Commissioner did his homework

On Saturday, this page ran an editorial with advice for new office holders.

The key bit was: Do your homework.

We would be remiss at the end of 2018 if we failed to acknowledge a public servant who did just that.

Barry Hudson did his homework.

Hudson, who was selected by Republican party caucus to fill a vacancy as a county commissioner when Doug Inman relocated to Allen County, may have been the most studious officeholder in the history of the courthouse.

As a commissioner, he insisted upon keeping a close eye on public expenditures.

Want to make a purchase for your department? You’d better bring at least two price quotes. Three would be better. Four even better.

If local vendors were within a few percentage points, they’d get the nod. If not, the taxpayer ruled.

It wasn’t all numbers, even though as a former banker that was his strength.

Hudson repeatedly and intensely challenged engineering firms and the county surveyor’s office on flood control measures intended to benefit downtown Portland.

And when he was defeated in the May Republican primary by Chad Aker, he could have easily have set that all aside and spent his remaining months in office as a lame duck.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he seemed to re-double his efforts to get the often wayward Jay County Regional Sewer District back on track. If ever there were a thankless task, that was it. A shorter version of all this: Barry Hudson did his homework. And for that we salute him on this, his final day in office. — J.R.