https://www.tamatoledonews.com/news/local-news/2023/01/13/everybody-deserves-a-safe-healthy-community/

During Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Casey Schmidt was appointed to the Tama County Board of Health.

Schmidt said he didn’t originally seek out the role.

“Initially, I was helping to find somebody for that position. I wasn’t expecting or planning on being a member of the Board of Health until I started having conversations with the Public Health Director, Shannon,” he said. “Then I was contacted by Supervisor Dan Anderson. Through many conversations, it was, you know what, why don’t I give it a shot and see what I can bring to the table with my experience in law enforcement and getting to know that area of the county.”

Schmidt, a resident of Dysart, has been with the Tama County Sheriff’s Office for almost 10 years.

“I’ve mainly been working nights, and now I’m on a new shift to see how things operate during the day. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in Tama County,” he said. “I’m excited to have a new venture being on the Board of Health and see what I can bring to the table in the realm of public safety’s concern and how they can work together with public health.”

While on duty, Schmidt has made great memories with the Tama County Sheriff’s Department, particularly with his canine companion, Tyson, the german shepherd.

“I’m a canine deputy. I have a dog named Tyson. The funniest recent memory was we were doing training at the engineer’s office. Because I’m supposed to have my dog well-trained, and on point, I brought him out during lunch, and of course, when it was time to go outside with a few department heads and employees, Tyson jumped onto the table and tried to eat the cupcakes. That got quite a few laughs,” Schmidt said. “If you’ve met Tyson, he’s a very social dog and loves to say hi. I always pride myself in knowing he’s a very well-mannered dog, yet there he is, jumping up and getting those cupcakes.”

Maintaining perspectives and outside-of-the-box thinking is what Schmidt does best, and he aims to bring a new one to the Board of Health.

“I’m not looking to make any drastic changes or make a lot of noise. I just want to take a look to see how things work and see what I could do with my perspective. How can I, with my expertise in law enforcement, bridge the gap if one needs to be bridged?” he asked. “Mainly, if there are things I see that the other Board members don’t, I have no problem voicing that concern. If things need to be changed, we’ll cross that bridge as a Board.”

Schmidt consistently concerns himself with the questions that face all Tama County citizens.

“What can Tama County do for the residents? What can the Board of Health [and] Public Health do for Tama County? What can we do better? What can we adjust? What can we do for the people that need the care? How can we better serve them? What can I offer with my experience? Everybody deserves a safe, healthy community,” he said.

While Schmidt does not have all the answers as of now, he continues to strive every day to strengthen community bonds.

“I’m more of a guy that likes to get to know people and understand why they think the way they do. Obviously, everybody has different perspectives, but getting to know people and understand why they’re coming from where they’re coming from that’s important to me,” he said. “I’d like to strengthen relationships between any side of our local government and the people.”

Schmidt is thrilled to take on this new leadership role for Tama County.

“As far as the Board of Health, I look forward to seeing what we can do to continue working the way we do and seeing if there’s anything we can do to better enhance the services that Tama County provides to our citizens.”

Schmidt will be serving on the Board of Health through 2025.