T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY - Retiring Marshall County Supervisor Steve Salasek (back center, wearing red shirt) poses for a photo with his family during a reception held in his honor at the courthouse on Monday. Salasek, a Republican, served two terms and will be replaced by Kevin Goodman at the beginning of the new year.

Steve Salasek needed something to keep him busy.

The lifelong southeastern Marshall County resident, who graduated from what was then known as LDF High School in 1973 and continued his education at Marshalltown Community College, got into the ag business industry and enjoyed great success, working his way up to the manager position at the Central Counties elevator in Gilman and then Key Cooperative near Le Grand. But after getting out of the business, he decided it was time to give something else a try and eventually settled on county politics.

“I was 60 and didn’t have quite enough to do. I’d spent enough time in the shop, I guess. I wasn’t ready to completely settle down,” he said.

The Republican supervisor, who first emerged from a contested primary against longtime former Sheriff Ted Kamatchus in 2016 and went on to win a pair of general elections, is officially calling it quits on his second career at the end of the year after leading the county through one of the most tumultuous periods in its history — due primarily to the devastating 2018 EF-3 tornado and the havoc it wrought on the courthouse. Colleagues and fellow supervisors who spoke to the T-R will remember Salasek for his calm demeanor, his dry sense of humor and his adeptness at finding middle ground even in situations when it seemed impossible.

“He at least always listened. If nothing else, even if he couldn’t help someone, he at least listened to their issue, which I think makes people feel better,” Marshall County Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson said.

A surprising win

When he heard that incumbent Denny Grabenbauer wouldn’t be seeking re-election eight years ago, Salasek threw his hat in the ring, and he admitted feeling surprised after winning the primary over Kamatchus, who was retiring from law enforcement at the time.

Dave Thompson, who served on the board alongside him from 2017 to 2023, said they had become friends over the years when Salasek came into his hardware store, and one of his sons would buy his Indianapolis 500 tickets in the years when Thompson couldn’t go.

“I asked him to run, so I would say if I asked him to run, I thought he was the right guy, and I think, at the time, without question, he was,” Thompson said. “It was smooth sailing right from the get go. I had known him for years. I knew his thought processes. I knew his integrity and honesty, so that was never a question.”

He went on to defeat Democrat Jon Muller in the 2016 general election, and in the first year and a half or so of his inaugural term, Salasek, Thompson and Bill Patten, all Republicans, handled routine business while embracing a fiscally conservative mindset on spending.

Then, on one summer day in 2018, everything changed.

“I was at home when it hit, I think it was about 4:30 or so, and I heard about it immediately. I jumped in the truck and came up (to the courthouse),” he said. “We were involved in trying to find where to shut the water off. I was with (County Buildings and Grounds Director) Lucas (Baedke) at the time, and we were just frantic.”

The water shutoff, as it turned out, was near the old fire station (now the Marshall County Election Center), and when Salasek and Baedke stuck their heads out from the top of the courthouse to assess the damage, a view he said he’ll never forget.

“I think it was an inch and a half pipe (that broke), and I bet that would let 4 or 5,000 gallons an hour. And it just rained down all through the east side of the courthouse,” Salasek said.

All three of the supervisors were on the same page about saving and restoring the courthouse, which was first constructed in the late 19th century, as opposed to building a new one.

“It was always assumed that we would fix what we had here. You know, the west side of the courthouse was almost unaffected, especially the grand courtroom. That’s such a beautiful room, (and) that was very fortunate that it happened the way that it did,” Salasek said. “We just got together and started to figure out a plan to put things back together. We knew that was a good opportunity to change the configuration of the courthouse because we had outgrown some of the departments, and some of the departments didn’t need near the space that they had 40 years ago.”

Benson remembered that on the night of the storm, Salasek worked to clear debris with a skid loader.

“He just jumps in and does what he can do, and that just is a testament to the kind of person he is. He will use his skills to assist any way he can, and not everybody will do that. Not everybody will just jump in and do, and he will,” she said. “And as we continued through that process, he never gets upset. I’ve never heard him raise his voice… But through that whole tornado experience, he’s always, again, trying to look on both sides of things, trying to find that compromise and trying to find out what’s best for the county (and) trying to find out what’s best for the employees.”

Initially, elected officials and department heads thought they’d be back within a year. Almost five years, more than $40 million — most of which was covered through insurance — and a change in general contractor later, the new and improved historic Marshall County Courthouse reopened to the public in May of 2023.

“It was a monumental task. We all were of the like mind that we wanted to save the courthouse and we wanted to do upgrades to make it good enough for the next 100 years. That’s what we wanted to leave, and that’s what we left. You literally, today, have the most state of the art courthouse within the state of Iowa and extremely good usage of the interior spaces, and I think everybody, now that the project is done, is very happy with it,” Thompson said. “Steve was extremely good working with Bill and I, and that’s really, that’s our crowning achievement for the time that all of us held office. Other than the budget and the rest of it, it was a good thing.”

During the interim period, a host of sites around Marshalltown were used for county proceedings including the Orpheum Theater, the Max building, Great Western Bank (now First Interstate Bank) and the MCC campus.

