Hanceville Mayoral debate

0:25 Hello and welcome to the beautiful Bailey Center auditorium on the grounds Falls State College in Hansville. Thank

0:32 you to our gracious host Wall State College and Dr. Vicky Carlos. The 2025

0:38 Tribune Debate Series and question and answer forums continues today with municipal elections, more specifically

0:45 the Hansville municipal elections. These events are designed to give the public more unfiltered answers without the

0:52 questions ahead of time, direct comparisons, and meaningful conversation. We now shift our focus as

0:59 we've heard from candidates running for council place one, place three, and place four. Now, it's time for those

1:06 hopeful to become mayor of Hansville. We have Paul Campbell, Robert Eugene Bob Long, and Christopher

1:14 Johnson uh here with us today. So, we shall proceed with the debate. The Tribune works hard and diligently to

1:24 reach every candidate and we're glad that all three responded and came out today for this debate. With all that

1:31 being said, let's get to it. Now for the rules for the candidates. No electronic

1:36 devices are permitted. Questions will alternate, so no candidate will always answer first or last.

1:44 Opening statements are limited to 60 seconds and may be a prepared statement. Time allotted per question will be two

1:53 minutes. Your closing statement will be 2 minutes, but must be spoken without notes.

2:00 One rebuttal per question, but only if a candidate calls out the other, and they

2:07 will end up giving that candidate 45 seconds to respond. Facts only. No accusations without proof. This will

2:16 allocate additional time to your opponent. Voters deserve substance over slogans. Talking points are not enough. So, let's

2:28 begin. Bob, would you like to start us off with their introduction? >> Sure.

2:36 >> Most of you know me. My name is Bob Long. I'd like to thank Wallace and

2:39 Tribune for hosting us here. Um, election day is only 10 days away. Most

2:43 of you have pretty much made up your mind who you're going to vote for. But

2:46 for those of you who haven't, this will give you a chance to kind of hear what

2:49 we have to say and maybe help you come to a decision. I retired from the police department in

2:55 March of 23. Um, because of my age, I signed up for social security in October

3:00 of 24 and I worked part-time down at Birmingham Fasteners. So, I've still yet

3:07 to figure out why all those checks go into my wife's account, but she assures

3:11 me I'm we're doing fine. So, why accept the position of mayor? For me, it's simple. Half of my law

3:18 enforcement career was spent right here in Hville, and this is my home. Recently, Hansville, we made news and it

3:25 was embarrassing. So, in short, I just want to restore honor to the city of

3:30 Hville. >> Thank you, sir. and we'll move to Paul >> if you would. Uh opening statement.

3:40 >> Uh good evening. My name is Paul Campbell and thank you Noah and for Wall

3:46 for having us here this evening. Uh thank you also for for being with us and

3:50 those of you that's online as well. I'm Paul Campbell. U my home's been here in

3:56 Hansville for the last 23 years. Um we we raised a family here and uh part of

4:03 the family just actually came in a little late there. So we're glad though

4:07 that you guys made it anyway. But uh my I have four grandchildren that go to uh

4:16 the school at Hansel. I have one granddaughter here at Wallace. I have three grandchildren at Holly Pond. So,

4:25 uh, we are we're kind of rooted in this area and, uh, we're thankful to be here,

4:31 but I pastor, uh, Hansville Methodist Church and I've done so for 23 years

4:37 and, um, we're just glad to be in this community and glad to be a part of, uh,

4:43 what's going on here today and we look forward to being a part of uh, the good

4:49 things that's going to happen in the future as well here in Hansville, Abama.

4:54 >> All right. Thank you, sir. And Chris or Christopher? >> Whichever you prefer.

5:00 >> Chris. >> Yes, sir. >> Uh, it is uh your turn for an opening

5:03 statement. >> My name is Chris Johnson. I'm a local business owner here in Hansville. I own

5:08 the coffee shop in downtown Hansville. Um, have been since 2023. Um, I would love the opportunity to turn

5:15 this town into what it can be. Um, Hansville currently has a black eye and

5:20 has had for many years and that needs to change. You need somebody to restore the

5:25 transparency, integrity, and lead with strong leadership. Um, you need somebody that is committed to doing this around

5:31 the clock for whatever is needed. Somebody that's not willing to put that is willing to put in the hard work, the

5:37 late hours in any amount of time, that's willing to work with whoever is on the

5:40 council with your local business owners and whatever it takes to turn this town

5:46 around. I am committed to being able to do that for you if you will have me.

5:50 >> Thank you, sir. Thank you all for your opening statements and we will get

5:55 straight into the debate. Uh we will start uh with you Bob. Uh Bob, we will

6:01 start with citywide infrastructure priorities. What are your top three infrastructure priorities for the entire city and how

6:09 would you fund them? >> Well, number one obviously is going to be public safety. Um we uh lost our

6:17 police department. Um, I retired about two years ago before this mess happened. If you would have told me we'd be in

6:23 this situation when I retired, I would have said there was no way it was

6:26 possible. But yet, here we are. So, the police department is the number one. Um,

6:31 without it, you can't enforce your laws. You can't enforce your ordinances. Um, if you sitting out there and you have an

6:39 accident, you're going to have to sit and wait on state trooper to get here to

6:42 work your wreck. Countyy's not going to work your wrecks. Um, the county can't

6:46 enforce your ordinances. Um, so law enforcement, public safety, number one. Second would be the roads and streets.

