Incumbent James Matuszak and challenger Connor Rose are facing off in the Republican primary race for the office of Wood County recorder. Democrat Jeremy Schroeder is running unopposed for the post in the Democratic primary.

Matuszak, a CPA and business owner, said that he and wife will be celebrating 40 years of marriage in May. The couple has four children and seven grandchildren.

Matuszak said that he’s running for a second term because of the large amount of progress that has been made in the recorder’s office since he’s been there.

“We’ve taken the office from the 1990s to 2024,” he said, further saying that the culture of the office has changed tremendously, and the employees are comfortable and happy. The employees, Matuszak said, are growing in their positions and have been cross-trained to do multiple jobs, and been offered promotions to step up to the next level.

This was not done as a favor to them, he said, but because it was the right thing to do, and he said it is working. Matuszak said that the employees are now able to do their jobs remotely in case there is another COVID event – the office won’t miss a beat, he said.

“I’m a businessman and I advise business owners on how to run their businesses,” Matusak said. “Since I’ve taken over the office of recorder, I’ve completely revamped it. It now turns documents around on average in 24 to 48 hours.”

Matuszak said that when he took over the recorder’s office, the software that it used was in need of repair. He called in a consultant, and between himself, the county’s IT department and the commissioners, the new software which was eventually implemented was reviewed and approved, and paid for with the consent of the administration.

“I’m a realtor and I’m an auctioneer, and I’m with my family’s real estate brokerage,” said challenger Connor Rose, who works at Don Rose Auction and Realty in Bowling Green.

He said that he decided to run for the office of recorder based on issues that he said colleagues have noticed in the office.

First, Rose said that Matuszak is collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck while being absent from the office and running a full-time business elsewhere, and that he hired his previous campaign manager to act as recorder while he’s absent.

“I would like to thank my opponent for recognizing the fact that I own a business and I run it full-time and that I’m not a full-time politician,” Matuszak said in response. He said that under his leadership, the office now runs so efficiently that he can “run the office from a remote location. My remote location is in Perrysburg, Ohio. It is in Wood County. I’m in contact with the office daily, both via email and personally. My chief deputy recorder meets with me every single day face-to-face and we go over the daily operations of the office as needed every day.

Rose further said that there had been what he termed a “massive” turnover of tenured employees under Matuszak’s leadership, saying four employees have left since he was elected.

“We’ve had several employees leave the office since I was elected recorder,” Matuszak said in response. “No one has left the recorder’s office against their will other than my predecessor. The four that have left my office since I was elected recorder have abandoned the office because they didn’t like my leadership style or, most likely, the changes I was making to the technology the office uses on a daily basis.”

Rose also said that the new software system in the office is problematic, saying that when “title companies are doing title searches, they are not efficient, they are not timely, and they are not conclusive.”

“If title work is being processed with 24 to 48 hours, when it used to take seven to 14 days,” Matuszak said in response, “it would seem to me that suggests it is being processed much more efficiently.”

Matuszak did say that “we got a real rocky start with the acceptance of the new software by the local searches because they didn’t want to make the change. So the rocky start wasn’t because we didn’t know what we were doing, it’s because it wasn’t readily accepted.”

Rose noted that he is a real estate professional, with dual licenses as a realtor and auctioneer. Saying the majority of the recorder’s job deals with real estate records, Rose said Wood County residents “really should have a real estate professiona l… to protect their real estate records.” He further said he is a State of Ohio Realtor Director.

“As the county recorder, I’m going to be present and accessible,” Rose said, “because that truly is a full-time position.”

Running unapposed for recorder in the Democratic primary, Jeremy Schroeder said he’s lived in Weston most of his life and is currently in his third term – and ninth year – as mayor of the village. He also served on village council previous to that, and is a manager for a large-format renting facility called Off Contact.

“I think it’s a position that I could fulfill,” Schroeder said of why he is running. He noted his 10 years of municipal experience in Weston and eight years of leading a team as mayor. Further, he said he has “a super deep respect for the position in general and a recognition that it’s super important to keep accurate records.” Noting his interest in Wood County history and the availability of historical records, he said he wants the county to “have someone that can be in that position and put their full time into it. That’s definitely something that I would be doing. I would be making that my full-time job.”