For Jefferson County Councilman Phil Hendrickson, life – at least life on the council – hasn’t always gone as planned.
Hendrickson, who lives just outside the Arnold city limits and was appointed to fill a vacant District 3 Council seat in September 2017, said he figured he’d get the lay of the land and possibly run for a full term in 2018.
He also figured that by the end of those four years, he’d be 70 and enough would be enough and he wouldn’t seek another term.
“That was indeed the original plan, anyway,” said Hendrickson, who last week announced he will run for another term for the Republican Party’s nomination in the August 2022 election.
The general election will be held in November 2022.
Hendrickson said he decided to change his course since his fellow members elected him as the council chairman for the past two years. He said he’s hopeful they’ll make him president for a third year when new officers are chosen in December.
“When I first came on the council, it was pretty chaotic,” he said, referring to clashes between former and current council members and former County Executive Ken Waller. “It’s gotten a lot better since then. I think as the council chair, I have worked well with the executive branch.
“There can always be improvement, but I think I’ve done some good here, and I’d like to see the council work together more.”
Hendrickson said the ongoing pandemic has raised issues that the council never expected.
“I think things went about as smoothly as possible when we were meeting by phone or Zoom,” he said. “I made a lot of phone calls to people, both to council members and the administration, to make sure the council knew what was going on and why it was happening.”
Hendrickson said he believes he has been an effective representative for District 3 residents.
“I don’t get the volume of calls the other council members get because most of my constituents live in Arnold, but people who call me with a situation can’t say I didn’t try to get them an answer from code enforcement, the Public Works Department, whatever. It may not have been the answer they wanted, but I’ve always worked to get them a response.”
Hendrickson said if he is re-elected, he would work to get electronic filing for applications for contractors and others for building permits, solid waste permits and code enforcement issues.
“Counties all around us have online permitting,” he said. “It may not be a necessity, but it would be a good thing for contractors and others trying to get work done in our county.”
Hendrickson said he also would like to work to address stormwater issues among neighboring subdivisions in his district.
“Another problem I see is there are several streets that have no recorded owner, so no one really maintains them,” he said.
Such roads, he said, were once gravel farm lanes but over time, subdivisions have been built off them, but the deeds do not record an owner.
“I don’t know that the county should take ownership of these roads, but I’d like to see a way that we can possibly maintain them,” he said.
Hendrickson said he has helped to calm down council meetings by providing a “buffer” between factions that sometimes form among members.
“It’s kind of like having seven kids, all with different personalities. You want your kids to get along, but you’re best off if you can get them to respect each other,” he said. “You don’t always have to agree, but you need to respect the opinion of others. I can’t say we’re there yet, but we are a lot better than we were with that.”
Hendrickson is retired after working in the heating-cooling-ventilation industry for 48 years. He is treasurer of two car clubs – the Hyway Rockers Classic Car Club and the Studebaker Drivers Club.
He and his wife, Sheila, have two daughters and five grandchildren.
County Council members are paid $11,650 a year. Filing for the August 2022 primary election runs from Feb. 22, 2022, through March 29, 2022.