The Shelby County Reporter recently honored County Manager Alex Dudchock as its Person of the Year; I want to add my two cents worth.

I have known Alex for many years, but over the past year, I have had the pleasure of working with Alex as an elected official.

He has gone out of his way to make my transition into the probate office as easy and seamless as possible under our difficult circumstances. I am grateful for his help.

As he has carried out County Commission policies over the years, Alex has guided this county through years of development and growth.

The Reporter article pointed to the many capital improvements that Alex has overseen ,including a new jail, juvenile detention facility, parks and many other projects. Shelby County has long been known as a great place to live. Alex is one of the main reasons for this excellent reputation for our county.

The storm clouds of the economic downturn are all around us, and Shelby County is certainly not immune from its effects.

As we have discussed before and as we all know, the revenues that the county relies on for the capital projects are dramatically reduced this year and projections are that next year will be even worse.

The boom years for our county are over for the foreseeable future. Alex has guided us through the good times, but I believe his hardest challenges lie ahead with the recession.

Not to diminish one bit the great work Alex has done in the past, but I think it is probably easier to be the county manager when times are good. The real challenge is going to come over the next few years.

Personally, I cannot think of a better person to help guide this county through these turbulent times than Alex Dudchock.

He has exhibited that he has the leadership and organization skills to do the job. These skills on top of his true love for Shelby County and all of her people make him ideally suited to carry us forward.

As much as he deserved recognition this year, I believe next year he will be even more deserving to be the Person of the Year.