Hudnell reflects on decades of service
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a twopart series on City Manager Lance Hudnell, who reflects on his years of public service.
After a career in government that spans three and a half decades, City Manager Lance Hudnell begins a new chapter of his life at the end of the week.
Hudnell, who has spent the past three and a half years as city manager, said his immediate plans for retirement are “to focus on my immediate family, particularly my wife whom I have not had the opportunity to spend as much time with as I’d like, and my grandchildren.”
“For the short term, I want to concentrate on my family and just kind of renew and rejuvenate those
aspects of my life.”
He also said he might play some golf and plans to be more involved in church activities.
While much has been accomplished during his time with the city, Hudnell said there are “tons of things I wish we could have accomplished that we haven’t done yet.”
Saying he “hasn’t gotten there yet,” Hudnell said there would likely be a sense of relief in not having the burdens of the city on his shoulders and he would “probably not” watch the upcoming Hot Springs Board of Directors meeting.
At a recent meeting of the Oaklawn Rotary Club, Hudnell said, “I had the privilege of moving to Hot Springs when I was quite small, grew up here and graduated from Lakeside High School. It has been my privilege to be here and watch Hot Springs grow, and experience things.
“As you look back on all that, I, and many of you, can remember Burger Chef and it was an exciting day when they came to town. I think you could get a burger, shake and french fries for 45 cents.
“Then one day we got a Pizza Hut. Before that you could go down to Benny’s and Wendy’s, I think, and get a pizza but I wasn’t allowed to go there except to clean their windows. So it was pretty exciting when we got a Pizza Hut.
“Those days seem long ago and far away, but they’re really not that far away.”
Hudnell said he began his career in public service in 1975 when he went to work with the administrative offices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas in 1976, and moved back to Hot Springs in 1977.
Since 1977, he has served as the administrative assistant to the mayor, city clerk, deputy city manager, and city manager.
During his years of service, Hudnell has been instrumental in writing and obtaining various grants, overseen public transportation, ADA compliance issues, written countless city ordinances and resolutions, served as acting planning director, provided support for milestone projects such as the construction of the Hot Springs Convention Center, Summit Arena, new police and fire sta- tions, animal shelter, water and wastewater plants, and downtown streetscape revitalization projects.
He also was “on deck” following the devastation of the 1990 flood in downtown Hot Springs and the 2000 ice storm, served on several boards and committees around the state, and is a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Hot Springs Baptist Church.
He and his wife, Doris, have two grown children and twin grandchildren.
Hudnell said he began his tenure with the city as the administrative assistant to Mayor Tom Ellsworth.
“I interviewed with him about this time of year and had a good interview I thought and went back to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. I was excited about the possibility of coming back to my hometown, but I never heard a word.”
After calling the city’s human resources department a couple of times to check on his chances of being hired and being told that the mayor couldn’t make up his mind, Hudnell said he took that to mean there were several good candidates and put the job out of his mind.
“Then on a Saturday morning in September, the phone rang and the voice on the other end said, ‘ You got your bags packed? I need you in two weeks,’ so that was my career beginning with the city of Hot Springs.”
Hudnell said Ellsworth was known by many as a “great politician,” but he knew him as an innovative administrator.
“He instituted our first computer program, and he brought the first agenda to the city council. Can you imagine having a meeting of that importance without an agenda?
“Apparently, they would come together and talk about whatever they decided to talk about and write ordinances and resolutions at the meetings, which sometimes lasted until 2 a. m. or later as they deliberated on things as simple as getting a resolution written.
“I was privileged to work for him and learned a great deal from him,” Hudnell said.
Hudnell next served with Mayor Jim Randall, who “led the charge, or was very involved, in changing the form of government.”
“That was certainly a big innovation for our city as we moved from a mayor- council form into a city manager form.
“People from other parts of the country probably looked at us and said, ‘ What’s the big deal about having a city manager form of government?’ because more than half the cities operate under a city manager form of government so it’s not a big deal in other places. But in Arkansas, there’s only eight of us,” he said.
“When we have an Arkansas city manager’s meeting, we can basically meet in a closet. It’s kind of a big deal in Arkansas to move in that direction, but certainly Mayor Randall helped in that transition from one form of government to another.”