(Community Matters 195) Remembering Dr. Joe Schwarz: Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke

This discussion is part of a series of interviews remembering former Battle Creek mayor, lawmaker and statesman, Dr. Joe Schwarz who passed away in May, 2026. 

Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke shares his memories of Dr. Joe Schwarz and the creative ways he fought for Battle Creek. From economic development wins to tense public meetings, Behnke talks about the moments that show what Schwarz's conviction looked like in local leadership. 

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.

Transcript

Remembering Joe Schwartz

Richard Piet 0:02

Joining us now on Community Matter. It's Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke to talk about Joe Schwarz. Hello, Mr. Mayor. Good morning. Boy, where do you begin?

Mark Behnke 0:14

Oh, yeah, I know. There's so much. And um, I think uh Battle Creek was the center of the universe for him. I mean, he loved this community. He stayed in here in Battle Creek until the end.

Richard Piet 0:25

Did he interact with you about being mayor? Or I mean, what was there any communication on that level?

The Kellogg Meeting That Changed Jobs

Mark Behnke 0:32

There was a lot of communication. Um one time he called me up, he goes, Mark, I may have gotten myself into trouble. I said, Joe, what did you do? He goes, Well, I called the governor's office, and the governor's office said that we can go ahead and sit down with Kellogg and negotiate anything we want. I said, Joe, I wouldn't go that far. Well, I'm not throwing in the towel. Joe probably didn't realize what he did, but at that period of time we met with them. We met with Steve Cayley and we met with Gary Pitchlich. And WK Kellogg's cereal company was planning an expansion in Battle Creek. They never shared it with us. But at the end of the year, this was in August when we sat down with them, they announced their closing Omaha plant and moving that production to Battle Creek. Well, the Kellogg Company knew that there was an existing enterprise zone available, and there were only 12 of those for the state of Michigan, and they got the last one. So that's 100% tax abatement for 12 years. And uh, I'm not sure if our meeting with them is what generated it, but we sat down and had a nice discussion. They clearly understood where Joe was talking about. And Joe says, We've got some property on Porters Week we want you to develop. And it was an hour-long meeting, it was a very good meeting, it was a hot day. I remember I've never taken the elevator up to the fifth floor at the Kellogg Company, but uh we did that day with Joe. And uh it was funny because in January I called him up. I said, Well, I think the results of your meeting are coming through now. He goes, What do you mean? I says, Well, they want an enterprise zone. We go, What's an enterprise zone? And it was funny because during the month of January, we were all in Lansing, the 13 Urban Corps mayors, and Mayor Duggan said, Mankey, how in the hell did you get that enterprise zone over in Battle Creek? You're only 53,000 people, I've got 700,000 people, I deserve that thing. He goes, I don't know how you got it. So the story is Joe Schwartz got it.

Richard Piet 2:26

And and that's testimony, right, to his approach. Look, here's a problem, he sees a solution, he's gonna tell you what he thinks.

Mark Behnke 2:34

Yeah, he goes, I may be in trouble, Mark, but we got to have this meeting. So it was an effective approach. Absolutely. I mean, would I have gotten in trouble with the city manager? I'm sure, but uh at that period of time we had uh Ted Deering in as the assistant city manager, so and you know, nothing was discussed that wasn't out around the reason.

The Committee Moment He Ended Fast

Richard Piet 2:56

He had a good relationship with most people, right?

Mark Behnke 2:59

Oh, yeah. I remember one time we uh were discussing for the third time publicly whether or not we would allow the people of Battle Creek to elect the mayor. We finally got Joe to change his mind, he was the chair of the committee, and um they were wrapping things up and preparing a final report to the uh city commission, and the things got a little out of control at the Blue Ribbon Committee meeting over at DPW, and one person accused another individual of cutting him off during the discussion about the election of the mayor by the people, and another got a little upset and he stood up and he says, I hereby resign my position on this blue ribbon committee. And Joe stopped the meeting, goes, if that's your resignation that you're submitting, I voluntarily accept it. Thank you very much for your service. Next item on our agenda.

