While a handful of changes came about within Monroe County following the election earlier this year, one nearby community in rural St. Clair County has found itself with a new mayor who’s held public office there for some time.

Steve Newbold has made his home in New Athens since 1978, though he originally hails from Florissant, Mo.

He earned a bachelor’s degree at Southwestern Illinois University in Edwardsville before studying dentistry at Washington University.

It was his time at SIUE that led him to New Athens, as his roommate there was from Millstadt. With Newbold’s connections, he heard New Athens was in the market for a new dentist.

Newbold settled down there, opening up his practice where he operated for many years, also offering his dental services at Menard Correctional Center for a time.

Newbold has served New Athens in a governmental position for some time now, originally earning a spot on the school board.

“I had kind of an interest in public service, so I ran and was lucky enough to get elected to the New Athens Unit District 60 school board,” Newbold said. “I enjoyed that a lot, immensely. It was very satisfying.”

With eight years spent helping to oversee the school district, Newbold was later contacted by the mayor about filling an opening on the village council following a trustee resignation.

He took on that position for two years, running for a trustee position later on to serve another four years.

Like his time as a member of the New Athens school board, Newbold spoke positively about his time as a trustee, particularly recalling the infrastructure work he’s helped manage.

“We had two of our main thoroughfares in town in urgent need of repair,” Newbold said. “That process on one of the roads hadn’t started previously, and so I was kind of involved with helping get that one going. When that road was resurfaced and we switched to the second road, that one I was more directly involved with.”

He also noted his efforts regarding community healthcare, pointing to how he had a hand in working with the state to get a COVID-19 vaccine clinic to visit the village.

Likewise, Newbold noted his work with Sparta Community Hospital to bring its mobile clinic to New Athens following the retirement of the village’s longtime local doctor.

Speaking on his decision to pursue the position of village president, Newbold simply explained he wanted to serve the community in his own way.

“I felt like I could provide a different leadership style that might be a little bit more conducive to our town,” Newbold said. “We needed a change, and I thought I would be a good fit for that change.”

He was optimistic about the village’s future and hopeful about its current state, noting the stable position the village is in with its personnel.

When it comes to goals for his position, he placed a special emphasis on infrastructure.

“Our town is like any other town, and we have more infrastructure needs than we have funds to pay for them, but we’re moving in a good direction as far as addressing those issues,” Newbold said. “Not as fast as myself or others would like to see it, but we are moving forward.”

Newbold spoke highly about New Athens in general, commenting on how safe the community is and the high quality of the school district, also remarking on how pleased he was to be able to raise his kids in the village.

“Sometimes it’s very easy to say, ‘We don’t have this, we don’t have that,’ but there’s a lot of things we do have that other communities do not, and I think that’s kind of a bond, and it’s unique to small communities,” Newbold said. “That, I’m very proud of.”