Winding down

Bill Warren is fundamental to the running of Geneva.
Whether hunched over his paperwork at Geneva Town Council meetings to make notes for future reference or leaning back in his chair as if it helps him to process information better, he keeps discussions flowing and knows the answer to most questions.
But his presence will soon be missed as he takes his leave as the town’s clerk-treasurer at the first of the year.
“I can’t say enough good about him,” said council member Dick Clutter. “He’s going to be missed by all of us.”
Clutter describes him as someone who diligently watches his Ps and Qs, but Warren simply sees his six years in the position as completing his civic duty.
“My entire life, I’ve always been employed and had good jobs,” said Warren, who previously worked in industrial management positions at CTS in Berne and Red Gold in Geneva. “I always felt that somebody should always give back something to the community. My plan, and I told my wife this early on in our marriage, some day I’d like to work for the town.”
In his term and a half, he’s been involved in decisions to rebuild Geneva’s maintenance facility; apply and receive grants for the fire department and police department to purchase equipment and vehicles; complete a sewer rehabilitation project; implement a new iron filter system; and replace water mains.
But the item he’s most proud of accomplishing is the formation of a tax increment financing (TIF) district for the town.
“I think in the long run that will be good for the Town of Geneva to help develop it economically whether that be business, whether that be tourism, just making the downtown nicer so people come downtown, whatever it might be,” he said.
He sees the TIF district, and the expansion of industry and business, as a way to allow Geneva to provide something not a lot of smaller communities have — a functioning downtown.
That sense of small town living is something he wants to see continue and expand, as that’s what initially convinced him to stay in the area after moving from where he grew up in Ligonier.
“It may not have all of the amenities of a big city, but it also doesn’t have all the problems of a big city,” said Warren. “Life may be just a little bit slower here, doesn’t have all the wonderful cultural things, but I’m willing to give some of that up for being able to drive down the street and know who the people are.”
He understands he may not have pleased every resident with some of the decisions he’s made over his time in office, but that was never his goal. Rather than wanting to be remembered for being well liked or doing extraordinary things, his goal was to continue on a set path to see the town thrive and he knows he’s done his best in that effort.
“I have no hopes of going down in the history book,” said Warren. “That doesn’t interest me at all. If you looked at my personality profile, I don’t need somebody to tell me I did a good job. I know whether I did a good job, and I think I did so I’m satisfied.”
While he’s leaving his post as clerk-treasurer to slow down away from a full-time job, Warren will still be a face around town. His children now call Geneva home — with his daughter living three houses down from him and his son just four blocks away — so he has no plans to stray very far. And as a member of the Geneva Redevelopment Commission, he’ll still have a hand in the town’s affairs.
But what he hopes for future administrators and officials of the town is to always keep Geneva and its residents in mind before political gain or personal objectives, with a reminder that goals aren’t met instantaneously.
“I hope they continue down the path of making things better for the town of Geneva,” said Warren. “It doesn’t happen overnight. If you live here and watch it, it seems like nothing ever happens. You actually have to step back and take a look at where you were and where you’re going and what’s been accomplished.
“Things happen, and it all just kind of blends together, you know what I mean?”