Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor has a stake in helping to build the city into a place where young people actively choose to live, and where they can thrive and plant roots. Ever since he took office more than 11 years ago, he has put his servant-leadership philosophy into action and made this a major focus.
“I saw a lot of young people leaving the community as they graduated high school and college,” Snedecor said. “I had kids in school myself, and didn’t want them leaving, either. I wanted this to be an attractive place to come back and raise a family.”
After serving as the city’s police chief for 4 ½ years, he decided to run for mayor to help bring a better sense of community to the city.
His mission to transform the community began with a clean slate, as major flooding in the fall of 2008 destroyed the city’s community center. Rather than see this as a blow to community esteem, Snedecor saw it as an opportunity to start something new.
“We really took an aggressive stance on this,” he said. “We built a brand new community center, springboarded activities relative to our lakefront, and put a lot of work into Festival Park, which we are continually working to maintain and improve.”
The lakefront - with more than $1 million invested so far - has been a huge part of Snedecor’s vision. The area does one thing exceptionally well: it brings people together for major community events and gatherings, and now has a capacity for almost 10,000 people.
“Last year we hosted the opening ceremonies for the softball world series at the lakefront, which was a rousing success,” Snedecor said. “We’ve taken that area to a whole new level, which is great for both the community and for tourism, so we’re really excited.”
Snedecor has introduced other opportunities for community gatherings and activities that draw families together for a more closely-knit community atmosphere.
“Families will say, ‘This is why we moved to Hobart,’” Snedecor said. “They like to be able to come down and go to the market or watch a movie, to just enjoy the community, feel safe.”
His father, he said, played a major role as a mentor in his life.
“He taught me the value of treating people fairly and treating people how I want to be treated,” Snedecor said. “He made the greatest impression on me as far as how I conduct myself in the office of mayor.”
Although he embraces all aspects of his job wholeheartedly, Snedecor says the best part of serving as mayor is participating in events such as groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings, and any events that highlight the city’s progress.
“It’s great to take part in that and see how far we’ve come,” Snedecor said.
When he’s not serving the community, Snedecor says he likes to get away by going fishing in Florida, or spending time with his three children Ryan, Brianna, and Brooke, as well as his two grandchildren Owen and Jaycie.
Snedecor says that above all, he defines his job in terms of servant leadership, and strives to make life for the people of Hobart the best that it can be.
“I’ve been given an opportunity to make positive change because of the people who elected me to this position,” Snedecor said. “I have been elected to be a servant, and keeping that perspective helps me to be in the right mindset when I walk in the office every day.”
Snedecor says that every year the city incorporates a slogan into their leadership. That mindset of being an agent for change is captured wonderfully in this year’s slogan, “Be the bridge.”
“What we’re saying is don’t be obstinate or indifferent,” he said. “Be the bridge that completes things. Problems become opportunities when the right people come together, and that speaks well to the leadership here.”
The City of Hobart is on the rise, and will continue to blossom under such strong, community-centered vision.