Aurora native brings business experience to job
Newly installed Hamilton County Business Manager Pat Shaw of Aurora is beginning his second week on the job and says he has plans to use the position to foster communication and bring a continuity of direction to county government.
The long-time Aurora resident was introduced at last week’s regular meeting of the county board of commissioners and began serving that day, moving into the office on the second floor of the courthouse previously occupied by his predecessor, Scott Stuhr. Last week he sat down at his office to talk about his background and experience as well as his plans for the position.
“I basically grew up in Aurora,” Shaw said. “My dad taught school here for 40 years. I graduated from Aurora High School, went to the University (of Nebraska-Lincoln) for five years, then came back and worked at Hamilton Telecommunications up until July of last year.”
While he was at UNL, Shaw played football with the Huskers under legendary coach Tom Osborne.
Beyond his 35 years of experience in the business world through Hamilton, Shaw also has 20 years of experience with local government, having served on the Aurora Board of Education from 2003 to 2023. He served the last nine years of his tenure as board president.
Several months after his departure from Hamilton in July of last year, Shaw said he decided he wasn’t ready to retire so he decided to apply for the county manager job around Christmas time.
“I thought it was time to do something,” he said. “This job enticed me, so here I am.”
Asked what skill sets and experience he brings to the job, Shaw replied, “I know the county and I know a lot of the people and I’ve dealt with a few of the safety things at Hamilton before... I’ll be able to learn all the ins and outs of what Scott did, which he did quite a bit. There will be some things that are learning curves for me but I’ve done a little bit of most everything at one time.”
As far as his plans for the position, Shaw said he wants to build on the foundation Stuhr established as the county’s first county manager. He said he plans to take what Stuhr did and take it to a higher level.
Since counties are a level of local government that don’t have an executive position, Shaw said he hopes to bring continuity to the way things are done. He said as elected commissioners come and go there is a need to provide incoming commissioners with a historical perspective and bring them up to speed on county policies and procedures.
“Each time somebody gets elected we can kind of work with them and make them and the county stronger that way,” Shaw said.
Noting that serving on the board of commissioners is a part-time job, Shaw said he wants to provide functions board members don’t have time for.
“It does take a lot of hours to be a commissioner and to be involved in the county,” Shaw said. “So it’s nice to have somebody here like me who can do some of those things that those guys want to know about, but they don’t have the time to dive into all the little details.”
“I’m excited about getting this job,” Shaw said, “and I thought it was a great opportunity. It kind of goes along with all the other things I have done. I want to make this job one of those jobs that does take Hamilton County maybe to the next level a little bit to where other counties may look at us and go, ‘You know what, we need one of those, too. We need someone to help our commissioners. We need somebody to kind of mold our county together — for lack of a better term.’”
Shaw said he will also make it his mission to foster communication between the various departments and offices of the county.
“It’s nice to have somebody who can keep them all in a loop,” he said, “and kind of make everybody at least feel like they’ve got somebody who listens to them every day.”
To that end, Shaw said he plans to do a great deal of listening in the months ahead.
The search for Stuhr’s replacement began shortly after his resignation last July. At one point last fall the board was negotiating with a viable candidate but the hiring fell through.
County board chairman Rich Nelson, who introduced Shaw at last week’s meeting, reiterated the board’s elation at Shaw’s hiring.
“After nearly six months the board is very pleased to have found Pat Shaw to fill the position of county business manager,” Nelson said. “Pat brings a solid knowledge of business practices and knowledge of the city of Aurora and Hamilton County.”
Shaw has two grown children. His son Sam lives in Hawaii and daughter Betsy and her husband Mike live near Plattsmouth and have three children.