(Community Matters 195) Remembering Dr. Joe Schwarz: Businessman Vince Pavone

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. 

Vince Pavone from Lakeview Ford reflects on the life of Dr. Joe Schwarz and the kind of civic leadership that feels rare right now: sharp, principled, and community-first. Pavone shares personal stories that show how Joe could disagree without being divisive and still push Battle Creek toward better outcomes. 

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

Why Joe Schwartz Still Matters

Richard Piet 0:02

Good morning. Welcome to a special edition of Community Matters. Happy to have you with us today. Today we will talk about the life and legacy of former Battle Creek Mayor, Dr. Joe Schwarz. Actually, this idea came by way of Vince Pavone at Lakeview Ford, one of many business people in Battle Creek with whom Dr. Joe Schwarz had frequent

Vince Pavone Remembers Meeting Joe

Richard Piet 0:29

interaction. And Vince joins us now to talk about that. Good morning. Good morning, Richard. How are you? Great. Thanks for this. You served as essentially executive producer here. So that was great. Thank you for the help.

Vince Pavone 0:41

Yeah, no worries. You know, I when I reflected upon this about Joe's life, I remember coming to Battle Creek in 2010 and I met Mark Behnke, Mayor Behnke, really early on. And Mark said, listen, you got to meet Joe. And I didn't know who Joe was. And we sat down and had, I believe we had lunch to start. And we've had Christmas lunches every year for many, many years. And I just found Joe fascinating, his intellect, his vocabulary, which was always inspiring. But Joe and I weren't always on the same page, which is what made it fun. I'd often text Mark saying something along the lines of, Can you believe what Joe said today? And then Mark would send me a text back that said, That's why

Disagreement Without Divisiveness

Vince Pavone 1:29

we love him.

Richard Piet 1:29

Yeah. What is it about that? I mean, we so we're so focused on divisiveness now, but this was part of what appealed to you about him was maybe the opinions were different.

Vince Pavone 1:41

Joe took his positions from a point of logic and a point of constitutional understanding and community awareness and involvement. He was nonpartisan from that fact. He was very pragmatic, you know, and it reminded me that for Battle Creek as one of the iconic leaders, we'll look back on Joe in the last hundred years of Battle Creek, one of the most instrumental leaders of Battle Creek, and uh for the state of Michigan. And I just want to remind people in Battle Creek that there's a time and there's a future where not only does Battle Creek sit at the table, but can lead the table, and much like what Rick Snyder did when he was a governor, also a Battle Creek native.

A Practical North Star For Service

Richard Piet 2:26

How can people do that? Do you think that someone's listening to this who's maybe inspired by this notion that we have an opportunity to continue in uh Dr. Joe's stead here? How do you think we do it?

Vince Pavone 2:39

I just think that you have to commit your life to service and do it for the right reasons and do it passionately. There aren't winners and losers, they're just winners. And you just have to have that North Star of being what's best for the community. And sometimes your vision of that is not going to win the day. But as long as we continue to advance the ball, advance an agenda together without creating animosity and acrimony, that we're all going to be better off. That's my vision.

Richard Piet 3:12

Did you have interaction with Dr. Joe Schwarz over the years? And it was somehow particularly poignant

The Gerrymandering Test Of Principle

Richard Piet 3:20

for you?

Vince Pavone 3:20

We had a conversation about gerrymandering, and the Republicans were in control of the Michigan legislature, and Joe was on a blue ribbon panel, and Joe served on it and was advocating for curbs to gerrymandering that would minimize the Republicans' hold on the redistricting, which happens as we know every 10 years. I really put him to the test and I said, Joe, you know, do you think the Democrats would ever do this and give up seed some of their power? And he looked at me and he said, I don't care, Vince, it's the right thing to do. Wow. And I learned a lot from that.

Richard Piet 4:03

Wow.

Vince Pavone 4:04

Yeah.

Richard Piet 4:04

And describes this viewpoint you talked about, pragmatism, nonpartisan. There it is.

Vince Pavone 4:10

Yeah, it was an eye-opener. And we crossed paths on a couple other

Showing Up For Battle Creek

Vince Pavone 4:14

things, and we just have great conversations. I went to Michigan. The Joe was a passionate Wolverine. So we've shared that. And uh anytime there was an issue, whether it was the VA hospital or something to do with the uh for Custer Airport, or if there was a fundraiser for a candidate, whether it was Jim Haadsma or Steve Frisbie, Joe was always there with lending an encouraging word or writing a check or whatever he could to help them advance whatever their vision was for the community.

Richard Piet 4:47

All right. Well, that sets the tone for what you're gonna hear over the next hour here on Community Matters. We're gonna hear from uh several different folks, and some of the things Vince just alluded to will not be the first time you hear references to that as it relates to Dr. Joe Schwarz, and so that is coming up.