6:52 Uh, I've been campaigning uh pretty hard for about six weeks. And the number one

6:58 is law enforcement. Number two is my streets and my ditches. Uh, everyone knows if you live in town, we have a lot

7:03 of ditch problems when it comes to rain. They flood. So, we have to keep the

7:07 ditches and covers cleaned out. And then number three would be the parks. Um, a

7:12 lot of people are complaining about the parks. We need better ball fields for

7:16 our kids. you know, we need this or that. Now, it's easy to sit up here and

7:20 say, "I'm going to fix these things." But the question is, how are you going

7:23 to fix them? Well, I've got experience in working with the former leaders uh

7:26 for 14 years. I was in Hansville for 13 years. I was the chief. So, I've worked

7:30 closely with the mayor, the city clerk, the public works superintendent, the fire chief. I've helped poured sidewalks

7:36 up and down this highway. I built pavilions over in the park. I've laid a

7:39 ton of tile in the city hall and the fire department. So, I know what it's

7:43 like to work side by side with these people. and I'll continue to do so.

7:48 >> Thank you, sir. And Paul, we will move on to you and same question. What are

7:54 your top three infrastructure priorities for the entire city and how would you fund them?

8:02 >> Like Bob, my all three is the same. Uh police department, uh law enforcement,

8:08 public safety is number one. Uh restoring that I think is going to be

8:12 our our number one work. um h how do we how do we fund it? Uh

8:20 hopefully the uh the group that's in charge right now is putting us back a

8:26 little money to help us because we know that it's going to take a million to get

8:31 us started. Um so hopefully that they're thinking about that in advance. If not,

8:37 we're going to have to relocate a lot of money and it may cause some other

8:40 problems down the road. Number two, uh yes, our streets, which we've had a a

8:46 major sewer renovation going on, which our our streets is a little tough right

8:52 now because a lot of our streets has been cut up. And uh they're going to be

8:56 fixing some of those in the near future as well, but uh hopefully they'll be

9:01 able to to pay and uh take care of some of that, you know, through this

9:06 construction business that's going on now. park and wreck. A major overhaul needs to take place there. Uh we got

9:13 some kids in the audience today that plays at our park and wreck and actually

9:18 been playing ball all morning uh here in Hansel. But uh yes, we we want people

9:24 when they come to our town and when they come to our parks, we want them to say,

9:29 "Hey, they've got a nice place here. Uh they're doing a good job here." And so

9:34 we do need to do a lot of work within our parks and our wrecks. Uh just

9:39 upkeep, just uh just face lifts and making things look a little better and

9:44 being more presentable, changing the image, you might say. Uh and that's going to be something I think that we

9:50 have to look at throughout the town. Um changing the image and and we'll have to

9:57 do that through probably some grants and some special funding. may even have to

10:02 make some do some special fundraising to make some of this stuff happen, but

10:06 there will have to be some relocation of funding. >> Thank you, sir. >> And Chris, same question. What are your

10:14 top three infrastructure priorities for the entire city and how would you fund them?

10:20 >> First and foremost, as everybody's top priority is, is going to be public

10:23 safety and that's not just the police department. That includes the fire department and everything encompassing

10:29 all of public safety. Um, as brother Paul Campbell said, hopefully our current administration is putting us in

10:36 a position to be able to succeed at that. Um, if not, we are going to have

10:40 to seek grant funding to be able to start this police department back up. We

10:44 are going to have to finance potentially a good portion of that. So, you're going

10:48 to have police vehicles, equipment, other thing that other things that can't be seek um through grants that are just

10:55 going to have to be put on a loan. Um that's just the bare basics of of how we

11:00 have to do that. Um we need to make sure that our fire department is adequately

11:05 staffed as well to be able to take care of all of the medical um calls that they

11:09 have. There is more medical for them than there is actual fire. Um we are an

11:13 advanced lifesaving fire department. So that means that we do more than your bare basics that any other department

11:22 has. We actually have a DEA certified certificate that allows us to keep very

11:29 potent drugs in house. Um and that's something that a lot of places around

11:33 here don't have. Second on infrastructure is going to be an all-encompassing of in infrastructure.

11:39 It's not just the roads. So water, sewer, power. If we want to expand and

11:44 grow as a town, what infrastructure is needed? Yes, we need to pave roads and

11:49 we need to keep those clean and we need to keep them upkeep. But do we have the

11:53 sewer infrastructure to expand? Do we have the water infrastructure to expand? At what point do we have to expand our

12:00 water treatment plant? At what level can we grow before we have to start making

12:05 investments into that? That is a report that needs to be generated and we need

12:09 to know at what levels we can grow. Um, third is going to be park and wreck and

12:14 the investment back into the younger generation and the children in this community. Um, and we do that through a

12:20 dedicated full-time grant writer. What we can't get in grants and in free money. Then we take and we turn around

12:27 and we reallocate through budgeting and do we do the best that we can while

12:31 being transparent with the public. >> Sorry, it was it went over two minutes.

12:37 I have to stop. Um we will move on to question number two. Paul this will

12:43 first question will be for you. Okay. >> Economic development strategy. What specific industries or businesses

12:51 would you target to attract to HZful and what incentives would you consider offering?

13:02 >> Not sure on what I would actually go after, but I'll tell you what my idea

13:06 is. uh along with the uh the development planning committee uh going back and

13:13 looking at some of their things that they did over the last two or three

13:17 years. Uh again, not sure exactly where they are with some of that thought

13:23 process. But I think one of the things that I would want to do first is I would

13:27 want to sit down with some of our local business owners that are successful. and

13:32 we have many gifted, many talented business owners uh in our area that's doing a great job. But I'm going to sit

13:39 down with them and do a little vision and um create a a group of people that

13:44 could be more probably um maybe more qualified to answer that question and be able to say, "Hey, these

13:57 are some people that we'd like to target. These are some companies we'd like to target that would fit into our

14:02 community and not hurt other local businesses that are already in our community because sometimes you bring in

14:11 uh something even though you can get it, it may hurt a local business owner

14:15 because it may be competition. So I think you got to be very very careful

14:19 with that kind of stuff. So that's a little bit more than saying what I would

14:22 like to bring in. It's what would work and we could make it work without

14:27 hurting our other local businesses. So that's where I would start with that that thought.

