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Rising star Ramón Hobdey-Sánchez
wins Vanguard Award

Call him an up-and-comer. Call him a rising star. It’s all true.

Ramon Hobdey-Sanchez, who came on board in May 2015 in the Governmental Affairs unit as a Specialist and has since risen to Program Manager, won the Vanguard Award Dec. 12 for the trail he has blazed as a fast-burner in his short time at ITD.

His practical knowledge and technical experience were never in question, but he quickly moved beyond those baseline skills.

Check out the video of Ramon at the ceremony .

“In an amazingly short period of time, Ramon made his position his very own -- a dynamic, connected and innovative role -- to the benefit of the entire department,” explained Governmental Affairs Manager Mollie McCarty.

Almost from Day One, Ramon demonstrated leadership and advanced relationship-building skills to begin creating coalitions, extremely beneficial in handling some high-profile and high-priority projects that were important not only to ITD but also to the Governor’s Office.

One of the first major projects was to direct the Negotiated Rulemaking required by the Governor’s office in 2016, managing stakeholders and determining policy. The goal of the process, according to then-Governor Otter, was to “make our highways safer for all motorists by insisting that all trucks, of every weight and classification, are configured, maintained and driven in ways that maximize public safety.”

The latest example is Governor Little’s Red Tape Reduction Act. Not only has Ramon made sure ITD is in compliance with the act, but he has positioned ITD as a lead agency in regard to the reduction.

Since July of 2018, ITD has reduced its rules by 25% — at the center of that effort is Ramon,” McCarty explained.

He was recently recognized by the Governor for leading ITD to be one of the top agencies to achieve the desired vision. Governor Little presented Ramon with a pair of “Red Tape” scissors as a token of his appreciation. The picture above shows the Gov’s appreciation.

“I have gotten a lot of credit lately for reducing bureaucracy, but it’s the agency staff who have truly rolled up their sleeves and done this incredible work,” said Governor Little as he presented Ramon with the scissors in June. “This effort will have big impact on Idahoans that will last for many years to come,” Little added.

“The eagerness shown by the Idaho Transportation Department for streamlining regulations moving forward demonstrates the collaborative nature of my executive order,” Governor Little said in February. “We’re working closely with the agencies to better serve all Idahoans through safe and effective regulation.”

ITD’s dedication and expertise in regulatory reform led the Idaho Division of Financial Management to ask Ramon to advise other state agencies on how to lead their own successful efforts.

“Ramon has consistently shown that he is ready for whatever comes his way. Some of the challenges are highly political, and heavily scrutinized,” McCarty added, “but that never stops him from stepping up to meet the challenge.”