Ralston – Rick Hoppe has been looking for the next career opportunity  after new term limits barred Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler from re-election.

As Beutler’s chief of staff, Hoppe helped manage a $250 million budget that included the Pinnacle Bank Arena.

His experience in public administration will be invaluable as he takes on his new role as Ralston city administrator next month, after concluding some consulting work in Lincoln.

Hoppe’s appointment was unanimously approved last Tuesday by the Ralston City Council. He has already been at work preparing for the transition, including being involved in plans related to the Hinge project, Ralston’s marquee economic development initiative that seeks to connect the 72nd Street corridor around the Ralston Arena to the city’s downtown district.

“What’s exciting about being in Ralston in this moment is the Hinge project is such a game-changer,” he said. “I can help a community that hasn’t necessarily seen anything like this.”

The same goes for management of the Ralston Arena, although he praised its current management company.

On a personal level, Hoppe said that he’s also looking forward to not being so involved with partisan politics.

“It is just really refreshing to be focusing more on policy and operations rather than what people’s politics are,” he said. “People feel such an allegiance to Ralston, and they really have it in their hearts in a way that I think can only happen in a smaller community.”