Porter County surveyor candidates concerned about drainage issues
By Amy Lavalley Post-Tribune correspondent October 7, 2012 3:16PM
Richard Hudson. | Provided photo~Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 9, 2012 6:07AM
Porter County voters will choose between Democrat Kevin Breitzke and Republican Richard Hudson for the surveyor’s office in the Nov. 6 general election.
Breitzke, 57, of Valparaiso, is seeking his fifth term as county surveyor, and worked with a local land-surveying firm before being elected to office. Political newcomer Hudson, 64, also of Valparaiso, is a senior survey manager and project manager with GAI Consultants.
Breitzke said he is running to retain the surveyor’s seat because he wants to continue the progress he’s made while in office.
“I’m still pleased with the progress we’re making and hope to keep pushing forward with planning and drainage and surveying,” he said. “I want to continue giving personal service to Porter County citizens and take care of their drainage and surveying issues as properly as we can.”
Hudson served on the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals for more than 16 years. He has been on the county’s park board for more than 20 years and is currently its president, an unpaid position he will be able to keep if he is elected as surveyor.
Hudson said he could bring a new perspective to the surveyor’s office.
“I’ve been in the surveying profession and the development site engineering profession all this time and I think with those years of experience in the private sector, that brings a lot for me to help with in the surveyor’s office,” he said.
Both candidates said drainage is a major concern for the surveyor’s office.
The surveyor’s office has set up a revenue stream through an assessment on regulated drains to tackle drainage problems, Breitzke said, and the office is working its way through a priority project list drafted around the start of 2011.
“We are attacking problem after problem,” he said.
The two biggest responsibilities for the office are drainage and maintaining the public land surveyor system, said Hudson, who worked for the surveyor’s office for several years after college before moving on to what is now GAI.