14:33 >> Thank you, sir. Chris, the same question. What specific industries or businesses would you target to attract

14:40 to Hansville and what incentives would you consider offering? The types of businesses that you're

14:48 going to recruit depends on the type it is. If it's a retail facing business, we

14:52 can't really recruit them until we stabilize the economy. Three months out of the year, 40 to 60% of our population

14:58 disappears overnight when Wallace dismisses over the summer. So, if you're bringing something in retail, you have

15:03 to fix that first. I believe that's done through park and wreck with ball

15:06 tournaments over the weekend to at least initially stabilize the economy. Then we can recruit. I don't want to recruit

15:12 somebody to come in here and then not be able to support them with our economy.

15:17 Um, if you are a non retail-f facing business, I believe that we do that

15:22 through tax abatements and we are very selective on the type of companies that

15:26 we recruit that care about its employees first. If you are not an employee

15:32 focused group, I do not want you in this town. I want people that care about

15:36 their employees, that actually show up to work every day and care about the

15:40 people that's generating revenue from them for them. And that's done through tax abatements, um, infrastructure. We

15:47 have different mechanisms to be able to use and to recruit these companies in

15:52 using the technical degrees here that Wallace offers. And being able to have them a ready supply of talent that they

15:58 can pick and choose from um, is a great asset that we could utilize um, here

16:03 from the wonderful college. >> Thank you, sir, for that response. Bob, same question.

16:11 What specific industries or businesses would you target to attract to Hansville and what incentives would you consider

16:17 offering? >> Well, recently we were discussing it and we were thinking that a a free

16:24 standalone coffee shop would go really good right across the street from Wall Estate. For those of you who don't know,

16:29 there used to be a car wash there that got destroyed and had to be torn down.

16:34 Um, you can imagine if you look up here at the Seven Brew, the line that they've

16:37 got waiting every day, um, here at Wallace, that would be really great. But

16:42 I've not been just sitting here talking or thinking about what I might do. I've

16:46 actually been out there. I've talked to some local business owners that actually currently have businesses here in

16:50 Hansville and ask them, "What's it going to take to maybe get you to open up

16:55 another location or maybe expand the location that you have?" Um, I've talked to some people that are located in

17:00 Cullman and say, "What would it take to bring you back down here to Cullman or

17:04 to Hansville? Um, the tax abatements and tax breaks are great incentives. That's one of the things that they look at. How

17:11 can you help my business without costing me an arm and a leg?" So, it's things

17:15 that the council will have to do to work with these lo local owners to help get

17:18 them down here. >> All right. Thank you all for those answers. Uh, we're going to move on to

17:26 public safety coordination. I'm going to kind of preface this with the reason I

17:31 am mentioning Cullman County Sheriff's Office is because they are currently patrolling the area. Um, so just so

17:38 everybody knows why. Chris, you'll go first. How will you strengthen cooperation between the CCSO,

17:49 police, fire, and public works departments to improve emergency response and city services? You have to start out by good building

18:02 good relationships and getting the citizens to feel like that they're being patrolled, that they're not always

18:09 seeing the sheriff's office sitting in one area. We have to get out and make

18:13 sure that we are protecting the citizens by patrolling. We have to be seen and be

18:19 visualized. And when I say we, I mean the police department that is whatever

18:24 is encompassing handsful. Um you have to build a that relationship to begin with

18:32 and then b you have to make sure that dispatchers are properly trained to be

18:38 able to adequately get the information that is needed as quickly as possible and relay that um to different people.

18:44 Um, I believe an asset to that is keeping our PAP that we have here in the

18:50 city of Hansville. Um, and that is our ability to house 911 here in the future

18:56 if that's part of the rebuilding process. Um, making sure that all of your officers are adequately trained and

19:03 know the area um to increase your response time. Making sure that your fire department as well. um working with

19:09 any place that you may be needed. So if something happens on this campus of

19:14 Wallace, the first call is whoever is patrolling Hansville. Our officers, whether that's Cullman County or

19:21 Hansville PD, need to be aware of the situation and the layouts and buildings

19:26 and the infrastructure that's here on Wallace because should they need it, we're the first ones that they're

19:31 calling. >> Thank you, sir, for that answer. Bob, we'll move to you. Same question. How

19:39 will you strengthen cooperation between the Columb County Sheriff's Office, Police, Fire, and Public Works

19:46 departments to improve emergency response and city services? Well, for me, that's easy. I already

19:53 have a working relationship with them. Um, they've got my cell phone number and

19:57 I've got theirs. If I have an issue, I call them and we'll discuss whatever it

20:00 is that we're looking at. Um, as far as the fire department, when um, we were

20:06 working here, we had enough personnel, we would always send one police officer with the firemen to whatever call they

20:12 might get to because sometimes, and frequently, the fire department is short staffed. Um, I've actually helped fight

20:18 fires myself with these guys. So, if you're working side by side with them,

20:22 you know them by name, they know you by name, and it does a lot to increase your

20:26 ability to work together. Um, when I was here, if you called 911, we had about a

20:32 2-minute response time. If you lived in town and you called 911, one of my guys

20:36 would be there usually within 2 minutes. That's a pretty quick response time. Also, one of the things that we used to

20:43 do, we called it painting the town. Okay? Every officer was required to, if

20:48 at all possible, patrol every street of the city during their 12-h hour shift.

