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Vision
Biography of Wade Kapszukiewicz
Lucas County Treasurer
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 Wade Kapszukiewicz was sworn in as Lucas County Treasurer on September 5, 2005. At age 34, Wade is the youngest of the 88 county treasurers in Ohio. His reform agenda for the office included implementation of Lucas County’s first tax lien sale, through which $10 million of additional delinquent real estate taxes was collected in 2006 alone.
Under Wade’s leadership, the Treasurer’s office has developed a number of programs to help move the community forward. His office purchased bonds from the County Commissioners to provide the initial financing for the construction of Toledo’s new downtown arena. He has created a linked deposit program to provide $5 million in loans to local small businesses, and along with Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak, he formed the Foreclosure Prevention & Intervention Task Force to assist individuals facing the hardship of home foreclosure.
Despite his relative youth, Wade has a long record of public service. Prior to becoming Treasurer, Wade was a member of Toledo City Council for nearly seven years. He was first appointed to City Council in January 1999 and had the distinction of being the youngest person to serve on that body in nearly 25 years. He won a special election in May of that year to complete the remainder of the term. Wade was then re-elected in 2001 and 2003 before running successfully for Treasurer in 2004. He continued to serve on City Council until September 2005, when his 4-year term as Treasurer began.
Wade was elected to the Lucas County Board of Education in 1995 in his first run for public office and served there until his appointment to Toledo City Council.
During his tenure on Toledo City Council, Wade was a champion of causes that benefited Toledo’s working families. He fought for more police and against the proliferation of adult businesses, and he developed the BornReaders program, which provided newborns with access to books and resources for age-appropriate learning.
Health care was perhaps Wade’s top legislative priority. He created the Northwest Ohio Pharmacy Card Network, which has saved over 12,000 people a total of roughly $200,000 on their prescriptions since the organization was launched in March 2003. As Treasurer, Wade continues to serve as the Chairman of the Network.
Wade’s service to the community extends beyond his work as an elected official. He is also involved in a number of neighborhood, civic, and political causes. In 2004, he was chosen for a 4-year term on Bishop Leonard Blair’s Education Council, and in 2006 he was named the Ohio Young Democrat of the Year.
A Roman Catholic, Wade is a parishioner at Regina Coeli Church in West Toledo. He has been a member of the church’s Holy Name Society since 1997 and served as its president from 1998-99.
Wade graduated from Regina Coeli elementary school and St. Francis de Sales High School before enrolling at Marquette University in 1990. He graduated with a 4.00 GPA in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science and was named the valedictorian of the College of Communication, Journalism and Performing Arts. He received a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan in 1996, again graduating with a 4.00 GPA.
After receiving his master’s degree, Wade worked for two years as the Policy Analysis and Research Director of the New Ohio Institute, a public policy research organization that studied issues affecting Ohio’s urban areas. In April 1998 he accepted the position of Manager of Planning and Development at the Lucas County Mental Health Board, where he worked until he began serving on Toledo City Council. While on City Council, Wade taught a course in American Government at Owens Community College and also worked at COMPASS, a social service agency that works with people with drug and alcohol addictions. He now devotes his professional energies as the full-time Treasurer of Lucas County.
A resident of Toledo since 1973, Wade was born in San Diego, California, on October 30, 1972. He and his wife, Sarah, were married on July 14, 2001. They live on Meadowwood Drive in the Old Orchard neighborhood of Toledo and have two children: Emma, 3, and Will, 1.
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