Steve Hobbs was Audrain County commissioner for over 10 years, so he will be taking some of the lessons he learned into his new role as executive director for the Missouri Association of Counties.

Hobbs first came into a seat as an Audrain County commissioner on January 3, 2011. He said one of the biggest adjustments after his years working in the state legislature was that at the county level all the various elected officials were much more on an equal footing, so the role is, by nature, much more about collaboration and consensus building. Richard “Dick” Webber, who was in the process of retiring when Hobbs joined the commission, was a great mentor to him and told him early on, “If you’re willing to invest the work, this will be the best job you ever have in your life.” 

That turned out to be true and echoed in Hobbs’ head over the years helping him see the patient process of consensus building from a different perspective.

He would remind a younger version of himself not to worry so much over things he couldn’t control. In fact, he would repeat a saying he got from his dad, “I’ve had a lot of troubles in my life; most of them didn’t even happen.” 

As for advice he would pass on to those coming after him, Hobbs shared: “Get to know your colleagues and community members. It changes how you see and treat people when you know their grandkids.” This is something he expressed along the way to Alan Winders and Tracy Graham, who remain on the three-member county commission.

Aside from his father and his mentors, Hobbs said some of the most important things he learned came from the people of Audrain County themselves. They judged him, and others, on whether they got things done, not based on “politics.” 

As far as what he felt like the biggest accomplishments were during his time with the county commission, Hobbs said he felt really good about the small structures program they set up over the next 10 years with projects like replacing bridges and such. He said even above that, though, he felt the proudest of the way the different municipalities and the county all came together to put together and pass the local option use tax to make sure brick and mortar businesses were on a level playing field. Hobbs couldn’t help but be moved by the fact that they had pulled this off during the pandemic, when so many normal options were not available, like presenting to gathered service clubs and community organization meetings.

Both Graham and Winders spoke glowingly of Hobbs’ influence on them when they came to the commission.  

Winders came into the position with decades of experience in local government, and still found that, “Steve was a great resource in terms of county-level perspective and background on various issues in Audrain County. I definitely enjoyed working with Steve and wish him the very best with the Missouri Association of Counties.” 

Graham added, “Steve and I have been friends since our kids were in preschool together and they are now in their mid-20s so feel fortunate to have him as a friend. As for when we started working together it was very comfortable as we had already developed respect for each other. What I can say is that no matter what the topic Steve and I would discuss, and whatever the outcome or decision, it never affected our friendship.”

Hobbs has settled into his new position and is currently deep into the planning for the Missouri Association of Counties’ 50th anniversary conference that will bring 700-800 people together over the course of three and a half days. He explained that one of the great opportunities working on a larger scale now is being able to share the lessons from his time with Audrain — especially helping other governments see that cities and counties can work together collaboratively instead of being bogged down by competition and conflict. 

All needs to do is look at his desk as a reminder of what he accomplished as a commissioner.

“You should know that I have mementos on my desk and pictures on my office wall from my time as county commissioner, and you can rest assured that I will never forget where I came from,” he said.