20:52 Now, sometimes on dayshift, that'd be hectic and you couldn't get it done. But

20:55 on the night shift for 12 hours, most of the time there's no reason that you

20:59 couldn't patrol these streets. So if the cops are going up and down the streets,

21:03 the thugs are less likely to try to break into your house. You know, you

21:06 might drive up on something right there that's occurring right in your presence. So you're putting it out. I'm going to

21:12 stop over here on a suspicious vehicle on this particular residence. So we had

21:16 a lot of officers patrolling and uh we kept our crime rates down. We kept our

21:20 response times down and we had a good police department that worked well with

21:24 the fire department and uh street department. >> Thank you, sir. And we'll move to uh Paul. Same

21:32 question. How will you strengthen cooperation between the CL County Sheriff's Office, police, fire, and

21:39 public works departments to improve emergency response and city services? >> Again, it's about relationships. Um, we

21:49 keep that relationship open the the best we can definitely by communicating, talking with the sheriff and um, right

21:58 now it's talking to the sheriff and talking to the Cullman County Sheriff's Department. Uh, again, I I think that as

22:06 we progress though, it's going back to what Bob said too. Um over the years we

22:13 have had good response times when our PD was intact. So that'll be our goal down the

22:21 road. But right now if we're just working with the sheriff's department, it's just making sure that we keep a

22:27 good working relationship with them right now till we do get our police department back intact. That's where we

22:34 are. That's what we've got to do. >> Thank you, sir. And we will move on to question number

22:42 four and this is going to be citydwide policy impact. Bob, we'll start with you.

22:49 What is your stance on the absence of the police department? Would you be for

22:54 or against bringing back the Ansville Police Department? And please elaborate. >> Well, those of you who know me, you know

23:02 there's nothing more important to me than the police department. I mean, that's what I did for 28 years. I was a

23:08 law enforcement officer. 14 of them were right here in Hansville. This is my

23:12 home. And for us to be embarrassed because we had a couple rogue officers

23:18 make some very bad decisions. Um it was just illegal, period. There's nothing that you can say to justify it. And I've

23:26 always tried to uphold the guys. But one of the things that we used to do was we

23:29 would have body cams on them. If they go out on a call, they got body cams. They

23:34 got car cameras. and that will help actually hold the officer accountable to make sure that he's doing the right

23:40 thing. So, we're going to rebuild it. It'll be a slow process. The current

23:46 administration's already hired a consultant to work with AMC, the Alabama Municipal Insurance Company. They're

23:52 going to instruct them on what we have to do. We're going to wind up totally

23:56 rewriting the policy and procedure man manual. The hiring practices will be totally revamped um along with the

24:03 training. and then we'll put the right people in the right places and we will

24:07 actually hold them accountable. >> Thank you sir for that response and we will move on to Paul.

24:16 Same question. What is your stance on the absence of a police department? What

24:22 would would you be for or against bringing back the Hansville Police Department? And please elaborate.

24:29 >> Yes, I'm I'm for the police department coming back. Uh I think it's uh

24:35 something that we stand in need of greatly just for the fact of the

24:38 presence the presence of uh police department is it keeps down a lot of

24:45 crime. We know that uh like Bob said over the years when you're when you're

24:51 painting the town and your presence is known it just eliminates so much crime.

24:58 Uh we may not think there's that much crime here, but but there is. There's

25:02 underlying crime all the time and and without the presence of them being here,

25:08 it grows. Um back to uh the image. Uh yeah. Yeah. Our image is bad right now. So with this

25:20 consultant that's hired by the previous administration that's in place now, he is rewriting policies. He is rewriting

25:27 procedures and thanks to the current administration for doing that and and working toward making it a little faster

25:37 maybe when the new group comes in, whomever that may be, mayor and city

25:42 council, because with those procedures and those policies being written right now, it's going to make it a lot easier

25:49 when we do go uh and talk to that insurance company again and be able to

25:55 uh say, "Hey, will you take us? Because that's where we are right now without those things in

26:00 place. U we can't get the insurance that we need to make this happen. So, uh

26:07 that's that's the hope. That's the prayer that we be able to do that in the

26:11 upcoming few months and and it may take a year or two, but but hopefully we'll

26:16 be able to do it sooner rather than later. >> Thank you, sir, for your response.

26:22 Chris, we'll move on to you. Same question. What is your stance on the absence of a

26:27 police department? Would you be for or against bringing back the Hansville Police Department? And please elaborate.

26:35 >> I am 100% in favor of bringing the police department back. Um there is more

26:40 of an asset than you can associate with a dollar amount to a local police

26:44 department. We cannot create a contract that the Cullman County Sheriff's Office would sign for all of the things that we

26:51 would be capable of doing. having them out at community events, having them being able to do what Bob did for years

26:58 of directing traffic there at the school. Um, everything that is an asset that exceeds a dollar value for the

27:05 citizens, the Cullman County Sheriff's Office will not sign that contract. If we have control over everything, they're

27:12 not signing it. So we have to work closely with AMCH, our insurance company

27:17 to be able to implement this police department at whatever stages and whatever speed that they will allow us

27:24 to. It is up to them. It is not up to us and we have to prove to them that we can

27:29 do this and we can do it correctly. We also have to have policies and

27:33 procedures in place and programs for um retention. We've got to be able to have

27:39 things for recruitment. How are we going to handle these? Um for accountability, how are we going to handle these? That's

27:45 all very big questions and we have one shot to get this right. There is only

27:50 one opportunity to be able to get this and the only way to do it is correctly.

