Michael Edward Kozikowski Sr. was born October 14, 1951 in Wilmington, Delaware. The second of three siblings, he graduated from Henry C. Conrad H.S. in 1969.
He served his apprenticeship as a Building Trades Ironworker of the International Brotherhood of Ironworkers Local 451 and served as a journeyman for 15 years. In 1986, Michael was employed as a Skilled Trades Millwright at General Motors Boxwood Road Plant. During his 21 year career at General Motors, Michael became very active in the UAW. Throughout his tenure he represented the union members in many aspects of the organization. He represented UAW Local 435 as Editor of the Local newsletter, Legislative/ Education Chairman, Election Chairman and as an Executive Board member of UAW Local 435. Michael also served as Vice President of the Delaware UAW Community Action Program (CAP) from 1993-1999. UAW-CAP is the legislative branch of the United Automobile Workers which represents the UAW Locals in the State of Delaware.
In 1996, Michael graduated with honors from Wilmington University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management. At the turn of the century, he married Cheryl Jenkins who is self-employed and owns a full service Hair Salon.
In 2002, Michael was elected to his first four year term as New Castle County Recorder of Deeds. In 2006, 2010 and 2014, the citizens of New Castle County re-elected him to his second,third and fourth term.
Michael and his wife Cheryl reside in Wilmington, Delaware. He is blessed with a son Michael Jr. a daughter Leda Elizabeth and two grandchildren Steven Diego and Madeline Rose.
His leadership has provided the constituency and the primary business organizations with many positive and productive outcomes. Michael’s primary objectives are to provide his customers and constituents with impeccable customer service, to always strive for continuous improvement, and most importantly, to maintain a solid record of fiscal responsibility and educational opportunities for the citizens and primary business organizations of New Castle County.
Fiscal Accomplishments
Here are some of the key accomplishments achieved by his administration since 2003:
- Cut budget spending from 2007 to 2016 – 10.95% resulting in a savings of $265,000 of taxpayer dollars
- Returned approximately $1.5 million in budget dollars to the New Castle County Government
- Championed legislation for Council to create an ROD Technology Fund which has generated over $ 1.5 million to date
- Generated $2,018,909 in revenue for the Recorder of Deeds website from industry subscribers and users from 2008 through 2017
- Provided additional funding from the ROD Technology Fund for upgrades for the Row Offices
- Provided critical funding to the Department of Public Safety for the new Smart 911, TAPS Systems and Fusion Center, NC4 Streetsmart, LEADS online: helps to reduce victimization and returns stolen property to the rightful owners, and supplemented the local DNA database
Other Achievements
- Implemented a Recorder of Deeds PowerPoint presentation to inform and educate the public regarding the role and responsibility of the office
- Designed and created the (ROD) Recorder Newsletter
- Created ROD brochure detailing the office operations and benefits
- Created four web videos featured on the website:
- 1st - About the ROD Office, responsibility, staffing, customer service
- 2nd - Digital Document Technology, information using the Imaging Retrieval System
- 3rd Transfer Tax Information
- 4th What are Deeds?
- Created educational protocol for Junior Achievement of Delaware for students experiencing the real world of work in JA World and Biz Town through the Recorder of Deeds Kiosk: primary task for the students is to record business leases
- Help champion 5 pieces of legislation to amend the Delaware Code:
- Mortgage Satisfactions: Lender now has the burden of proof of an outstanding mortgage instead of the property owner
- Military Service Records DD 214’s: The Veterans affairs Commission is now the repository for all Military Discharges in the State of Delaware protecting these sensitive records from public access
- Identity Theft Protection: Provided the property owner with an application process to remove (if necessary) sensitive identifiable information on land records
- Common Interest Communities: Waiver of recording fees of all governing documents for the 1,017 Maintenance Corporations, Civic and Condominium Associations
- Mandatory for lending institutions to record change of mailing address notice in the Recorder of Deeds office
- Periodical software and hardware upgrades for our internal and external customers
- Adopted the Delaware Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Standards (DURPERA) to record documents as the chairman of the Delaware Electronic Recording Commission
Today, Michael and his wife Cheryl still reside in Wilmington where he is able to fulfill his obligations and responsibilities outlined in the Delaware Code and also spend important quality time with his family.