BELLEFONTE — Centre County Commissioner Michael Pipe stands in his office surrounded by boxes. While he will soon be leaving the friendly confines of the Willowbank Building, the boxes, he explained, aren’t his belongings. In fact, they are property of the county.
There are binders filled with old newspaper clippings that document some of the history of the Centre County commissioners’ office.
Before his departure for Harrisburg, he said that he wanted to tackle a “historical project.”
“I want to understand some things that I really should impart to Mark [Higgins] or Amber [Concepcion] or Steve [Dershem],” Pipe said. “I don’t want the Board of Commissioners in the future looking back and saying, ‘what were they thinking back then?’ I want to clarify the loose ends that are there.”
There is a sense of urgency to the project as Pipe will soon be departing from his role with the Centre County Board of Commissioners. He has accepted the position of deputy chief of staff for public safety with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office in Harrisburg.
“I feel like I have a little bit of work to do to make sure that the baton gets passed solidly,” Pipe said.
Before he packed up his office, though, he sat down with the Centre County Gazette for a wide-ranging one-on-one interview to discuss his role in county government, what his departure means and where he’s headed.
LOOKING BACK
Pipe joined the BOC 11 years ago. He took the oath on Jan. 2, 2012.
“It was literally 11 years, just days ago. I go back and look at pictures from that day … not as many gray hairs,” Pipe said with a laugh. “I think the perspective I had of ‘how is this job going to be and how is it going to look?’ I was wrong on so many accounts.”
He knew the job would be difficult, with many obstacles and hurdles to overcome. At the same time, he felt fortunate to walk in the doors of the Willowbank Building every day.
“I was humbled, just walking in the door and working on all the projects. There’s stuff that comes at us that you just never anticipate. At the end of the day, you need to work together and solve problems. That’s the only way we’ve ever gotten things done,” Pipe said.
According to Pipe, he has a great relationship with both Higgins and Dershem, which has paid dividends for the county and its residents.
“We’re all a third of this thing. If we really want to elevate ourselves and want to push out the mission of better jobs, better services, whatever it may be, we all have to work together,” Pipe said. “So that might mean compromising on some things.”
The lines of communication have always been open. Even if they don’t see eye to eye all the time, they have been able to talk things through, he said.
“When we have issues that we have to solve, we recognize that there’s no use in pointing fingers,” Pipe said. “We have to say yes or no. I like the saying, ‘your ego is not your amigo.’ That encapsulates what we try to do here. As chair, I tried not to make it about myself or others. I try to only make it about the problem.”
THE RESUME
Pipe is a humble man. He doesn’t brag about any individual accomplishments. Everything, he said, is the direct result of teamwork with his fellow colleagues.
The accomplishments, he said, are theirs. He reflected on the past 11 years by term and talked about their successes.
“In the first term, it was the 911 radio upgrade. That was the big thing that I campaigned on in 2011. I said, ‘we need to do this, we need to get this done.’ And it was exciting to work with Steve and Chris Exarchos to form that team and get it across the finish line. That took a lot of time and it was a two-year project from bumper to bumper,” Pipe said.
Also, during his first term, Pipe said the county upgraded its website to have more transparency and made online voter registration possible.
During his second term, Higgins won the election and joined the BOC. It was during the second term that the BOC got numerous projects done, including the solar project, finishing out renovations at the Temple Court building, the courthouse annex, courthouse renovations, the ESCO project, the creation of the drug court and the behavioral health court.
During his third term, he said, the focus was on elections.
“When you talk about that third term, [it’s] the 2020 election and the work we did there. It’s the most turnout we’ve ever had for a presidential election, the most secure election and with all the volatility we saw, that’s something I will never forget,” Pipe said. “Making sure that we ran fair elections in 2020, 2021 and 2022 was really important.”
MAKING THE DECISION
When the opportunity to join Gov. Shapiro in Harrisburg presented itself, Pipe knew he had a decision to make. And it wasn’t one that he took lightly.
“From a personal standpoint, from a career standpoint, from a friendship standpoint, from a time commitment standpoint … I weighed all of those. It had to get the blessing of my family,” Pipe said. “My daughter is 4, so I don’t know that she was able to weigh in. But after talking with my wife, Ashley, my mom and dad and my family, it was just something that I felt like I could do.”
Once he spoke to his family, it was clear that it was something he wanted to do. Turning in his resignation from the BOC, he said, was “bittersweet.”
Still, he feels like the BOC will remain in excellent shape.
“Knowing that we’re going to be in great shape with Mark, Steve, John [Franek] and Amber [Concepcion] coming in,” Pipe said. “It’s a great team that we’ve created. But at the end of the day, there is peace in knowing the direction I’m going to take.”
For now, Pipe explained, he’s going to get an apartment in Harrisburg while his family stays in Centre County. He and his family will be logging many miles going back and forth between Boalsburg and Harrisburg until they figure out the logistics.
“The plan right now is to [work] four days, maybe come home for three days … maybe flex a Friday if that’s possible. Who knows? We will play it by ear,” Pipe said. “There might be a relocation of us going down there. We will see.”
A FOND FAREWELL
At a recent BOC meeting, Higgins said that Pipe is “leaving the county in better shape than he found it.” Pipe talked about the growth of the county during his time as a commissioner.
“I think we figured out how to do most things well,” Pipe said.
As for his 11 years, well, he’s pleased with the work he’s done.
“I do feel like I have done my time, done my service,” Pipe said, “and certainly moved the ball forward as much as I could in those 11 years.”
Near the entryway of the commissioners’ offices, there is a wall of photos. On it is every person who has served as a Centre County commissioner. Pipe’s photo will soon hang on that wall. It’s something that he’s thought of from time to time, he said.
“I’ve always thought that one day my photo would be there,” Pipe said. “Whether it was my choice, the voter’s choice, the almighty’s voice, whatever it may be, there’s peace in that.”