27:55 When we hire somebody, we have to completely vet them. Make sure that they

27:58 have all of their certifications. Look at every personnel file from every place that they have ever worked. Why did you

28:05 leave each department? I know this is what it says on pieces of paper, but I

28:10 want your story from you of what happened. Why did you leave that department? And making sure that we have

28:16 the correct people in place that care about its citizens that are here to

28:21 patrol and protect the citizens that are not here to harass the citizens. because

28:25 that's the last thing that we need is a police department with somebody that

28:29 only cares about writing tickets, that is not worried about rebuilding the community, that is not worried about

28:36 getting out and being involved in things, going to the local business owners and spending your money there and

28:41 checking on them, being visualized. Um, I'm not in favor of ghost cars. If you

28:47 have a ghost car and you're riding through a parking lot, All right, we will move on to uh

28:59 community engagement. We will start with Paul. What new avenues will you create for

29:06 residents to have direct input into city policy before major decisions are made? >> Open forum. Um I think it's been talked

29:18 about by several of the uh city council persons as well. Uh couple of open

29:25 forums a year. I think that's very important as well. Um changing the time.

29:31 I think some of you guys have mentioned that as well. Uh we we just have to

29:35 create better ways to where we can get more of the public involved in city

29:41 government. And uh there's several things that we can do. again uh moving the time for our council meetings I

29:48 think would help us a whole lot to where we can get more people involved and and

29:53 setting a couple of dates uh a year may maybe even more but having that open

29:58 forum situation to where we can come in and sit down and communicate together

30:03 because you know there's several of you here that that's here tonight that uh

30:07 it's important to you or you wouldn't be here and and that's the way it is even

30:12 within our council meetings um time is so so important to be able to do that,

30:17 but create other avenues, whatever that may be. Um, I I think that those are the

30:24 things that would be a good start to be able to to accomplish that.

30:29 >> All right. Thank you, sir. Uh, Chris, same question. What new avenues will you create for residents to

30:37 have direct input into city policy before major decisions are made? I believe like many people have echoed

30:45 the first thing we do is move the city council meeting time so that more people

30:49 can be able to attend. Um I would like to see quarterly forms um so that at

30:55 least every 3 months there is an opportunity that you can come ask the

30:58 people that you elected any question and if we don't have the answer for it right

31:03 then we respond and post that online. That way the question was asked you get

31:07 an answer. Um, I would also like to see social media utilized so that it's not

31:12 the information is just getting out at city council meetings, posting those minutes online, utilizing social media

31:19 as much as possible to be able to get every bit of information about anything

31:24 that's coming up out to the citizens. If you don't have social media, we can be

31:28 able to set up an email bank so that we can email you. If there is any major

31:33 infrastructure, businesses, anything coming into um the city of Hville, I think that that needs to be brought up

31:41 into a public form that is advertised over an extended amount of time so that

31:46 everybody has an opportunity to ask questions and be involved in that process. and it eliminates stretching

31:54 out multiple city council meetings for hours and hours for the question and answer form um for the public hearing

32:01 portion of reszoning or whatever else. Let's get all those questions out in advance before we get to that point.

32:08 Here's what would like to come to Hansville. Here's where we think it would best fit and get input from the

32:14 public. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. Bob, the same question. What new avenues will

32:21 you create for residents to have direct input into city policy before major decisions are made?

32:28 >> Well, there's actually already some steps in place. Anybody can attend the council meetings and um they're actually

32:35 being live streamed now. Uh we need to update the city website so we can keep

32:40 people informed. Um, we might need to slow down just a little bit because when

32:44 we go to do some of these things, you go to the council meeting, then there has

32:47 to be a first reading of it, a second reading of it, and then they can

32:50 actually take action. Some companies don't want things getting out right away about, you know, somebody's getting

32:55 ready to bring a business in here until they get some of the basics nailed down

32:59 and then eventually you'll have time, you know, to make your announcements and have your grand openings and

33:03 groundbreaking ceremonies and so forth. So, if I had a dollar for every time

33:08 I've heard the word transparency lately, I could probably afford to pay off my

33:12 truck. But you just got to be honest with people. And if you're honest with

33:16 people, honesty is going to trump transparency. Okay? Tell the people what they need to know. Okay? Be honest with

33:24 them. Shoot straight. This might not be what you want in your backyard. You

33:27 know, we got a housing development going up over here. 70ome houses. Some of the

33:31 people aren't real happy for it, but the planning commission looked at it. They

33:35 evaluated it. They worked out an agreement with the developer. And I think it's going to be really good for

33:40 the city. Um, as new people come to town, that's going to create a need for

33:44 new jobs. Okay? And so, we're going to need to look at increasing our factories

33:49 that we have around here, maybe hire some more people, give them some incentives to grow their business. And

33:55 so, we'll try to keep it as open for you as we can. And you're more than welcome

33:59 to attend every council meeting. And at the beginning of the meeting, they give

34:02 three three minutes. you can get up there and speak what's on your mind and

34:05 the council may take action on it. >> Thank you sir for your response and we

34:12 will move on to the next question. Chris, this will uh start with you. This

34:17 is involving downtown revitalization. How will you ensure downtown Hansville develops into both an economic hub and a

34:27 community gathering place without losing its historic character? That's a very tough question because

34:36 that's a double-edged sword. Um, the property in downtown is private property and the city can't do a lot with private

34:46 property. So, you have to build the correct relationships with the people to be able to say, "Hey, look, this is a

34:52 vision and this is a plan working with Mr. Bradford. He owns most everything

34:56 that's in downtown. So you can't come in there and say you're going to beautify

35:01 this or you're going to clean up this. You can get into a back and forth and

35:05 try to ordinance things and stuff like that, but you got to build a great

35:08 working relationship with those people to try to improve that vision. Um, I would love to see a entertainment

35:16 district in downtown to where we can hold concerts once Nolan's stage is done. Um, as he continues to invest into

35:25 downtown and be able to have a spot to be able to gather, have community events

35:30 and other things. Um, and then you work with other local businesses to bring

35:34 things in that are missing to be able to support that entertainment district and

35:39 then continue to grow it. Um, Second Fridays in Cullman wasn't built overnight. Um, but it is a booming,

35:47 magnificent thing if you have not been to it late lately. Um, I am a vendor at

35:52 it at one of my businesses and the last second Fridays the turnout was a little

35:57 over 11,000 people for a community event that is free to attend and I would like

36:02 to see that emulated um here in Hville, particularly in downtown. >> Thank you, sir. Bob, uh, same question.

