By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Patrick Hoffman had no experience as a local government attorney when he was appointed as Barton County counselor seven years ago. Now, that's all he does. Tuesday morning, the Barton County Commission extended Hoffman's contract for a seventh year.
"I never planned to be a local government attorney," Hoffman said. "I never planned to focus my career on that. I'm absolutely thrilled that I kind of fell into it 100 percent of the time now because you just really see the impact. I can look back at things we've done over the last six years that I really do believe have helped peoples' lives in some way in Barton County. Local government does matter and it is worth the time we spend on it."
Hoffman was legal partners with Carey Hipp in Ellsworth before Hipp was elected as a district judge in the 20th Judicial District. Hipp was county counselor at the time and showed Hoffman the ropes. Several commissioners, including Chairwoman Barb Esfeld, expressed their gratitude of and satisfaction for Hoffman's work.
"I've enjoyed having your knowledge," Esfeld said. "If you didn't know it, you found out. You've been there for us every step of the way, and more than just county counselor."
Hoffman also serves as county counselor in Reno County, and is the city counselor for Ellsworth and Lyons.
"I hope I can do this the rest of my career," he said. "That's my goal. It's really great you have enough separation of distance that you're not running into the same things. You don't have conflicts, but at the same time, as the state or feds roll out things, you see a lot of patterns develop. Each place has its own culture and specific issues, but you do see a variation of the theme go through everywhere. What's affecting Barton also affects Reno in different ways."