Just a few months shy of working for the county a full year, County Manager Jessica Hudson has had her hands full.

“My first year with the county has been really good so far,” Hudson said. “I have worked with five other municipal jurisdictions, [one] in Virginia, three other counties in California, maybe four, so I’ve had a lot of experience in local government. Every place is a little different.”

Size, work culture, priorities all vary. Before accepting the job, Hudson did her research on the islands, which makes sense for someone with a library background.

“I watched a bunch of prior council meetings, I read over all the plans I found online, skimmed the comp plan. I tried to get a good sense of what I would be stepping into if I said yes if offered the job,” Hudson said. “Watching council meetings and coming out here for interviews, including the three community sessions, was a really interesting place. It was a place where we had a count council that was relatively small, worked really well together and a community that actively and loudly cared about things, which I appreciate, and a staff that was small but mighty.”

Add to all of that, Hudson has been amazed by, and thrilled to play a role in supporting the diverse array of services and programs necessary for living on an island. In this small rural county isolated from the rest of the state by a body of water, she explained, the county is forced to offer a wider range of services because community members can’t simply drive to the next county over to get the resources needed. The health department is an excellent example.

“Our health Department, to meet community needs, must offer more services than a community our size would traditionally do, because we want to make sure it is easily accessible for our residents,” She said, citing vaccine clinics as one such service.

When asked what has surprised her about living and working on San Juan, Hudson first mentioned public engagement, “Around every topic you can think of.”

Furthermore Hudson observed, a number of community members are of retirement, having full careers and expertise under their belts. Someone in the audience of a wildfire engagement meeting would be the past chair of a wildfire management organization with a degree from a fancy university.

“Every corner you turn here, we are filled with smart, thoughtful, engaged individuals who want to participate in their community… so that has been surprising in a very good way,” she said.

Hudson has also had to get use to the life in a fish bowl aspect of living in a small community; running into folks in the grocery store wearing sweats with her four year old, island parents can relate, and inevitably someone wants to ask about some hot county topic she isn’t ready to address due to her child urgantly dragging her toward the candy isle.

“But people are ok with that, because we live in a community of very kind people. No one is going to remember those moments when I come to the next council meeting. It’s not necessarily surprising, but something that I have been transitioning around. That we live with the people we serve,” Hudson laughed, reflecting that the last jurisdiction she worked at had a population of over a million people.

As far as upcoming challenges, the ramifications of funding cuts at both the state and federal levels are key.

“It’s our job as a county to be flexible and as nimble as possible, so when we hear about those [cuts] we can immediately jump forward, convey that to our council members so they can make policy decisions about what is important, what is not. Everything feels important, but when you have less money, you have to make choices,” Hudson explained. “Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that point.”

Aside from the budget, the Comp Plan, though updated two years ago, is in the process of new updates to meet state mandates. The result of the updated plan will guide county decision-making for the next six years, according to Hudson. And speaking of planning, recruitment for a new Department of Community Development Director has begun. “We want to hire someone into that role that is going to understand the interest in the community, support our staff and meet the Council’s priorities,” said Hudson.

Should a DCD director be hired relatively quickly, they would join other new staff, including a Risk and Safety Manager, new HR director, and new Deputy County Manager. The county also recently adopted a new coroner model, with Greg Sawyer becoming the new coroner.

“I love it when we have new people onboard, because even though I’ve been here less than a year, you become attuned to what is going on around you, and somebody new coming in has a fresh perspective and fresh eyes, asking questions that you have already tucked away in the back of your head like, oh you know, we do it this way so I’m not goanna ask that, and they do ask those questions,” she said. “That is actually part of one of my goals, continue reviewing how our non-elected side of things are working well together, getting the work of the county done.”

Hudson took a minute to pitch working for the county saying, “San Juan County is an amazing place to work. If you already live on the island and you’ve been thinking about a career change, all our jobs are publicly posted. The benefits are amazing, and for many of our employees, they participate in a 32-hour work week. I may be biased, but I think it’s an amazing place to work.”