St Joseph County President calls for a state investigation into PERF benefits

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind.-- A St. Joseph County Councilmember is calling for a state investigation.

Republican, Dan Schaetzle, wants to know why past County Council attorneys received Public Retirement Benefits known as PERF.

Schaetzle, and the Council Majority Coalition, are formally requesting a state investigation into fellow republican, and former councilmember, Jamie O'Brien, because he did not work a minimum of 1,000 hours per year as the part-time council attorney in 2023 and 2024.

The Council Minority calling the investigation a blatant political maneuver to make it look like O'Brien did something wrong when the past three council lawyers have all gotten those same retirement benefits.

A statement from the St Joseph County Council Members:

"At noon today, County Councilman Dan Schaetzle (Granger) plans to hold a press conference under the guise of county business in order to target his political opponent in the 2026 election. We strongly condemn Mr. Schaetzle's desperate attempt to remain in office at any cost, even at the expense of county taxpayers who are funding the resources he is exploiting.

Our systems of government are put into place to serve the people, but Mr. Schaetzle is abusing those systems to selfishly serve himself. His decision to manufacture a government investigation aimed at the man who is expected to unseat him in next year's elections is an obvious case of political retaliation. Ironically Mr. Schaetzle claims he's acting with transparency, and as a "steward" of the public's money, while at the same time misusing county resources and pulling the wool over the public's eyes.

Mr. Schaetzle kept his decision to initiate an investigation secret from the four of us, who only learned of his actions after he sent out a press release hoping to score political headlines.

St. Joseph County citizens deserve to know Mr. Schaetzle's real motives. Mr. Schaetzle, who was censured by the state GOP earlier this year, knows his chances of re-election are slim. The press conference Mr. Schaetzle is holding today is blatant lawfare and demonstrates the extreme lengths he will go to regain a political advantage -- even if it means abusing his elected position to make it happen."

O'Brien, who is widely expected to run against Schaetzle in a GOP primary next year, blasted the announcement today telling ABC57, "This is a political stunt cooked up by Dan Schaetzle to try and save his sinking re-election campaign. Due to Schaetzle's controversial status in the Republican party, he expects to lose against me when I run against him next year. I have a reputation of honesty, both in my prior work on the council and in the community. Schaetzle using his elected position to smear me personally, politically, and professionally with some kind of trumped-up investigation should be a red flag to voters. Schaetzle knows I did nothing wrong."