Occupation/Current Position
Professor
Education
Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture
Campaign Phone
574-292-0543
Candidate video
Campaign Email
Jan@JanCervelli4countycouncil.com
Affordability: The County Council must address rising utility costs—electric, gas, water, sewer. I will fight to stop companies from passing infrastructure upgrade costs onto residents, including AI data centers. I support removing sales tax on utilities and freezing fixed fees. The county should expand energy-efficiency programs, speed renewable permits, and increase assistance for working households.
Affordable living also requires higher wages. The county should support local businesses, union jobs, and better wages. We must reduce barriers to building affordable housing near transit and encourage employers to meet fair wage standards.
Public Safety: I will prioritize addressing violent crime and drug trafficking, while funding competitive pay and training for police, courts, and crisis services, and strengthening cybersecurity.
Public safety is the county's top infrastructure responsibility—existing road and bridge repair, ground water and septic problems in unincorporated areas, and storm water management. We also need cybersecurity to protect residents.
I support better land use planning to avoid unnecessary investments like road widening, expensive highway interchanges, and railroad crossings. All private project-related infrastructure expenses should be paid by the developer unless there's clear community benefit.
I do not support tax increases for new infrastructure until the county assesses the full impact of state mandated property tax cuts.
I support a county-wide review to cut waste and optimize existing county assets without jeopardizing essential services like police or health services for our most vulnerable. We must protect what everyday people depend on.
I support reviewing tax abatements and adding requirements that prioritize local business development and local tax revenue. Growth should pay the community back, not just the biggest players.
The county must ramp up diversified economic development beyond AI data centers and projects reliant on tax abatements or TIF’s. We need more than one winner—regular households should see real benefits from growth, not just rising bills. Right now, the industry is winning.
Big Tech pressure to build AI data centers has pushed the County away from its long-term Comprehensive Plan for balanced growth, environmental protection, and quality of life.
Our community Comp Plan is treated as "guidelines" only, opening the door to special interests. County staff have played an outsized role, and approvals too often contradict long-term goals. Public input is minimized and ignored. Zoning ordinances haven't been updated to protect residents from AI data centers and heavy industry.
I will lead a revision of the Comp Plan and zoning that protects health and safety and realigns community goals. We must put the public interest back in land use decisions. No new or expanded AI data centers until this work is done. Tax abatements and non-disclosure agreements should be prohibited. TIF’s will be strictly limited.
Those who we have entrusted with county government have failed by allowing staff to enter into nondisclosure agreements with developers and doing the bare minimum on transparency. Public notification is tiny yard signs or obscure newspapers. Meetings are during work hours with questions limited or prohibited. Hearings stretch into the early morning—impossible for working people. Citizen task force input is ignored. The county website is hard to navigate for agendas, exhibits, and budgets. This has broken trust.
I will oppose nondisclosure agreements and lead an overhaul that centers on public access information. Hearings will be scheduled for working families—evenings and weekends. We'll use social media to maximize collective input and empowerment. Every resident deserves to see how decisions connect to their bills and have a real voice.
All county employees should be evaluated regularly against established performance standards available to the public. Competitive pay increases should be considered when funds are available.
Any "key roles" should be declared openly with clear criteria to ensure equity and avoid favoritism. The Economic Development Director position as currently structured creates accountability problems. The org structure is out of balance. The EDD can enter nondisclosure agreements with developers which limit transparency and public input. The position reports to the Board of Commissioners while pay increases are determined by the Council—a conflict that must be resolved.
I call for fixing these conflicts and rededicating the position to balanced growth that benefits the whole community, not just the biggest players. Growth must pay the community back.
Occupation/Current Position
Accounting Professor at Notre Dame; also Attorney and CPA
Education
BBA Suma Cum Laude, University of Notre Dame; JD Suma Cum Laude, University of Notre Dame
Campaign Phone
5745326860
Campaign Email
jamesobrienesq@yahoo.com
My two top priorities for the Council are property tax reduction and preventing the further industrialization of Granger. These priorities actually intersect as I will demonstrate. First, as I know and have heard repeatedly, Granger is not the proper place for heavy industrialization. Many of my neighbors in Granger are quite upset with a large industrial Data Center coming to our community - this was a monumental failure of Granger’s representative, and I will oppose future Data Centers and also further efforts to industrialize Granger. That means opposition to rail line expansions and also to large solar projects. Additionally, in order to provide property tax relief, I believe that we should not utilize a TIF or provide property tax abatement to the existing Data Centers that have been approved by my opponent.
The most pressing infrastructure needs vary around the county. In many parts of the county road repairs and snow removal are particularly pressing and this is the case in Granger. At some time (and for some parts of the county that time may have already come) septic failure and the need to address failed septic systems may need to be addressed. However, this should not include requiring homeowners to abandon their septic and well systems if they are operational. NO, I will not support a tax increase for any purpose! Taxpayers must live within their means and so must all levels of government.