Richard Piet 3:52

And that was a bluff he was calling the bluff.

Mark Behnke 3:55

No, no, he he was upset. He was upset that he was accused of being cutting someone off, uh, this young man. And um Joe listened to after, you know, there was a lot of yelling that's going on, but Joe understood this guy just resigned and he thanked him for his service.

Why Electing The Mayor Mattered

Richard Piet 4:12

So, why did Joe have to be convinced or or uh talked to about the idea of electing the mayor individually?

Mark Behnke 4:20

I'm not sure where that stood from. On the previous two meetings, he was on that uh blue red panel, but the two previous times he never gave in. He held out, and I'm not sure if that was the makeup of the committees or what. Now, this one clearly the makeup uh gave the insight that they wanted to uh allow the people to elect the mayor, and so he gave in. And so it was good to see.

Richard Piet 4:42

Yeah, and and just uh for those who may not realize, for a long time the commission, elected commission, decided who the mayor would be after the election, and now the mayor runs this is a a sort of a wave that's changed these things, right? Kalamazoo was the same way, uh, the top vote getter of the commission was the mayor. That changed, and now that was that one is elected separately. There seems to be a wave that changes that, and it was a good move, you would say.

Mark Behnke 5:10

Absolutely. It's energized the electorate to participate more in the election. Now we're gonna see this year if it'll it'll be the same. Now it's an off-year election, it's a governor's election, it's not the presidential election as it was last time.

His Ongoing Projects And Phone Calls

Richard Piet 5:26

Did Joe Schwarz make those governor's office calls? Oh, absolutely.

Mark Behnke 5:31

Uh recently, and if you didn't believe him, he'd tell you about it. Oh, yeah, recently. Absolutely. I'm trying to think of a most recent one that came up. Um, he sat on several committees still, he was always being appointed to one of the committees, and he kept a good relationship. He had quite a few of his ex-staff members that worked with him. He had an event two weeks before he passed away where he brought in all the people that worked for him and they went out and had dinner. So clearly, there was some signals being sent to him that you know I have a picture of that event where he's they had a picture taken and uh he is in the middle in his wheelchair.

Richard Piet 6:12

So was there something he was still striving to get done in Battle Creek?

Mark Behnke 6:20

I think he loved the community, he would do anything to help the community. I know that um one pet peeve that he gave me a hard time on was the hard hotel. He goes, Mark, we've given that organization 26 years to renovate that hotel. You got to kick their asses into combination. He goes, Enough's enough. And still, you know, believe it or not, two weeks ago they presented the plans to historic district commission to uh revitalize that building. So we're in the process now. And um, hopefully, uh, if everything goes according to plan, the $25 million has been raised uh to renovate the old heart hotel that was built by WK Kellogg in the early 20s. So tough one.

Richard Piet 7:06

Yeah. So did it also work the other way? Could you call him up and say, Joe, can you help me with this? Can you call the governor's office?

Mark Behnke 7:17

You know, not that specific, but I did try to keep in touch with him. The federal center uh was a big issue, so I did send him a text on that when we first really knew that they were looking at the airport to build the building. That that was a tough decision. And then uh, furthermore, we're we're concerned about some jobs at Kellogg's right today. He loved this community, he would do anything for this community, and he demonstrated that by his support of uh the Battle Creek Symphony, the Battle Creek Brass Band. He remained a board member of a lot of organizations in Battle Creek. I think the Kellogg Community College Foundation, he was still a board member. Um, he sat on a BCU board and you know he he he enjoyed a good discussion. He still participated in the um various federal government agencies that are here in town, all the military bases and stuff like that. They meet twice a year. I think the last time he attended was a year ago, and he loved to be updated on what's taking place, how we can help each other. He always said that with the VA hospital. He grew up there, he lived there for a number of years before his father finally bought a house in Battle Creek and lived here in Battle Creek. So Joe was always giving, Joe was always concerned. He always received telephone calls from his patients who wanted to see him one more time about something, and sometimes he had to make a recommendation he wouldn't be able to perform that surgery or something. But you know, he was very involved in Battle Creek. You'd see him. Uh, one thing that he really enjoyed more than anything else is when Antrak would call. And I'd always include Joe in the meeting with Amtrak because they would just talk about security or safety here in Battle Creek or how they're looking at upgrading the service and the and Joe knew all these things, and he was an expert when it came to rails and uh the trains that come

