Elizabeth Zeszotek
For Elizabeth Zeszotek, Brunswick isn’t just where she works as the director of Tri-C’s Brunswick University Center — it’s her hometown, her community and the place where she’s raising her family. In other words, she’s invested in its future and has built a career around helping the community thrive.
Zeszotek has worked with Tri-C for more than a decade, helping guide students to educational experiences that can enhance their career prospects and enrich their lives. She became the director of the Brunswick University Center in 2023 and now oversees a center that serves more than 1,300 students a year with a diverse curriculum that offers everything from general education courses to manufacturing technology classes to senior programming. “We provide high-quality, accessible and affordable education,” she says. “You can take a class to learn a new skill, you can take a certificate course to enhance your career, or you can take something for personal interest.”
Working closely with the center’s deans, Zeszotek helps shape course offerings and connects with local business, community and educational leaders to learn how best to serve the needs of the northern Medina County community. “We have a higher population of high school students,” she says, noting that these students enroll in the College Credit Plus courses to get a jump-start on college. “But we see the whole gamut.”
Zeszotek is a graduate of Brunswick High School and lives in the city with her husband, two children and two dogs. “We have this beautiful community that’s growing, but people still seem to care about each other,” she says. “And you know, we all want to see the community succeed.”
Paul Magovac
Roads connect us and are essential to our everyday lives. But despite their critical role, most people don’t put much thought into how streets are planned, built or maintained. Unless they’re Paul Magovac.
As Brunswick’s new Service Director, he spends his days thinking about the city’s roads, bridges and paths. He and his team keep the community moving (literally) over the 250 miles of roads that connect Brunswick residents to each other and the outside world, a task — considering the unpredictable and often harsh Northeast Ohio weather — that’s no small job.
Magovac is responsible for managing the teams who build and maintain this critical infrastructure, including engineers, construction workers and snow plow operators.
He comes into the role with a wealth of experience, including 23 years as a foreman in Hinckley Township followed by eight years in the same role in Brunswick Hills. Magovac can be found fishing or playing baseball in his spare time — and he loves to help people.
“It’s been fantastic here,” he says of Brunswick. [The community] supported us in the road levy and passed it. When they call and they have an issue, they don’t complain. They’re very appreciative.”
His immediate goals? Increasing the PCI (Pavement Condition Index) of Brunswick roads. “I really want to concentrate on paving to get the roads better than where we’re at now,” he says.
Robert Safran
“I’m someone who always felt like I performed better in a larger organization where you have a goal and a mission statement,” says Robert Safran, Brunswick’s new Chief of Police.
That feeling has led him to a life of service. After serving with the U.S. Army in the Persian Gulf War, he graduated from Cleveland State University before enrolling in the Cleveland Heights Police Academy. Safran started on the Brunswick force in 1998 and became Chief in 2024.
Safran oversees a force of more than 40 officers, 11 communication specialists, and administrators who work together to keep Brunswick safe. What’s the key to their success? “If you want to keep a safe community, there’s a shared responsibility between the residents and the division of police,” he says.
When he’s not busy keeping Brunswick safe, he’s most likely fishing with his son, an Army National Guardsman who recently returned from Syria. Safran is also a member of the Brunswick Rotary Club with his wife, Tiffany, who enjoys doing service projects in the Brunswick community. Service runs in the family.
