Servant Leadership–A Leader Who Serves  

Servant Leadership–A Leader Who Serves 

By Kyra Howard 

December 5, 2022   

After four years of public service as Vanderburgh County Commissioner and President of the Board Of Commissioners, Jeff Hatfield, District 2 (D), will finish his term this month. 

In December 2017, Former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel asked Jeff to consider running for County Commissioner. Jeff said he would consider it, not knowing that conversation would lead to a quick political campaign, winning an election, and years of selfless, reliable service to Vanderburgh citizens. 

Jeff came into office with three goals: public safety, good roads, and being accessible to his constituents. 

Keeping his promise to the people Jeff worked with the commissioners and county council members to get 85 miles of roads paved and raised the salary for County Deputies by 41% from 2021 through 2026. 

 “Our law enforcement deserves professional pay,” said Jeff. “I didn’t do any of this on my own, every issue to solve or change in the County government must involve many people. It takes a lot of agreement and collaboration with people to make anything happen in County government.” 

He said his approach to being County Commissioner was to get as many people involved as possible, to listen to them, speak with them and make decisions together. 

He also promised citizens he would be accessible, something he is very proud of working on every day. 

“It starts with simply answering the phone,” said Jeff. “A county commissioner, to me, is most citizens’ first line of defense. Meaning any problems that they have, most often, they should be able to call a county commissioner to get help.” 

He does not want people to lose faith in their officeholders.  

“I met some very committed officeholders these last 4 years,” said Jeff.  

He emphasized that aspiring officeholders and current officeholders must always remember who they work for.  

“They need to listen more. Talk less. Decide what is in the best interest of the most people, not special interest groups,” said Jeff. 

He noted that the job of County Commissioner is time-consuming–if you do “the work”.

Jeff wants to continue serving the community but in a way that allows him to keep his own business commitments going. Jeff is the Owner of Core Contractors, Inc. a Commercial and Multi-Family Construction company in Evansville, Indiana. 

He had to make a tough choice when it came to re-election. 

“I decided early in my term to give this four good full years. I’m not going to care if anyone even knows who I am,” said Jeff. “I am just going to help solve problems, so I’m proud of that.” 

Leading, communicating, listening, and being present in the community came naturally for Jeff. He wants voters to always expect politicians to solve problems collaboratively, no matter their political affiliation.  He noted he may have future involvement in politics or even running for office again, but for now, he is focused on his family, and his customers and continuing to serve the community in other ways. 

“I can’t thank this community enough for giving me this opportunity to help out. I will always look back on this time as one of the highlights of my life,” said Jeff. “I can’t thank them enough, for trusting me enough, to give me that opportunity.”