36:12 How will you ensure downtown Hansel develops into both an economic hub and a

36:18 community gathering place without losing its historic character? >> Well, I think we can thank Nolan.

36:26 For those of you who have been around for a while, you know how most of those

36:30 buildings down there were getting run down, dilapidated, and vacant. So, over the last eight or nine years, they have

36:36 brought in new businesses. They've um tore some of these buildings down to the

36:40 strictly the bare walls and rebuild them from the ground up. But he's done a good

36:43 job of keeping the storefronts, you know, similar as to how they actually were, you know, 20 25 years ago. Um he's

36:50 brought in a lot of good businesses. Um some of them have expanded and moved on.

36:54 Some of them are relocating currently. Um but he's always constantly bringing in new business, things that we can use

37:01 in a small town. Now, what we don't want to do is bring in too many businesses

37:05 that might not fit, like a bar. You know, I've heard some talk about a

37:09 sports bar coming in in downtown Hansville. Well, you ask the people that lived over in Hopeville Metas what

37:14 happened when Cadillac Bronze moved in. The loud music just playing out all hours of the night, vibrating their

37:21 windows from 200 yards away. Uh, the people that live back there had a really

37:25 good complaint and eventually we were able to set them down for selling after

37:29 hours and selling to miners. So, we got to be selective on the type of business

37:34 that we allow to come into town because we want to keep that downtown hometown

37:38 atmosphere. >> Thank you, sir, for your reply. Paul, same question. How will you ensure

37:46 downtown Hansville develops into both an economic hub and a community gathering place without losing its historic

37:53 character? >> We trust Nolan Bradford. Yeah, it back to Nolan. He's he's pretty

38:08 much, you know, revamping downtown and we do appreciate what Nolan's doing there. And um we know that he works

38:16 close to the city council as well. And and I think whomever whomever hs a piece

38:23 of property there or owns a business in that area, it it's going to be kind of

38:29 back to what Chris said too about building relationships with them and having a mutual understanding of what

38:35 the people of Hansville want in their town. Um and and then playing off of Bob

38:42 again too. You know, we want to keep things wholesome as well. We don't want

38:46 to turn our hour what we feel like is a good wholesome town and a good family

38:52 town. Uh we don't want that image to to be marred by things that

39:01 90% of our residents don't want. So, so the relationships again with the uh the

39:08 business people downtown and our citizens, I think I think you got to work with all of them and be able to

39:15 maintain exactly what what the people want rather than what one or two people

39:20 want. >> Thank you, sir. And now we're going to move on to intergovernmental relations. Bob, this

39:29 question will start with you. How will you work with Cullman County, the state

39:33 legislature, and nearby municipalities to secure funding or partnerships for Hansville? >> Well, if some of you remember um at the

39:42 forum that we had, I spoke with you and I've already been up to Cullman to the

39:48 city of Cullman and also to the county to talk to their people on the economic

39:52 development boards and see what can we do to increase interest in downtown Hville. So, you know, they've given me

40:00 some good ideas. Um, there's also a NARCOG available. They get a lot of

40:04 grants and they will help steer businesses in your direction. So, I've already been up there working with them

40:10 and talking with them. So, we'll take it one step at a time. We're going to have

40:13 to rebuild this thing from the ground up. And as we get farther along into it,

40:19 we get our city government pretty much stationary and stabilized, we'll look at growing it one business at a time. and

40:27 we want to bring in the right businesses and there's people out there that can

40:30 help us. Um, Senator Gudger has been really great lately. If you've been paying attention to news, he's getting

40:36 grants for millions and millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, he's a good person to speak

40:41 with. I've already referred one of our local football players that coaches some of the pee-weees to go talk to him

40:47 because apparently we're in drastic need of football helmets for the little kids. Um, they say it's going to cost maybe

40:52 $20,000. Last year they were able to get um new u shoulder pads and so forth.

40:58 This year they're striving towards getting new helmets. Well, you know, all the stress gone on with um concussions

41:04 and so forth. So, we need to get our children some of these helmets and

41:07 Senator Dudger may be a great person to speak to about that. >> Thank you, sir, for your reply.

41:14 Paul will continue with the same question. How will you work with Cullman County, the state legislator,

41:21 legislature, and nearby municipalities to secure funding or partnerships for Hansville? We buy a lot of lunches with those guys.

41:31 Uh it's about building relationships. Again, uh you got to sit down with them,

41:36 you got to rub elbows with them, and you got to eat dinner with them. And

41:40 sometimes you carry them fishing, and sometimes you carry them hunting. But you build relationships with them people

41:46 that can offer you things that you need and whomever they are. Uh if they're

41:52 able to gather funds from the state level or even from a national level or

41:57 even if they're grant people, you build strong relationships with those people. And sometimes politics plays a lot into

42:05 this. Uh sometimes you have to swap some things out to make things happen. and

42:10 you do what you've got to do to attain the monies that you need to make things

42:15 work in your town. And that's just the way it works. >> Thank you, sir, for your point. Chris,

42:23 we'll carry on with the same question. How will you work with Cullman County,

42:27 the state legislature, and nearby nearby municipalities to secure funding or partnerships for Hansville?

