Assistant County Surveyor Michael Kissinger was elected Wednesday to finish Surveyor Richard Kemper’s term. Kemper retired Friday after 26 years, saying last month he felt it was time to leave public service. Kissinger was chosen during a Republican caucus of about 44 voters in an election between him and the other declared candidate, County Council member Jim Moyer. Kissinger will finish the remainder of Kemper’s seventh term, which ends in December 2016, and said he plans to run for a full term after that. “I’ve been seeking the position from the time Richard announced his retirement so I’m very happy with the outcome,” Kissinger said this morning. “I’m looking forward to continuing the high standard Richard certainly established in the office.” He added that although Kemper asked him about running for the position while considering his retirement for the past year, he wouldn’t have considered running for surveyor before now. “There would be no reason for me to run against Richard while he was in office, I respected him too much for that,” he said. Kissinger, who holds a degree in forestry and a license in land surveying, has been assistant surveyor since 1983. He noted he worked as part-time summer help for a year and a half before that. Kemper worked in the office a total of 42 years, starting as a drainage inspector and then assistant surveyor. Kemper earned his retirement, Kissinger remarked. “The surveyor is just responsible for running the office. The staff has 100 years of experience between four people so the office certainly could have run by itself, but that’s not Richard. He’s a hands-on, full-time, jump in with both feet kind of guy... I’m thrilled for him. If a public servant deserves to retire, it’s him.”
