Fool me once . . .

Twice now, a city council member’s wife has backed her car into a stationary vehicle — one of those times, leaving the scene afterward. Twice now, Marion’s genial interim police chief has decided not to give her a ticket.

Image can be everything. Whether his decisions were justified or designed to curry favor, they are a troubling coincidence.

Marion escaped the stigma of having Gideon Cody continue as chief after it was revealed that he urged destruction of evidence by a person involved in his disavowed raid on this newspaper and two homes.

Interim chief Zach Hudlin was hardly an innocent bystander in those raids. According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation, he botched the only investigation that occurred before the raid, knew search warrant applications he helped prepare misrepresented facts, and alerted Cody to documents in the newsroom that the warrant legally did not allow him to inspect. Hudlin also suggested that 98-year-old Joan Meyer, who died from stress of the raid the next day, might be charged with interfering with police for allegedly making threatening moves with her walker.

This isn’t the first time Hudlin’s actions have been brought into question, A serious ATV accident in 2021 could not be prosecuted the way then-chief Clinton Jeffrey wanted because Hudlin, the only officer at the scene, had failed to note even who had been driving.

Marion needs a permanent police chief, to be sure. Hudlin seems to be a genuinely nice guy. But it may also be time to consider whether Marion needs a new interim chief, as well.

— ERIC MEYER