Supervisors: Lipovac out, county hires new union negotiator

Supervisors voted 4-1 to hire Paul Greufe with PJ Greufe & Associates of Davenport. Greufe replaces Jack Lipovac who has been the human resources union negotiator for Union County since the mid to late 1980s. Supervisor Bob Jansen was the lone nay vote, stating he favored retaining Lipovac for two reasons.

First, Jansen felt Lipovac has done a good job on behalf of the county, and second, Lipovac is familiar with the county’s history with its unions and would be the cheapest because, unlike a new negotiator, he would not have to complete background work.

“Unless you can convince me Jack Lipovac has done something wrong and cost the county money, I’m staying where I’m at,” Jansen said.

Greufe is the president of PJ Greufe & Associates. His experience and expertise range from small businesses to large corporations and from private-sector to public-sector organizations.

“For me, the top three candidates in this search were pretty close, each with pluses and minuses,” said Supervisor Dennis Brown, “but he (Greufe) really impressed me during his presentation. I don’t generally like a lot of change, but I felt like a change was needed. I had lost confidence in the HR person we had before.”

Greufe begins immediately with Union County as he will represent the county in union negotiations with the Union County Sheriff’s Department this December.

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Goldsmith’s final day: Paul Goldsmith, district conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), paid a visit Monday to the Union County supervisors board room.

Bob Brown, supervisor chairman, announced Goldsmith will work his last day in Creston Friday.

Goldsmith has worked as a conservationist at the Creston office since 1986. Goldsmith has accepted a position as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Coordinator in the Des Moines NRCS office.

During his time in Creston, Goldsmith was involved in the development of Three-Mile Lake, numerous water-quality projects above the lakes in Union County, assisted producers with implementing conservation plans to reduce soil erosion and provide overall program management for the NRCS and Union County Soil and Water Conservation District.