Executive Summary: Judge Hotz seeks ‘facts and data’ to make the right decisions

Editor’s note: The Fort Smith Metro Daily News Executive Summary series is focused on looking under the title, so to speak, of a business, government, and non-profit executive in the Fort Smith metro.

Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz will begin his second term on Jan. 1, 2027. He also also served as the Sebastian County Treasurer/Collector, when he was appointed to fill that position when it became vacant in 2020.

He grew up in Fort Smith, graduated from Northside High School and received a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas. His goal was to be involved the manufacturing community. After several jobs outside of Fort Smith, including being the human resources manager for a large auto parts manufacturing company, Hotz returned to the city as a division human resources manager at Bekaert Steel in Van Buren. He spent 18 years with Bekaert in various management roles.

After Bekaert, he purchased two AAMCO Transmission centers, one in Fort Smith and one in Springdale. In 2011 Hotz learned that the Sebastian County Judge was trying to find a human resources manager. He applied for the job and was hired. He would then be appointed to the vacant position of treasurer/collector, before successfully running for the county judge post in 2022.

• What was your first job and what did it teach you?
My first job was with a trucking company, Gordon’s Transports, in Oklahoma City. In that role I was responsible for supervising the dock and local drivers for LTL shipments. One thing I learned from this job is that although a job is work, we need to do what we can to make our jobs as enjoyable as possible, while still getting the job done. I worked with guys who were doing hard physical labor loading trucks, yet they were always joking around and enjoying each other’s company while they got the job done. It really was a pleasant place to work.

• What is a principle or value on which you never compromise?
A principle I will not compromise on is living within my budget. I believe a person should adjust their spending to make sure they not only get by, but hopefully put a little aside for a rainy day. This might require taking on extra work to make your financial situation work out. Regardless of my income, and sometimes it was slim, I never put myself in debt that I couldn’t handle. I truly believe this takes a lot of pressure off yourself and your family. One principle I will never compromise on is my wedding vows. For better or worse, I made a promise to my wife and God, and I will not compromise. Fortunately, I married a wonderful person, Susan, who has made marriage easy and my life wonderful. Susan has been a wonderful mother to our four children, and a wonderful grandmother to our grandchildren.

• What’s one belief you held strongly 10+ years ago that you’ve changed your mind about?
As I have already mentioned, I never thought I would work in government, much less run for public office. Another belief I held many years ago that I no longer adhere to is that people in our jails are getting what they deserve. While I still believe that is true in many cases, I now realize we have many people in jail who need help, and in many cases, that means mental help. When I see homeless people I now understand that while some may choose that lifestyle, I feel many are incapable of taking care of themselves without intervention. That may mean counseling, getting them back on their medications, or simply helping them get back on their feet. But I believe we are filling our jails with too many of these individuals who need help, not jail. We need to focus on turning these individuals into active and productive citizens. I’m seeing great results with lives being turned around for the good of society with our drug courts, veterans’ courts and mental health treatment courts. And in many cases, it’s not just someone’s life who gets turned around, but an entire family who is getting a second chance.

• If you could change one thing about the Fort Smith metro, what would it be?
If I could change one thing about the Fort Smith metro, it would be the addition of another airline to service our airport. Even if they only flew in and out a few days per week, it would greatly increase competition and give the area residents options other than DFW. We need competitive pricing and other options if we hope to grow our airport and community. An added bonus would be to have a deep discount airline come in and offer direct flights to popular destinations.

• There are many promises and concerns with the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). What societal benefit do you hope AI will produce?
I hope AI will allow society to extract, filter and interpret more data than humanly possible to help us find answers to questions we have long sought. I can envision great advances in medicine, cancer cures, cheaper and cleaner energy to name a few.

• How do you approach decision-making in an environment where public scrutiny or stakeholder criticism is frequent?
As county judge, where I work in an environment of public scrutiny and possible criticism, I approach decisions with the following guidelines: Gather facts and data. Bring those into the conversation who can contribute (if available). I review and choose what I believe is the right decision, while also bearing in mind what is fair, what consequences may result, and am I being fair to the taxpayers. I don’t let what others may think trouble me too much. As we all know, we can’t make everyone happy, so I go with what I feel is best for the community overall.

• What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever made?
While this may seem trivial to some, one of the hardest decisions I remember was sending hundreds of employees back into a manufacturing plant that had to be evacuated due to a bomb threat. Even though I followed protocol with having the building searched and allowed proper time to pass, it was still a difficult decision. I knew with the plant being so large, there was no way to truly inspect every nook and cranny. I knew each employee was a life, and each had a family back home depending on them coming home that night. So many things were going through my head, but it was up to me to make that call. Everything worked out fine, but that was one moment that I remember the pressure of knowing the entire decision was on my shoulders. It has been much easier to make many multimillion-dollar decisions in my career, compared to a possible life or death decision for many employees.

• If you could instantly learn the truth about one mystery – like who killed JFK – what would it be?
One mystery I would like to learn the truth about is why there are many hieroglyphics that are thousands of years old which depict spaceships and airplanes. I can’t help but wonder if advanced civilizations haven’t visited our world in the past.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SUBJECTS
Following are the links to previous posts in the Executive Summary series.
ArcBest Chair and CEO Judy McReynolds
Fort Smith Mayor George McGill
BHC President and CEO Marty Clark
Maryl Koeth Purvis, director of the Van Buren Advertising and Promotion Commission
University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Chancellor Dr. Terisa Riley
Fort Smith Public Library Director Jennifer Goodson
Bill Hanna, president, CEO, board chairman, Hanna Oil & Gas
Rodney Shepard, regional executive for Arvest Bank’s southwest region
Fort Smith Police Chief Danny Baker
Dr. Sandy Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Dermatology
Kyle Parker, president and CEO, Arkansas Colleges of Health Education
Melissa Curry, CEO, Methodist Village Senior Living
Michael Barr, president, Fort Smith-based WeatherBarr Windows and Doors