Three voted to serve on St. Joseph County Redevelopment Authority after interviews

SOUTH BEND — Three people were appointed to the St. Joseph County Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday, several months after the county had seated the board without proper public access to the process.

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners voted to appoint Jackie Horvath Stout, Tina Wilson and Dan Caruso to the Redevelopment Authority.

The Redevelopment Authority was created to give the county flexibility in its bonding abilities in light of recent redevelopment projects such as the GM/Samsung SDI EV battery plant and others, according to Bill Schalliol, the county’s economic development director. The board is appointed and serves at the will of the commissioners, he said.

The three board members are:

■ Jackie Horvath Stout is a lifelong resident of the South Bend area and has been in business for more than 30 years. She said she has gotten into working at the political non-profit areas the past five years or so.

■ Tina Wilson, who has also lived in the South Bend area for nearly all of her life, ran unsuccessfully in 2023 as the Republican candidate for South Bend city clerk. She said she has worked with several community organizations and has done community work. She said she cares about the overall growth in the city.

■ Dan Caruso is a retired mail carrier after 32 years with the U.S. Postal Service who lives in New Carlisle. He told commissioners he has "immersed" himself with the issues with the push for industrial development in the western part of the county.

He said that although there was a feeling he was against policies that were related to the county's establishment of the Indiana Enterprise Center, which is where the EV battery plant will be located. Rather, he told commissioners he was against the way the issues were being decided without input from the community that will most be affected by the development.

The trio is expected to be sworn in during an upcoming meeting that had not been determined.

Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Three selected for St. Joseph County Redevelopment Authority