42:35 You have to get out from behind the desk, go build those relationships, go

42:39 talk to the people that are making things happen and figure out how they're

42:43 doing it and utilize that in your community. Good Hope has just built a

42:48 magnificent park. They're in the process of building a splash pad or trying to

42:52 acquire funding for that. How did you do it? What worked for you? And be able to

42:57 implement that here in our town. on the state level, you have to go and talk to

43:02 them, build the relationships, and let them know what you need. If you don't go

43:06 tell them where your community is struggling and where you need funding at, they don't know to come help. They

43:13 don't just pass out free money right and left. It is where they feel it is best

43:18 needed in their community. And you have to go politic with them to be able to

43:22 get that. You have to be able to adequately articulate how this is going

43:27 to be beneficial for your citizens. You have to worry about the people that's in

43:31 this town. Get out from behind the desk, go to work, spend the time, put in the

43:37 effort, build those relationships, and then continue to foster those relationships later down the road. All

43:42 of the funding that was secured um for the ditches up the side of 31 highway,

43:48 that wasn't one grant. That was a continuous effort, 40, 50, $60,000 at a

43:54 time, whatever it was that you had to continue to go back and ask for until we

43:58 got done with those projects. Um, don't give up. Just continue building, plowing forward, and doing whatever is necessary

44:06 for your community. >> Thank you, sir, for that reply. Uh, we're going to move on to our next

44:14 topic, which is long-term budget planning. Paul, we'll start with you on this question. What steps will you take

44:22 to ensure the city's budget is stable, not just yeartoyear, but for the next

44:27 decade? I will have to have advisors. I'll have to have some people that's

44:34 smarter with me, smarter than me on finances. Um, I think we rely a lot on our city

44:41 council people as well, but I think there's times that when you have to

44:47 bring in some specialized people to help you, especially when you're dealing with long-term budgets, um, and not knowing

44:54 exactly how much you're going to have to spend to make some certain things now to

44:59 to make it happen. It's like it's talking about the police department. and it's talking about uh how much money

45:06 it's going to actually take over the course of two to three years to make

45:11 this happen. Uh we may have to do some different things that may not be

45:18 may may not be what we want to do is about attaining certain amounts of money to do what we

45:25 need to do. So, we may have to have advisors. We may have to have some

45:29 people that can help us uh make some decisions, long-term decisions. Uh I don't know how much money the the city's

45:38 sitting on right now. U I've not acquired I don't I've not asked those

45:43 questions and those are things that I would have to know to be able to

45:48 probably answer your question as you want it answered. >> I appreciate the response and the

45:54 cander. Um, Chris, you're up next. Same question. What steps will you take to

46:01 ensure the city's budget is stable, not just year-to-year, but for the next decade?

46:08 You have to set a full-blown economic development plan. If we stay on the

46:14 current trajectory and path that we're on, we're not going to grow. So, to be

46:18 able to have more funding to spend, you have to grow this town that comes in.

46:23 But you also have to be very mindful of things that happen. If they eliminate

46:27 the grocery tax and it is on a state level, okay, as long as it doesn't

46:33 affect us here, then um on a municipal level, and I don't understand that tax

46:38 side of it, if it affects a municipal, if it's just a state tax that they're

46:42 lowering, but if that revenue source is eliminated, property taxes are going up. Something else, you have to be able to

46:49 get that revenue. You have to be able to bring in businesses that are going to

46:53 generate revenue. If we're going to go into debt for something, there needs to

46:57 be an ROI on it, a return on investment, something that is going to be debt for

47:02 now that we're paying off, but is going to generate revenue down the road. Um,

47:06 if you're not looking at that aspect of it, then you're just setting yourself up

47:10 for failure in the future. You have to be able to set long-term contingency

47:15 plans on here is what we want to acquire, here is what the goal is. If

47:20 you don't have goals set of what kind of funding you need and what the next steps

47:24 are in expanding the city, then you you're just flying blind by the city of

47:29 your bridges. So, you need a 5-year, a 10year, a 15, and a 20-year economic

47:34 development plan and strategic um spending and planning. >> Thank you, sir, for that response. Paul,

47:42 we're move to the same question. What steps will you take to ensure the city's

47:48 budget is stable? not just yeartoear but for the next decade. >> Well, I've been fortunate enough to be

47:55 involved in some of those budget meetings and every year we try to set

47:59 back a certain amount of funding for savings and we need to continue to put

48:04 back that money into savings and try not to touch it if we can. I have a little

48:09 bit different view though. Um I think we're growing. I think we're growing in

48:12 leaps and bounds. You look at the houses that have been built in the last couple

48:17 years. go over to East Railroad, West Railroad. They built, you know, probably close to a dozen houses on West

48:23 Railroad, another four or five on East. Um, look up and down um Bluntsville

48:27 Street, new houses. These things are selling right now before they're even finished being built. Uh, look at the

48:34 new subdivision that Nol and him have helped bring in. That's going to be 73

48:37 houses. All those are going to bring in new people. They're going to bring in

48:41 more property tax. They're going to bring in more people buying food, more people buying groceries. And so we're

48:47 growing. You look at the new businesses that they've brought in. You know, you

48:50 got Tractor Supply right up the road and having horses. I'm very grateful to have

48:54 them. You look at the auto zone. So they're bringing in new businesses. Okay. They're bringing in new houses.