“We had a good team. Nan was just tireless when it came to helping and making decisions and getting things going. Same with Lucas. He was so passionate about this project,” Salasek said.

Often overlooked, he added, is the extensive damage to the Marshall County Annex building just east of the courthouse. Because he wanted to see the reconstruction through to its completion, Salasek ran for a second term in 2020 and defeated Democrat Thomas Thurston in the general election.

The courthouse project again dominated the agenda for the first two plus years of the term before the board was finally able to “branch out” and turn its attention on other matters. The 2022 election brought about major change to the makeup of the board as Republicans Jarret Heil, who had previously served as county treasurer, and Carol Hibbs replaced Thompson and Patten.

The allocation of millions of dollars in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding became a key focus and still is to this day — a special meeting, which would be Salasek’s last, was called on Christmas Eve to approve a Memorandum of Understanding for the remaining $2.2 million to go toward the sheriff’s office/jail renovation project after initial bids came in at almost twice the estimate provided to the county. Nonetheless, ARPA funds have already made a major impact elsewhere, financing the expansion of the Green Castle campground and other conservation projects as well as the digitization of records.

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY – Salasek takes a knee next to a plaque commemorating his service to Marshall County during a retirement reception at the courthouse on Monday.

Ready to play

When asked if he had seriously considered seeking a third term, Salasek, who will be replaced by Republican Kevin Goodman come Jan. 1, quickly dispelled the notion.

“I just turned 70 a month ago. Man, I’m ready to play now and slow down a little bit,” he said. “(My wife Joyce) has a lot of projects for me.”

But aside from spoiling the kids and grandkids he’s so proud of, he still plans to give plenty of time to causes near and dear to his heart like the Marshalltown United for Ukraine — the Salaseks have opened a house they own in a rural area of the county to a refugee family — and bus rides for the residents of the Iowa Veterans Home. And while the political process — whether at the local, state or federal level — can often leave those who participate in it jaded and cynical, Salasek said the experience has been overwhelmingly positive for him, and he was happy to see so many individuals he’d come into contact with during his tenure stop by a retirement reception at the courthouse on Monday.

“You know, 95 percent of the people you work with out here, taxpayers, are great folks that are easy to work with. There’s another five percent that you have to deal with that can kind of be uncomfortable,” he said. “I seem to get all the calls on the roads and things that are not the way folks want them to be.”

One of those constituents, Harold Lanning, stood up near the final regular meeting of the year on Dec. 18 to offer his thanks and well wishes.

“I just couldn’t miss the meeting because I wanted to say one last time to my friend over here, Steve Salasek, (and) thank him for his years of service and all the hard work that he’s put in to run the county efficiently and effectively. I wish you the best in whatever you choose to do,” Lanning said.

Praise for Salasek also poured in from fellow supervisors and department heads in the lead-up to his retirement. Sheriff Joel Phillips, who was serving as the jail administrator back in 2017, recalled taking him on a tour of the facility early in his first term.

“For him not being exposed to that environment, he asked a lot of questions. He didn’t realize what actually went on in a jail and what the obligations of the sheriff were, which he quickly found out when it came down to the court system and places to conduct court or hearings after the tornado and derecho when we were displaced. So it’s been a real eye opener for him,” Phillips said. “The Board of Supervisors, you know, they get complaints from citizens out in the county about quality of life issues, and Steve was always good about reaching out (and saying) ‘Hey, can we do something about this? Is there a compromise?’ Steve is a gentleman’s gentleman. He likes to work out agreements and come to a resolution where everyone gets along. And I think he’s really good at that.”

Heil, the current board chairman, was also laudatory in his remarks on Salasek and spoke about him during the Dec. 18 meeting.

“Steve has been fantastic for Marshall County. He’s got a true servant heart in all that he does. I’ve said it many times before. I like how he always comes to the table looking for a solution for all parties involved,” Heil said. “Steve cares so much for the people, cares about good decisions and I really appreciate you and everything you’ve done. It’s not just the work you do here, but all the volunteer work that you’re involved in… He is a great man. A wonderful, wonderful person for Marshall County.”

Earlier this week, Heil shared additional reflections on his soon-to-be former colleague.

“I’m going to miss working with Steve. He always lights up the room with his humor and wit, yet his best attribute is his kindness and care in all he does,” he said. “Additionally, his eagerness to find what can be agreeable in all issues in front of him. That’s what made him such a great supervisor and public servant to the people of Marshall County.”

Hibbs added that she felt he “exemplifies the meaning of what it means to be a public servant” and said she learned “a great deal” from his words of wisdom and his actions.

Salasek’s advice for his successor is simple: listen to the taxpayers, and seek their feedback before making any major decisions.

“Watch expenses. We want to try to stay debt free or as close to debt free as we possibly can. We’ve got some tough times coming up here. We’ve got some decisions that they’re gonna have to make that are gonna be uncomfortable, I think. So I just wish him well in making those decisions. But they’ll pull through. They’ll make it happen somehow,” Salasek said.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.