Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun
Attorney Ben Hall has entered into the 2013 race for the Mayor of Houston and has raised the stakes in the competition for the head of the city.
At the beginning of March, Hall announced his candidacy for mayor running against the twice voted in incumbent, Annise Parker. Hall released the platform he will campaign on that generated much praise from his supporters.
Hall’s focus lies with education, crime, transportation, diversity, infrastructure, drainage and downtown. At least one or more of the campaign issues touch Houstonians in some way or another. Hall spoke in the tenor that has made him the successful attorney he is and won over many present to see exactly what Ben Hall is about.
Diversity:
Houston is racial melting pot and can no longer ignore the fact that the Hispanic community is the largest ethnic population in the city. Hall is campaigning on intercultural acceptance as he see’s the value in such a diverse city.
“Diversity is important in order to captivate the economic market so that we may be successful,” said Hall.
Crime:
Hall’s passionate approach about crime met much approval as he said, “I want to send a message out to criminals. Houston is out of bounds for all criminal activity we will no longer tolerate our elderly being barricaded into their homes at night because of thugs on the street. I mean thugs on the street have to go. I’m not trying to send them over to Sugarland but they cant do it here in Houston.”
He spoke on the economic side of housing inmates for petty crimes as well. Hall told the crowd that in terms of incarcerating criminals we are punishing ourselves, when we think we are punishing them.
“We need to rethink our criminal justice system. When I have to wake up every morning and work in order to feed myself and someone over in a cell, I have to rethink this,” said Hall. “When I have to pay for their air conditioning and their jail cells, I have to rethink this.”
Hall proposes that if someone is incarcerated and have committed a non-violent crime in the city of Houston they should perform community service. He believes they owe citizens an obligation to come and cut weeded lots or other service duties.
“Somebody might say that is the District Attorney’s job, that’s not your job but the Mayor has to set the tone of the city,” said Hall. “I stand up to tell every criminal to say you are not welcome here.”
Education:
As an advocate for a stronger educational system in Houston, Hall is looking for excellence in standards and performance. He’s said that the teachers, staff and civic leaders are already in place to turn around the issues seen in the educational system.
“I will work with Houston’s school districts to help them create the best educational experience for our students, advancing pragmatic city/school district initiatives to integrate education with real world business experiences,” said Hall.
Transportation:
The means of travel is a hot topic of any conversation in Houston as the city is so large and commerce is a way of life. Transportation is a high interest point as safe commutes and the availablity of public transportation is a serious issue during an election cycle. Hall said, “Houston’s city government must plan and work with TXDOT to coordinate travel patterns through and around the city. Better transportation practices and policies do more than reduce congestion on the highways; they also assist with air quality issues, making Houston safer and even more enjoyable.”
Downtown:
With the vision to develop and bring people from all over the world to experience Houston, Hall has high hopes for downtown. With a mixture of businesses, restuarants and attractions downtown has much to offer. “My administartion will actively encourage the development of a thriving downtown shopping and entertainment center by fostering innovative public-private partnerships. In that way, we will work to encourage the development of a larger retail business footprint downtown,” said Hall.
Infrastructure:
Houston is a huge city with many inhabitants and those inhabitants and our guest have beaten the road to a hole derived trail. Ben Hall has made it a point to address the roads in Houston even making it a platform on his campaign. “Houston’s roads must be repaired and upgraded immediately,” said Hall.
Drainage:
Houston has developed a reputation for flooding during a heavy thunderstorm leaving many citizens inconvienced and stuck with a sever clean-up process. With the interest of the citizens in his mind Hall has put the issue of drainage in his campaign. “By challenging the current approach and employing innovative drainage solutions, we will dramatically improve the way we handle storm water and flooding in our city,” said Hall.
Hall’s initiatives in his run for city hall are being received well by many Houstonians. Linda Prescott said, “I think Ben Hall will do tremendous things for Houston.” Patricia Brown of Fort Bend came to support Hall as she believes what happens in Houston will eventually effect her area so its very important to support the leaders inside the city as well.
“I think he will be a great leader and he needs our support all of the issues he targets in my opinion affect the community,” said Joseph Brown. “If you look at the diversity in this group you can see a lot of people are aware of that”
Hall is aware he has a full blown campaign ahead of him and is ready for the challenge as he made a statement to the crowd saying, “Have you ever heard of an aggressive, economic approach to an international market in 16 years?”
Kim Roxie called Ben Hall “a new breath of fresh air to Houston” and noted that the out pouring of support at his candidacy party shows what kind of campaign he’s going to have.