by Liz Daube
Staff Writer
Bill Scheu’s reign as Lawyer of the Year may be ending, but his enthusiasm for helping the Jacksonville community will remain strong.
“Lawyers are particularly well-suited to help the community in a lot of ways,” said Scheu, who was honored by the Daily Record at last year’s Jacksonville Bar Association Law Day Luncheon. “Helping people is my favorite part of the job.”
He added that he plans to continue his work with Blueprint for Prosperity and the Jacksonville Public Library System. In particular, he said he wants to see the library’s expansion and improvements create “a better-educated and thoughtful community.”
Scheu’s been involved in a number of efforts over the years, but is best known for his work as interim Supervisor of Elections. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Scheu to the position in 2003 when then-elections supervisor John Stafford resigned for health reasons. In 2005 Jerry Holland was elected to the position.
As elections chief, Scheu said he tried to bring the community together on election issues such as early voting. He said the job took a lot of time, and he wasn’t able to do much work for his regular employer, Rogers Towers. Still, Scheu said he enjoyed the experience.
“I learned a lot about election law,” said Scheu. “I got a different perspective (by working with the government). It was really a spiritual journey. It was humbling to be in various places around the community and have people just walk up and say, ‘I’m praying for you.’”
His friendships and conflict resolution skills probably suited him to the position, Scheu said. He organized 4 p.m. daily meetings with Democrats and Republicans to talk over issues as they arose.
“At first, it (my job) was getting people to communicate with each other and settle things down,” said Scheu. “In a sense, there was peace, but there was anger.”
Now that he’s stepped out of the public eye, Scheu said his life has returned to normal. As an attorney with the biggest firm in town, he goes to a lot of meetings and works on a lot of documents.
“In a sense, I had control over my life then (as elections chief),” said Scheu. “As a lawyer, you’re much more frenetic. You’re always trying to respond to a client’s needs.”
In his personal life, Scheu’s experienced a few changes. He moved from a house to a condominium with his wife, and he said he’s loving the lack of yard work. They plan to build a home in the mountains, as well, and one of Scheu’s three daughters had a baby last week.
All in all, Scheu said he’s had a good year. He still remembers when Daily Record publisher Jim Bailey was introducing the 2005 Lawyer of the Year — and he suddenly realized who Bailey was talking about.
“He caught me by surprise,” said Scheu. “I had no clue. It’s just a great honor.”