Schwab won't seek re-election for public administrator

Cape Girardeau County Public Administrator Phyllis Schwab, who for more than a decade has been the court-appointed guardian to those who have been deemed unable to care for themselves, said Thursday she will retire at year's end.

Schwab announced she will not seek re-election to the post that she first won in 2000, a decision that will create another open seat in county government in this fall's elections.

Longtime Assessor Jerry Reynolds said earlier this month he intends to retire as well.

As for Schwab, she said she felt it was simply time to let someone else serve as public administrator, a person -- as described in state statutes -- who is responsible for the care, treatment, habilitation, support and maintenance of an incapacitated person. The position pays her $72,000 a year.

Schwab serves as a guardian or conservator for about 148 county residents who suffer from physical or mental conditions severe enough that they lack the capacity to meet basic requirements such as food, clothing, shelter or safety.

That can come in the guise of paranoid schizophrenia, personality disorders, alcoholic dementia, Alzheimer's or mental retardation, she said, just to name a few.

Sometimes, she said, there's no one else who is able to take care of these people. Other times, there is no one who will.

"You have to have compassion," she said. "At the same time, as one judge told me, you can't do this with just your heart. You have to do this job with your head, too. You have to think clearly. You have to do what's best for that person."

Schwab makes medical and financial decisions for what are technically her wards -- a word she loathes -- but everything she does is at the direction of a Probate Court judge.

Many times, she said, families will ask that she take over as conservator or guardian for a loved one. She also gets referrals from social service agencies, which usually involve the elderly.

When a judge makes such an order, Schwab will write checks for her wards, pay their bills, ensure they're living in appropriate housing and give them a monthly allowance. Her permission is required for medical decisions, from flu shots to surgery.

"Sometimes you have to make tough decisions," she said. "You have to say no or place them in a nursing home when they don't want to go. But you have to take the information at hand and make the decision that you feel is best for them."

Gay Hartness, administrator at Heartland Care and Rehab Center, has worked with Schwab for years because several wards live in the Cape Girardeau nursing home.

"She has such a passion for helping people," Hartness said. "She takes the care of her wards very seriously. She's got a demeanor that's calm, but she will stand up for her folks and do what's best for them. I hate that she's not going to run again."

Schwab said she hates losing "my people," but she's looking forward to spending time with her husband, former state representative David Schwab, who retired some time ago.

Another thing she won't miss, she said, are the dozens of funerals she's attended.

"That's been the worst part for me, when one of my people dies," she said. "It may not be the most uplifting job, but there are joyful things, too. A Christmas card. An 'I love you.' That's got to be enough, sometimes."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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