Star-Journbal Editor
After attending 26 seminars in the past six years on the various aspects of municipal government, Hillsboro City Council Member Matt Hiebert took in two more Saturday.
This time Hiebert went to Abilene to learn more about the state open meetings and open records laws.
It was another chance for the plumbing and heating contractor and three-term council member to study the official blueprint for how such matters are to be handled, legally, by elected officials at city hall.
Hiebert, 45, has represented ward two/east for six years, and will seek a fourth term in the April 3 elections.
While serving on the council, Hiebert has become a student of municipal government through a program for elected and appointed officials called Municipal Leadership Academy, sponsored by the Kansas League of Municipalities.
The program consists of monthly seminars on topics such as personnel management, planning and zoning, and ethics. Hiebert is about halfway through the second level of the three-tiered curriculum, he said, adding that he's the only Hillsboro council member to have taken full advantage of the voluntary program.
"You pick up a little something every time you go," Hiebert said. "They always try to cram a lot into a little time, and there's so much to go over that they don't get it all covered."
Hiebert says the monthly seminars have helped him become a better council member, but he says he's still learning, even after three terms.
"You can be a quick learner, but it's not a quick learning process, honestly," he said. "The longer you're there the more you learn."
For example, on Saturday, Hiebert
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learned about "speedboat issues" from the league's attorney, who presented the seminar.
The attorney gave a warning to elected officials who would violate the executive session provision of the open meetings law by revealing on the street what was said about a city employee behind closed doors.
"They call it a speedboat issue," Hiebert said, "because by going out and blabbing, you just bought that employee a new speed boat from the judgment they'll be awarded in court, from the city as well as the elected official themselves."
Hiebert navigated a potential "speedboat issue" safely in January, after the council dismissed city administrator Steve Garrett. While Hiebert joined in the unanimous vote, he refused to say anything negative about him afterward.
Knowing what can and can't be said by an elected official is but one aspect of one law in a municipal system governed by a zillion other laws, regulations, and procedures.
And yet, listening to Hiebert talk about all the goings-on at council meetings, you'd get the impression that he actually likes it.
And he does.
"There are ups and downs, and good and bad, but the good so much outweighs the bad, you can't even call it that," he said. "I hope the people feel like I've been good at it and represented them well."
A Hillsboro native, Hiebert is a 1980 graduate of Hillsboro High School. He attended Kansas State University for a few years before returning home to work for the family plumbing business.
He's the grandson of the late Ed F. Jost, who founded Jost Plumbing and Heating, Inc., in 1946. Hiebert says he started fetching wrenches for his grandfather when he was nine.
Now a master plumber in the city, since 2002 Hiebert has been sole proprietor of the business, still in its original location at 128 N. Main.
Being his own boss helps Hiebert find the extra time it takes to serve on the city council, he said.
"If you're going to do a good job at this, it's more than going to meetings twice a month," Hiebert said. "I don't even keep track on how much time I spend on city business. I shift my schedule around so I can make it."
Being a council member gives him an opportunity to give back to the community, he said.
"Hillsboro has been good to me," he said. "They've supported our family business all of these years. I personally have customers who were my grandfather's way back."
Asked about ongoing issues in the city that he is eager to continue working on, Hiebert said first on his to-do list is the wastewater treatment lagoon system, followed closely by the street improvements on north Ash Street.
Hiebert also is Hillsboro's representative on the Marion County Water Quality Board, which is addressing the blue-green algae problems at Marion Reservoir.
"That's something I'd very much like to continue to be part of and see that through," Hiebert said. "I've been involved with it ever since the issue of the blue-green algae came to light. It's something that concerns me."
Providing more space for the cramped Hillsboro Fire Department is another priority, he added.
"We have a very good fire department; they do a good job and our chief does a good job," he said. "But they definitely need some more space and that's something that I would like to be able to find some funding to get that issue resolved.
In addition to his knowledge of the blueprint of government, Hiebert says his ability to read real blueprints for various water and sewer projects has helped the city.
"I can't say 100 percent for sure that I've saved the city any money," he said. "But I'd definitely like to think my input along the way has been a benefit to us.'
Hiebert has been married four years to his wife, Francine, who is a certified dental assistant in Hillsboro. The couple is expecting their first child in April.
