John Schumacher is on track to become the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild’s next treasurer.

The Guild’s Executive Board has picked Schumacher, a Journal Sentinel copy editor, to succeed Bob Helbig in the treasurer’s post, effective Feb. 1. Helbig, a former deputy business editor, took a buyout last fall but remained a Guild member and agreed to continue in office during the transition to a new treasurer.

Schumacher was elected as an at-large board member in September and later was appointed as health and safety coordinator. He previously served as a steward.

His appointment as treasurer will last until the next membership meeting. At that time, Guild members will vote on filling the treasurer’s post through the Sept. 30 end of Helbig’s term. If Schumacher is elected, the membership also will vote on filling his board seat for the remainder of the term. That meeting has not been set but likely will be in the first quarter of 2012.

Helbig is a former local president who has been our longest-serving treasurer, racking up nearly eight years in three non-consecutive stints. His most recent tour of duty started in May, when he traded his at-large board seat with then-Treasurer Amy Hetzner, a former metro reporter who later took a buyout.