The county should focus on reducing its spending, curtailing tax incentives, and growing its tax base. Specifically, for the long term, the county should judiciously monitor its borrowings and utilize the debt markets only when the timing is right (that is when we can take advantage of favorable interest rates). Funds that have been budgeted but not spent should be carefully scrutinized rather than spent at the last minute during the budget year to avoid departments having unutilized funds at year end – I note that the council did say NO to a department at the end of 2025. Head count should be carefully monitored, and the county should bench mark with other counties to ensure that our departments are right sized. Law enforcement must be maintained in order to be able to cooperate with the federal authorities such as ICE.
Large-scale industrial developments should be limited to the portions of the county (and Cities) which are already industrialized. Particularly with regard to data centers, those should not have been situated in an area adjacent to residential properties which were not previously industrial areas. Taxpayer incentives should be utilized sparingly and only when there is very strong community buy-in. I have heard it said that two data centers is enough. I think that two data centers may be too many for St. Joseph County. Infrastructure demands must be funded by the large-scale commercial or industrial projects and not by the taxpayers.
I would advocate for a transparency ordinance, similar to one that I authored a decade ago when I served on the council. The ordinance would require detail concerning professional services and the related costs. Professional services are a significant portion of the county budget and also often do not require a bid process. I note that the Republicans on the council presently (Randy Figg, Andy Rutten, Joe Thomas and Amy Drake) proposed a similar transparency ordinance that was bottled up in committee and never voted on. This will be an important priority of mine. I feel that President Root did a good job soliciting public input in 2023 and 2024, but then he retired and engagement dropped off.
The county should have a set evaluation process for staff – different process for ‘key roles’. The process should be articulated and then decisions should be made within the evaluation process. Raises and bonuses should not be ‘one off’ or made to utilize fund balances at year end in order to avoid ending the year with unexpended funds. If budget guidelines dictate no raises, then the council should stick with that across the board. Along these lines, I plan to donate my paycheck to local organizations and I will never advocate for a raise for myself. I will focus on being a public servant without any financial benefit or interest.
Occupation/Current Position
High School History Teacher - Penn High School
Education
Masters in Health Administration - University of Missouri
Campaign Phone
(574)298-6240
Candidate video
Campaign Email
dschaetzle@danforgranger.com
My top priorities are to be sure Microsoft follows through on their commitment to safeguard our environment, follow our new noise ordinance, work with Penn and Ivy Tech to create educational opportunities for our students, pay for all infrastructure improvements, and maintain employment levels. I will also continue advocating for improved roads and snowplowing capacity, and balanced budgets that support our county police and firefighters. I will continue to support responsible economic development but believe two data centers is the county’s maximum (no more rezoning for data centers). I will continue to work with Granger Paths to build out Granger’s path system and with our parks department to complete the Anderson Trail Park.
The county’s most pressing infrastructure need is improvement in our subdivision roads and the county's bridges. I have lobbied vigorously for significantly more spending on our county roads in my first three years on the Council. I will continue to advocate for road and bridge improvements. While county government has little to no control over property taxes (your state elected officials have that control), we will have the ability to raise local income taxes starting next year. I will NOT vote for a tax increase of any kind.
Your county government is in strong financial shape. Our Police Pension Fund, Insurance Fund, and Rainy Day Fund are all fully funded. We also have a significant surplus in our General Fund. In addition, the taxes paid by Microsoft will help to offset reduced tax dollars to the county when homeowners see property tax cuts over the next few years. This new, significant source of income, along with the efficiencies we create, should allow us to continue offering services at or near the current levels and improve some services such as snowplowing. Our snow plow fleet is an area we should not consider for cuts in the unlikely case cuts become necessary. I am working with our county engineer on a plan to upgrade our snow plow fleet and retire plows that are 20 years old and older.
We evaluate large-scale projects based on their effect on the environment, the jobs they create, the taxes they will pay, other benefits to the community, the effect on the surrounding area, and other factors. With two data centers already planned, I think we need to look to other areas of the economy for further development. I also think we need to be cautious in how much more farmland we allow to be developed. With that thought, I am not in favor of rezoning land south or east of the Microsoft project for a railroad, any expansion of Microsoft, or any other development.
Every ordinance goes through a transparent three step process. The ordinance has a first reading and is then available to the public. At a public meeting, the ordinance is then presented and debated on by the assigned committee before being sent to the full council with a recommendation. At our next meeting it is then debated by the full council and public input is offered. The ordinance can then be voted on or tabled for further discussion. This process is very transparent.
I and other council members have also held public meetings and attended other events where legislation is discussed. I also write a newsletter to let individuals know what the council is considering, and my articles are often published in the Granger Gazette. Having said all of that, transparency is very important, and I am open to new ideas.
In an extremely competitive environment, the county needs to be nimble and proactive in its efforts to hire and retain top talent. The nine council members debate these decisions vigorously. The commissioners also have input. We should and do use comparative data from neighboring counties as well as data from private and public competitors to determine pay increases. We also look at performance. I am especially interested in efficiencies created and value added to the specific department in which the individual works or to the community.
