An open house will be held in honor of Fabian Knizacky’s retirement as county administrator at the Mason County Airport terminal, 5300 W. US 10, from 3 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31.
Fabian Knizacky. Submitted photo.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
PERE MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP — An era will end in Mason County on Friday, Jan. 31. Fabian Knizacky will end his 31 year career as the Mason County administrator. Not only is a three-decade career in that position monumental, but even more significant is the fact that Knizacky was the county’s first administrator. Upon Knizacky’s retirement, current deputy administrator Kaitlyn Szczypkawill become the second person to serve in that role.
Prior to 1994, Mason County government operated without an administrator. Instead, elected department heads such as the clerk and treasurer, handled most of the business of the county while elected commissioners also served a more active role in overseeing operations. As the county faced a $1.3 million debt to seal up an environmentally unsound landfill in Scottville, and an an aging jail in Ludington, the commissioners made the decision to hire an administrator.
Tom Posma of Walhalla served on the commission at that time.
“We were one of the last counties our size that didn’t have an administrator,” Posma said. “It became apparent to the board that it was a move we needed to make. Our finances were not very good and the county was involved in things that it was not responsible for, such as the fire service and landfills.”
Posma said the board wanted to find a person who had a strong financial background.
“Our final two candidates were Tom Kaminski, the Manistee County administrator, and Fabian Knizacky,” Posma said. “While Tom had some great qualities we felt that Fabian was stronger to tackle the issues we were facing.”
Knizacky is a 1978 graduate of Free Soil High School, the son of Lucy Knizacky and the late Fritz Knizacky. He attended Aquinas College in Grand Rapids where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting. After college, he was hired as an auditor for a certified public accountant firm in East Lansing. One of his clients was Eaton Rapids.
“The city council fired its city manager, clerk, and treasurer, who happened to be the same person,” Knizacky said. “The mayor at that time did not want a city manager and had contacted the CPA firm I was working for to see if we could help them out. I worked with the city to take care of the audit and budget for the next year. Based on that, the council create a finance director position. I applied for the job and was hired. After a couple years in that position, I had received another job offer. I told the Eaton Rapids council I wouldn’t stay with them unless they promoted me to city manager, since I was basically doing the job anyway.”
Kaitlyn Szczypka, MCP photo
When Mason County decided to hire an administrator, Jerome Rybicki, who represented Free Soil Township on the county commission, contacted Knizacky and encouraged him to apply.
Knizacky said he had some experience professionally with Mason County because he had performed an audit of the county when he worked for the CPA firm.
Under Knizacky’s leadership, Mason County transformed from facing major financial challenges to being one of the most fiscally sound counties in Michigan.
“Fabian took a pay cut to come back to his hometown,” said Janet Anderson, current chair of the Mason County Board of Commissioners. “We are very thankful he made that decision. Those commissioners made a big decision back then to create the position and hire Fabian, and it was the right decision. Commissioner Charlie Eberbach was the person who had initiated the idea.”
One of Knizacky’s first tasks was to eliminate the nearly five-decade practice of the county funding fire departments. While most of the fire departments in the county were funded by their local municipalities such as a township or city, they also received funds from the county’s general fund budget.
Though the topic was contentious, it ultimately resulted in the current systems that continue to be in place. The residents of the City of Ludington, Hamlin Township, and Pere Marquette Township chose to develop a fire district, the Western Mason County Fire District, which raises a local property tax millage to fund purchase of equipment while each municipality funds operations of its own department, and therefore has local control of those departments. With the exception of Logan Township, the remaining municipalities in the county chose to form an authority, the Mason County Rural Fire Authority. This authority has complete control of the seven fire departments absorbed into it, and is overseen by a board that is appointed by the various member municipalities. The fire authority is also funded by a property tax millage. The citizens of Logan Township chose to keep their department, Carr Area Fire Department, autonomous.
“I think we ended up with a much better fire service in Mason County than what we had before,” Knizacky said. Posma, who was also Branch Township Fire Department fire chief for several years, agreed.
The county also faced a major issue with having to deal with an aging jail.
In 1959, Mason County replaced its condemned jail, a building that had been built in the late 1800s. The new building was located in the same place, in the 300 block of North Delia Street in Ludington. In 30 years the Mason County Sheriff’s Office’s needs had outgrown the building. Plus, the building had deteriorated There was much conversation of moving all the county offices and courts out of the Mason County Courthouse, 100 years old at the time (the courthouse was built in 1894), to a location in Pere Marquette Township. However, Michigan law requires county records and circuit court to remain in the county seat, which is Ludington.
A compromise was made to renovate and expand the jail and also restore the courthouse. Over the last 30 years the courthouse has seen three major renovations.
During his tenure, Knizacky has also overseen other county building construction projects including a new Mason County Airport terminal, health department building, department of health and human services building. He also oversaw renovations of the zoning and building and grounds building in Scottville and the construction of the West Shore Community Ice Arena, in which the county served as the fiduciary.
Being a county administrator is different than a position such as a city manager.
In Mason County, the clerk, treasurer, register of deeds, and sheriff are elected positions. Each of those individuals are department heads answerable to the voters. However, the county board of commissioners oversees the budgets of those departments.
“There has to be a balancing act,” Knizacky said.
Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole has worked as a department head with Knizacky for the past 12 years.
“Fabian has been great to work with,” Cole said. “One of the things that’s unique about my office is that we are in the business of law enforcement. We aren’t accountants. Fabian has been a valuable individual who has helped guide us with our budget. Though he’s a numbers guy, he also understands the value of public safety. He does an excellent job of balancing the importance of protecting the public and being fiscally responsible.”
Cole said prior to being elected sheriff he served as one of the negotiators representing the sheriff’s office road patrol union.
“I have had the experience in working with Fabian on both sides of the union contract,” Cole said. “In my experience, he has always been fair on both sides. He understand the importance of treating our personnel fairly and respectfully but also being responsible to the taxpayers as well.”
In the fall of 2023, Knizacky announced he would be retiring effective Jan. 31, 2024. The county board of commissioners interviewed four finalists for the administrator position in late 2023 and chose Kaitlyn Szczypka, who had been the clerk of the Village of Elk Rapids. However, commissioners decided, instead, to offer her a deputy administrator position for one year, to allow for a smoother transition.
Szczypka will now serve as county administrator.
Knizacky said he and his wife, Vicki, plan to stay in Mason County. But, they also plan to travel and to spend future winters in Florida.
“We want to visit all the 48 continental states,” Knizacky said. “My wife is from Florida, and is not a fan of the winters, so we will be there more. I’d also like to grow a garden. I’ve tried that over the years but it has always gotten away from me.”
In the near future, Knizacky also plans to tap the maple trees on his property and make maple syrup.
The public is invited to attend an open house for Knizacky from 3 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31 at the Mason County Airport terminal, 5300 W. US 10.
___________________________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
The easiest way is to sign up for an automatic monthly payment on Paypal. Click this link.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
If you would like to support MCP/OCP but do not wish to receive daily emails, please consider sending a contribution to any of the above methods or pay by Venmo (@masoncountypress).
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals. Three ways to help us: Venmo: @MasonCountyPress; Paypal: MasonCountyPress@gmail.com; Mail a check to PO BOX 21, Scottville, MI 49454.
.jpg)
