i am brian hanby.

Reposted from: http://www.galvnews.com/electionreturns/

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Seven candidates have linedup for the Clear Lake Shores ballot on May 8 - with the top three taking the three spots on City Council.

In addition to choosing the top three candidates for three council positions, voters will decide whether to allow the city to borrow $900,000 for infrastructure improvements associated with the town center, a commercial area that supporters hope will attract more businesses to Clear Lake Shores.

Here’s the scoop on the three candidates who returned The Citizen’s phone calls. Also running for election are Richard Sowrey, Allan Batchelor, Patrick Michaelski and Tami Perkins.

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Reminder: Early voting starts today: Monday, April 26th - Vote Hanby, City Council, Clear Lake Shores ;)

Snipped from the Daily News... http://galvestondailynews.com/candidate-results.lasso 

The Daily News invited candidates in the upcoming elections to participate in the following questionnaires, which were compiled largely from points that readers requested us to ask on their behalf. The profiles below are from those who participated. The questions vary from race to race. We adopted this procedure at the suggestion of readers.

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Galveston Daily News posted a questionnaire for municipal election candidates on their website. My responses follow...

Question: 1
Are you a legal resident of the district youíre seeking to represent?

Yes. I've lived in the small towns along the south bank of Clear Lake my whole life. I moved to CLS in 1999.

Question: 2
Have you ever been convicted of a crime? If you answer yes please explain. 

No.

Question: 3
Have you ever sued a public entity or been sued by one? If you answer yes, please explain. 

No.

Question: 4
Do you have any other debts (including unpaid taxes) to a public entity? If yes please explain. 

No.

Question: 5
Will you have your home phone number listed in the phone book or your mobile number listed for the public to contact you directly? 

Yes. Though I also intend to publish a dedicated email address and have ideas for expanding the city website (including the addition of web forums for residents to share, debate and inform). Intent is to make it easier for residents to connect with and participate with their city government/each other.

Question: 6
Why should voters choose you? What are your specific qualifications for the position? 

I've comfortably resided in CLS for nearly 11 years while friends and neighbors have committed their time and energy to attend to the things that needed doing. I'm running because I've finally arrived at a place in my life where I've got time, energy and talent of my own to volunteer. I feel an obligation to participate. And I want to take on a share of the work. I'd invite voters to review my professional history at brianhanby.com.

Question: 7
What are the issues in this campaign? 

1. Uneven interpretation and enforcement of city ordinances
2. Town Center

Question: 8
What is your platform on those issues? 

1. RE: Uneven interpretation and enforcement of city ordinances -- Many of the existing ordinances lack a standard for enforcement, resulting in disagreement and inconsistent interpretation. As there's time/need, ordinances should be updated or repealed.
2. RE: Town Center -- Lingering questions surrounding the Town Center project should be documented and answered openly/preferably on the city's website.

Question: 9
Do you support taking on some form of debt to build out the Town Center project or do you back the pay as you go concept? Why or why not? 

I believe that there's a positivity implied when borrowing money. People borrow when they believe that tomorrow will be better than today. And I believe we could use some positive thinking. However, this is a plural society. If someone is voting 'No' because they have a different vision for the city, we can/ should debate these things as residents. As a representative, I'd promise an ear and provide a forum for the many differing voices. If, however, folks are voting 'No' because they have lingering unanswered questions/concerns, then Council should work with EDC to document and answer those questions on the city's website. It took me a while to get here, but I'll be voting in support of Town Center and the $900k in funding.

Note: Ronnie Richards provided the attached flyer at a recent EDC meeting. I support the Town Center project as scoped/defined within this flyer.

Question: 10
What efforts should the city undertake to diversify the tax base? 

I've heard many good ideas in the last weeks. Resident's with ideas should get those to the EDC/Council. Council should be working with EDC to prioritize projects based on community input.

Question: 11
How would you rate the performance of the city administrator? 

Meets expectations: I've not perceived something missed or left undone. I believe Administrator Shelley has done what's been asked of him. If there ever is an issue, Council has oversight responsibilities. An under-performing committee or city employee is within Council's responsibility, authority to address.

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Please come on out and get to know me :)

If you have any questions that don't get answered at the session, please post them here and I'll work with the other candidates to get them answered. Thanks for participating!

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Yard and golf cart signs have arrived! Please let me know if you'd be willing to post one in your yard, cart. Also, I have a few T-shirts available for early supporters. Just reply to this post or contact me @ hanbybd+campaign@gmail.com if you'd like to participate!

(Other campaign gear {aprons, mugs and whatnot} also available @ http://www.zazzle.com/hanbybd/)

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Get Facebook friendly with the kind folks of Clear Lake Shores.

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Snipped from an article appearing in the Galveston Daily News

Clear Lake Shores

Council member at large (top three elected): Brian Hanby, Richard Sowrey, Jackie Fuller, Allan Batchelor, Patrick Michaelski, Tami Perkins, Jim Mago

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Yep, follow @ClearLakeShores on Twitter and keep up with what's going down.

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Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

From now until March 26th, we're asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which we'll use to determine where to build our network.

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Find that it's been too difficult to participate? Now there's an app for that.

The DIY Democracy app is the most powerful tool available for citizens in the 21st century. The only app that connects you at the federal, state, and local level, DIY Democracy makes self-government a reality.

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