e-mail he's received during his eight years as commissioner, and has arranged the files for each piece of business the county has done in the last month. Shoch and Bridy "can have access to them anytime they want," he said.
Sawicki said giving them the information makes good business sense and lets them be well informed to make good decisions out of the gate.
"When I started, I learned on the job." Sawicki said. "Very little information was transferred to me."
Sawicki and Kurt Masser, now state representative for the 107th Legislative District, entered office together in 2004, joining incumbent Sam Deitrick after Democrats Allen Cwalina and Charles Lewis Jr. had resigned in mid-2003 and an interim board carried the county through a few difficult months.
The fiscal conditions under which Cwalina and Lewis resigned have been much improved, Sawicki said.
"The board and myself have done a lot to restore fiscal responsibility to Northumberland County. We worked to cut unnecessary spending," he said. "It was all about having zero tolerance toward the abuse of taxpayer dollars."
As for the unfinished business, he said he would have liked to see county records removed from the damp courthouse basement, and he would have liked to get action on switching the 911 center radio system to high-frequency bands, which could be a pressing matter for the new board.
Sawicki, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War who retired as an engineer prior to winning the commissioner election, said he will stay busy, although he has no specific plans that he revealed.
"I will be keeping myself productive, and hope that I've made things a little better for the working man and the senior citizens," said Sawicki, whose public service has also included a stint on the Mount Carmel Township Board of Supervisors in the late 1980s.
As for those county meetings, it's a part of the job that he'll miss.
"I loved running the meetings and working to keep them orderly and civilized," he said. "I hope I treated those who came to county meetings with respect and dignity."