Lessons In Conviction And Civic Courage

Mark Behnke 9:06

through our town.

Richard Piet 9:06

So what would he want average folks in Battle Creek to take out of his book in terms of their community?

Mark Behnke 9:15

Well, I think um, besides his love, his ability to really understand the things that we needed. If you look at the 10,000 square foot runway, that was back in the early 80s. That uh they went to the people before the merger the vote took place. And uh it's a 10,000 four-foot runway. And the reason why they have that four-foot is because the FAA, it's more difficult for them to cut off the funding that comes annually to maintain that runway. Uh, Joe wanted to put Battle Creek on the map when it came to that uh runway. That was an election given to the people of Battle Creek by the city commission for the expansion, and it was successful. It kept um the two military bases here in Battle Creek. I believe Grand Rapids was trying to buy for that military base, so that kept it here in Battle Creek. So, you know, was he arrogant? I don't think so. Um, some people may have thought so, but he worked for the best interest of Battle Creek and he did that continuously on every project he was in. I'll never forget one, the youth building. The director of the Miller Foundation, Fred Woodgruff, um, was on the opposing side of Joe on that. Joe wanted to save that youth building with a lot of people in our community. They wanted to tear it down and build a tennis court where the youth building was. And I'll never forget, at the end of the meeting, he stood up. He went, Fred, I went to school with you at the University of Michigan. We're best of friends then. We're gonna be best of friends, but you're absolutely wrong on this issue. This youth building is central to Battle Creek. W.K. Kellogg, it was one of his first contributions to our community, and we're gonna save it right here now. And you know, he's very firm on that. So when he believed in something, you didn't take him on.

Richard Piet 11:03

Yeah, I was just gonna say, firm on that, firm on whatever his convictions were. So the underlying message there is when you believe in something, you stand up and say so.

Mark Behnke 11:18

And he was smart enough and articulate enough that he he could win a battle when it came to how they express themselves on their true beliefs. I mean, the merger was another one. Um, that was some that uh it divided our community. There are still people today that will not live in Battle Creek because they were on the losing end of the equation, and Joe was one of the biggest cheerleaders for that. Between Joe and Press Cool, they fought hard for the merger, which is hardly ever done. I mean, um, there's other people that they've looked like Saugatuck and Douglas. They've wanted to merge those two communities. They thought they had it done, but it didn't happen. Lansing and East Lansing, you know, Verge Bonero wanted to do that up in Lansing and East Lansing. But I applaud Joe and everyone that went through with the merger and worked with Dilamo at the Calhout Company at that period of time. There's one last story I got. I don't know if you can use it or not, but Joe was about a half hour late at a BCU board meeting in 2016, the day after the presidential election. And they said, Oh, Joe, don't worry about it. And he goes, No, no, just listen here. He goes, I got the corner at Dickman and uh Capitol Avenue, Southwest, and the river was right there. And after the election last night, I didn't know if I should jump into the river or come out here to the BCU board meeting. Here we are at the BCU board meeting.

Richard Piet 12:39

He made the right choice, I guess.

Mark Behnke 12:41

Yeah, yeah, you know who he voted for.

Richard Piet 12:43

Yeah. All

Final Story And Farewell

Richard Piet 12:45

right. Well, we appreciate the insights and your being a part of this special episode. Thank you.

Mark Behnke 12:51

Well, thank you, Richard, for what you do too.

Richard Piet 12:53

Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke on Community Matters.