Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun
It is official that former City Attorney, Ben Hall is in the race for mayor of Houston as he officially filed the necessary paperwork to be on the ballot for the November election.
On August 20, 2013, Hall held a viewing of a new video to be released at the CWA Hall for all who wanted to see. The room was filled and as the people stood arm to arm to watch the short film the excitement for the mayoral race picked up several notches.
Once the movie ended Hall stood behind the podium as the crowd cheered and applauded. Hall began by thanking his friends, supporters, friends to be and those who will vote for his candidacy.
“For those who are doubting promises let me just simply say the trajectory of this campaign looks very good and we’re going to be the next mayor of Houston,” said Hall.
Hall is definitely in full blown campaign mode as the future of Houston is the focus of his campaign. He expressed that it’s good to be confident and he is showing his confidence. Yet he believes that the city should be prepared for anything as he reminded the crowd of how harmful it can be to ignore what ifs in the city government like the people on the Titanic.
“The city of Houston may have confidence but we must prepare for the economic iceberg that lay ahead and the present Mayor hasn’t done so and the Ben Hall administration will do so,” said Hall.
Fiscal responsibility is playing a major role in this race as a new discovery about Mayor Annise Parker’s net value has come into question.”
People want change in this city. The present Mayor has been in office for 16 years and when she started she didn’t have much money but as you all will soon find out she has carefully turned herself into a millionaire while holding public office,” said Hall. “This is an astounding discovery and I don’t think it’s been pointed out to the public before.”
Hall has been accused of trying to buy the election as he has one of the largest campaign funds seen in Houston in years. Hall has done well for himself and the monetary gains of the Mayor have caught the attention of many.
“At least I did mine in the private sector,” said Hall. “She has become a millionaire working off the tax dollars. That’s not right and we’re going to investigate that a little further.”
Although the campaign is getting heated Hall would like to keep it about city issues and not make it dirty and smearing campaign. His supporters seemed pleased with his video and eagerly awaited to hear anything else Hall had further to say.
“I thought the movie was great and it really introduces Ben to Houston. I think he is going to do a fantastic job,” said Claude Cummings, the Vice President of the CWA District 6. “He really has a vision for this city and we have some real problems in this city like infrastructure, crime, pension fund for city employees and he’s right we can’t just ignore it and keep kicking this can down the road. Sooner or later were going to run into that iceberg so we need someone with a vision and a plan and I believe Hall has one.”
As he continued to rally for support Hall let his supporters know he is going to be “Hall for All”.
“That’s more than a motto it’s a commitment,” said Hall. “I want to be a voice for the powerful but I also want to be a voice for the powerless, I want to be a voice for those who may have a home but I also want to be a voice for those who are homeless, I want to be a voice for those who are full and also a voice for those who are hungry but when you ask the question of what kind of man Ben Hall is going to be you tell them I am going to be a Mayor for everyone. I will be Hall for All but I need All for Hall.”
When the Sun talked to Hall about the feedback received from Houstonians, Hall said, “Extremely well, there is such excitement out there in the community and it drives me even further than I would otherwise think I would be able to do. Everybody I’m meeting is so energized by this campaign as they look for a fresh and new day in Houston.”
When asked about Mayor Parker’s response to him as a full blown contender, Hall said, “It’s clear that she recognizes that people are starting to gravitate to our campaign and so she’ll try to continue to attack me but I’m not going to shrink to that level, I’m going to stay on the high end of it and continue to speak about the bright future of Houston and not about the disappointing present.”
Of course the speech could not be concluded without asking for votes but he also requested prayer. Hall said it is going to be a spiritual fight as well as a political fight yet he pledged not to do anything that would dishonor Houstonians as he joked about the attack on him for living in Piney Point, a suburb of Houston. He went on to say he wants to live his life in a way the Lord will be pleased with and he pledges to have a very humble spirit.
Ben Hall supporter Clark Rone, said Hall is an answered prayer. “ People have been praying that God would send someone to step up to the plate to lead this city in the direction it needs to go and I just think he’s what we need, an answered prayer.”
Hall greeted, shook hands, posed for pictures and spoke to anyone who made eye contact. His intent is clear and the manner he will pursue it as well. The race is official as of August 20th and these candidates have until November to win over the citizens of Houston.