IFN Staff

Statesville City Councilman Joe Hudson announced this week that he would not seek another term in November.

“After prayer and consideration, I have decided I will not seek re-election for Ward 5,” Hudson said in a post on Facebook. “It has been a privilege to serve the people of the City of Statesville and I would like to thank all those who have supported me along the way. God bless.”

Qualifying for the 2025 municipal elections begins Monday.

In a Q&A with IFN, Hudson explained some of the challenges that the City Council has faced during the last four years as well as what the council will face in the coming years.

IFN: What work/issues are you proudest of related to your service?

HUDSON: First, no one person gets things done on the city council. You have to convince a minimum of four other people to agree with you, and hopefully neutralize the opposition in some way. I’m most proud of the fact that I got to lead an effort to blow the dust off our Parks and Recreation master plan, breath some life into it, and to obtain council support for it. It was dead in the water for a while, and now it’s become a plan with well-defined goals and a normal part of budget funding. Statesville is a wonderful city, but ask any young couple between 30 and 45 years of age and they’ll tell you there are no recreational amenities (updated parks, greenway systems, etc.) to attract and hold young families. I like to think we finally got the ball rolling in that direction. The curve ball was the sudden uptick in growth and development. Growth means infrastructure. We have new pressing needs (fire stations and operational personnel as well as police and fire personnel) that are now taking center stage by necessity and if we’re not careful, the important recreational amenities we need will fall by the way. We can’t let this happen.

Second, I was also fortunate enough to help develop some guidelines dealing with our relationships with other water systems and Troutman regarding our sewer capacities and water capabilities. I’m so glad I was able to be part of the earlier securing of our water resources (Lookout Shoals) and increased sewer capacities for both wastewater treatment plants when I served as the director for Water Resources. I was fortunate to come back and help develop plans for handling those valuable resources. I think we’re now on some solid ground as far as guidelines regarding the use of water and sewer capacities for housing development as well as dealing with Troutman’s growth and utility needs.

Third, I’m also proud of the fact that at every opportunity, I’ve tried to re-elevate the professional role of our staff. Some councils in the past browbeat and politicalized the staff so the staff lost initiative, and simply followed council directives no matter how foolish and counter-productive. Now we have more input and initiative by staff than I’ve seen in years. They are not afraid to voice an opinion now, and Statesville is all the better for it. To not use our staff is a waste of millions of dollars of training, skills, and knowledge. It cheats the people of Statesville out of their most valuable resource. I like to think I and this council got to repair a little of the damage. Statesville is now, once again, using its greatest resource, the staff.

Finally, we’ve changed our election process, which I think is awesome. It was one of my proudest moments to be part of that. Now, at each election, everyone will have a reason to vote. I think this is a great improvement and will get more people involved in their local government.

IFN: Anything you wish you could have accomplished that you didn’t?

HUDSON: I would love to have seen more greenway completion, but as I said sudden needs to handle the overwhelming amount of housing development began to take precedence. I was forced to rearrange my priorities by necessity. This is no one’s fault; it is simply the result of growth and thankfully Statesville was/is ready for it. It simply needs to be managed responsibly. I would have liked to have opened up a discussion between city and county regarding schools, but a tsunami of development for housing and industry washed that opportunity away. That’s one for the new people.

IFN: What are major challenges that your successor should be aware of?

HUDSON: One big challenge will be the necessary as well as the state required expansion of the Fourth Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant. This is significant (millions and millions of dollars) and it will impact fees and rates, and could influence taxes. And there’s no getting out of it. Law requires that facility expand.

Next, I’d say Troutman. I don’t mean this as a negative. It’s just a reality. Troutman’s growth, like it or not, will impact us at times just as our growth impacts and influences Troutman. This is a relationship that is complex and will have to be dealt with in the near future.

Also, housing development, industrial growth and schools. It’s here and we have to deal with it. Also, even though we try to ignore it, this impacts schools, which is an issue that the city is going to have to address with the county at some time. We can’t keep growing and ignoring the fact that families and schools are intertwined. The city is going to have to get a handle on our participation in solving this dilemma.

As far as industry goes, we do not want to be another Mooresville. We need to use our main feeder roads for industry, and let residential development take the secondary roads.

IFN: Thanks for taking the time to answer a few question. Anything else you want to add?

HUDSON: I started in this business at the age of 14 shoveling coal for the Electric Department with the Greenville Utilities Commission in Greenville, N.C. I have worked in municipal utilities for over 52 years. I have done practically every job from laborer, to director, and now I am going out as a city council member. That’s a lot for a simple country boy to deal with. I am grateful to the Statesville staff, the people of Statesville, and all the friends who have supported me.