It was about 9 p.m. on a recent Saturday evening when Mayor Craig Henderson reached out to Richard Hudson to ask if he could “swing by” sometime the next day to talk to him. Though the two had recently been in contact, Hudson was nevertheless surprised by the request and waited to discover whether his “friend Craig” was coming by, or whether “Mayor Henderson” was coming by.
As it turns out, both the Mayor and the friend showed up. Henderson told Hudson he had a “twofold” question. First, “How do you think we handled the mask mandate?” he asked. When satisfied with Hudson’s answer, he said, “How would you like to be on the City Council?”
“I was 100% surprised,” admits Hudson. Henderson told him, “We need someone who is young, ambitious, doesn’t mind speaking their mind and knows how to run a business.” Hudson certainly meets the criteria.
No stranger to hard work, Hudson told Sapulpa Times that he did heat and air work in the field for his parents for 20 years, working up to 15 hours in our Oklahoma summers, until “Dad brought me in [to the office]. He said, ‘You’re going to learn to do some of the office work.’” This included “scheduling and dispatching,” among other things, and “then 8 months later, he’s gone.” (Mr. Roger Hudson passed away from COVID-19 last year.)
Hudson explained that he, mother Linda, sister Sarah, and brother Blake are now co-owners of Hudson Plumbing, Heating, & Air Conditioning, which his dad started in September of 1983. He runs the heat and air side, Blake the plumbing side, and Linda and Sarah the office. He spends 12 hours a day attending to business, going to meetings, calculating job estimates, and trying to figure out how his dad “did this by himself for 38 years.”
When asked about his vision for the future of Sapulpa, Hudson concedes “I haven’t thought a whole lot about what I want to accomplish. Two weeks ago I had no idea that this was going to happen. Criag caught me off guard. I thought, ‘Am I old enough to be a city councilor?’”
Nonetheless, Hudson says that “there are things the town could use and some things it could do without. There’s definitely going to be a lot of learning over the next two or three meetings…It’ll be a process.” He says the lack of event space, children’s party options, and mid-range houses are issues he’s noticed and would like to help remedy.
Henderson introduced his choice to fill the Ward 4 City Council seat left vacant by the resignation of Vickie Beyer at Monday night’s City Council meeting. Hudson accepted the honor, gave his oath, and took his seat on the Council.
Henderson commented that, though there are some great people in his ward, “I chose Mr. Hudson, who is a lifelong Sapulpan, has two kids in Sapulpa Public Schools, and loves Sapulpa.”
Hudson was accompanied by his wife Hollie (another lifelong Sapulpan and 2005 graduate of Kellyville), son Conner (a freshman at Sapulpa Junior High), daughter Olivia (a 5th grader at Holmes Park), and mother Linda.
An Allen Bowden student through the 7th grade, Hudson began attending Sapulpa Junior High in the 8th grade. He graduated from SHS in 2001, and attended TCC and trade school while working for the family business.
He says that he is “looking forward to [being on the Council” and that he’s “excited to see where it goes.”
