{"id":10612,"date":"2023-12-21T17:58:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T17:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=10612"},"modified":"2023-12-21T17:58:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T17:58:43","slug":"tina-skeldon-wozniak-honored-by-hundreds-in-last-official-meeting-before-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/21\/tina-skeldon-wozniak-honored-by-hundreds-in-last-official-meeting-before-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Tina Skeldon Wozniak Honored by Hundreds in Last Official Meeting Before Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Fletcher Word<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe Truth Editor<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Lucas County Commissioners held their last official meeting of the year last week but not in their usual meeting place. Their chambers were far too small for the expected crowd and for the last official meeting of Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak\u2019s career. They moved the event next door into City Council chambers to accommodate the many co-workers, friends, family and well-wishers who wanted to witness Wozniak\u2019s retirement ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer legacy is outstanding,\u201d said Commissioner Pete Gerken whose career as an elected official has been nearly similar to those of his fellow commissioner. Gerken began his career as an elected official by entering Toledo City Council in 1996; Wozniak joined him there in 1997. Skeldon Wozniak moved over to the Commissioners\u2019 offices in 2002 and Gerken joined her in 2005.<\/p>\n

This is a celebration,\u201d said Gerken of his fellow commissioner\u2019s last meeting, even as he also noted how \u201cbittersweet\u201d the occasion was.<\/p>\n

Praising Skeldon Wozniak\u2019s \u201ccourage and determination, Gerken also commended her \u201cconsistent character and consistent leadership\u201d through the years of \u201ctrials and tribulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerken listed a few of the accomplishments the Commissioners have enacted over the years during Skeldon Wozniak\u2019s tenure such as curbside recycling, a smoking ban, the Huntington Center, the downtown Hilton Hotel, the renovated convention center, the Lucas County Improvement Corporation, to name a few.<\/p>\n

He also spoke of her strength during the difficult times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went through the recessions together but with Tina there was no complaining, no wringing of hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerken also told of Skeldon Wozniak\u2019s penchant for putting people together to address issues. \u201cTina loves her some task forces,\u201d he said sparking a roomful of laughter.<\/p>\n

At her urging, the commissioners relied on a variety of citizen task forces addressing issues such as the foreclosure crisis, the Toledo Zoo, the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, the Health Department and TARTA.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been my sister,\u201d Gerken said summing up what his partner on the Board of Commissioners has meant to him and to the community.<\/p>\n

Lucas County Commissioner Lisa Sobecki also had plenty of kind words for her colleague. Sobecki praised Skeldon Wozniak for her leadership and her ability to listen to others. She spoke of Skeldon Wozniak\u2019s initiative in bringing about the county office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as well as the Workforce Development Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cTina has been a consistent champion for families and children,\u201d added Sobecki.<\/p>\n

Skeldon Wozniak, a licensed independent social worker, earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in social work from Bowling Green State University and a master\u2019s degree in social work from The Ohio State University.<\/p>\n

She comes from a long line of prominent Toledoans. Her grandfather, Frank Skeldon, helped found the Toledo Zoo. Her uncle, Phillip Skeldon, was a Toledo Zoo director for 27 years and was instrumental in expanding the zoo and enhancing its facilities.<\/p>\n

Ned Skeldon, Skeldon Wozniak\u2019s father, also served as Lucas County commissioner for eight years and was key in bringing the Mud Hens baseball team back to the city in 1965.<\/p>\n

Skeldon Wozniak was appointed as a Lucas County commissioner in 2002 to fill the unexpired term of Bill Copeland who retired because of health concerns. She was elected in 2004 to the seat and re-elected by wide margins four times after that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fletcher Word The Truth Editor Lucas County Commissioners held their last official meeting of the year last week but not in their usual meeting place. Their chambers were far too small for the expected crowd and for the last official meeting of Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak\u2019s career. They moved the event next door into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[207],"class_list":["post-10612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headline","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10613,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10612\/revisions\/10613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10612"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}