49:00 That brings in more citizens. That's going to generate more income for us on

49:05 the taxbased level. So, as we continue to grow at a slow percentage, as long as

49:10 we manage our money right and we're accountable for the money that we have

49:14 and take it one step at a time, I think we can pull oursel out of any hole that

49:18 we might be in on a 5year plan or a 10-year plan. And in 10 years, folks,

49:23 I'm not going to be here. I'm going to be retired. So, it'll be up to the the

49:26 new crew to take care of it. But I think if we take it one step at a time and

49:30 just work it day by day, um, go with what's working right now for us on our

49:35 growth, I think we're going to be just fine. >> Thank you, sir, for that response. All

49:39 right, we'll move on to leadership philosophy. Chris, we'll start with you. Describe a difficult decision you

49:48 believe a mayor must be ready to make and how you would handle it while

49:54 keeping public trust. One of the toughest decisions that you have to make as a mayor is firing an

50:04 individual. That's something that you have to be capable to be able to do. But

50:08 you also have to make sure that you have laid out that expectation for that

50:12 employee and that they know what the expectation is, what's expected of them, what's acceptable and what's not, and

50:19 that they're held accountable to that standard. Um, at some point you have to

50:23 be able to make that tough decision to fire that individual. Um, and that is one of the hardest decisions to

50:33 make as a business owner. Not the hardest, but it is one because you are

50:37 impacting somebody else's livelihood. Um, so you also have to be able to make the

50:46 tough decisions. um when people start to question things. Um as our city council has been beat up

50:57 right and left ever since the police department fiasco. Um you have to have

51:04 be able to make the tough decisions to a stand up for them to show transparency

51:08 and leadership in that this is not what's happening. to be able to keep the conspiracy theories out

51:16 and be transparent with the information and putting it out there. And that's not

51:20 a tough decision, but that's just protecting the other people that are on the council or whatever else. Um, as a

51:26 leader, you have to show that leadership. >> Thank you, sir, for that reply. Bob, the

51:33 same question. Describe a difficult decision you believe a mayor must be ready to make and how you would handle

51:40 it while keeping public trust. As police chief, I've had to make that decision many times. Um, I've had to

51:48 call an officer in, speak with them, and give them some form of disciplinary

51:52 action, whether it be a written warning, a write up, suspension, or even termination. Um, one time I had to write

52:00 a guy up and when it was done, he said, "Thank you, chief. You're the best chief

52:03 I've ever had." So, when you can do that with someone and you let them know that,

52:07 you know, I'm not doing this to be mean. I'm not doing it to be a jerk, but you

52:11 know, we have certain standards here that we have to uphold. You know, they

52:14 realize that and they respect it. I've had instances where you're not just firing that officer, you're firing his

52:21 wife and his kids because he may be the only support that they have. So, other

52:27 than just up and fire him, we had a progressive disciplinary action that we

52:32 would go with. And you would start off with maybe a warning, a write up, a

52:35 suspension, eventually termination. And that is something that I've had to do from time to time. Um, and it's not

52:41 easy. But if you get rid of a guy, um, just because maybe he screwed up, you

52:46 know, um, you got to give him his due process. Um, the private sector is

52:51 completely different than city government. Okay? They're entitled to certain rights and certain due

52:56 processes. And if you violate that, you'll wind up in litigation, and that can take years and cost thousands and

53:01 thousands of dollars to settle. So, but there are times that termination is warranted. But there are also times that

53:07 you can take a young officer or maybe even a seasoned officer and turn him

53:11 around and give him the proper guidance and he turned out to be a productive

53:14 member of your department and also a productive member of society. Thank you sir for that response.

53:21 Paul, we'll move on to you. Same question. Describe a difficult decision you believe a mayor must be ready to

53:27 make and how you would handle it while keeping public trust. I think accountability is always kind of

53:37 hard for a lot of people. Um, I've been in the volunteer side for 35 years and u

53:46 it's really hard even working with volunteers because you have to have so much

53:51 accountability even within um within a church u within um um community action groups that is totally volunteers and to

54:05 hold people accountable is hard to do it. It's but it's to me it's easier when

54:11 you're giving them a paycheck. Uh accountability then is there's an expectation. There's there's clarity of

54:20 duty and and what's expected out of an employee. Um back to what both of these

54:26 guys have said. Yeah. It's hard to be able to uh have to tell someone that

54:32 they're no longer needed because they've not met expectations and they've not done what they've been asked to do. So,

54:39 so going a step back a little bit, making sure that we understand job

54:45 duties, make making sure that we've um let our people know what the expectations is. I I think that's part

54:53 of the responsibility of leaders as well. We have to define what the job is

55:00 and give real clear instructions to what we want. Whether it be a park and wreck

55:05 guy or whether it be um a head of a department. Uh just to make sure that we

55:12 have their job description out there before them and we hold them accountable in whatever way that is uh that is

55:20 asking us to do. That is our job to hold people accountable and if they have to

55:24 be terminated, they have to be terminated if we can't work with them and get them get them to that place that

55:30 they can fulfill their responsibilities. >> Thank you, sir, for that response. Uh thank you all for answering our

55:38 questions. We have a few questions from the audience and then it will all be

55:43 overalls. Uh so uh Bob, we're going to start with you on this question. Uh this is kind of a

55:52 two-part question. How would you start rebuilding the police department? Would it be through the public service

55:59 commission? And would you keep the jail? Well, they've already started to rebuild it by working with the

56:11 consultant to figure out exactly what it we're going to have to do to please

56:15 AMIC. We're going to have to go through their processes. Um, and once that's

56:20 established, then we'll take it one day at a time and officer at a time. As far

56:27 as a jail, that may not be our decision to make. AMT may very well say, "No,

56:32 sir, you're not going to have another jail." So, if that happens, then we'll

56:35 have to go in. We'll have to negotiate with Cullman County. Um, even though we

56:39 have a jail here, uh, I think probably, at least in the beginning, it'll be a a

56:44 processing center where you bring someone in, you execute your warrant, um, you know, they're able to make bond,

56:49 and they move on down the road. If they're going to have to spend time in

56:53 the facility, there's a really good chance that you're going to have to go

56:55 to the county jail. And at that point, you know, we're going to have to

56:59 negotiate contracts with them. How much are we going to pay for processing? Um

57:03 how much we're going to pay for overnight fees. They have set fees that

57:07 they use. Um but I'm not exactly sure how many that we would have to reserve

57:12 in advance, how many we can take on a case- by case basis. >> All right. Thank you, sir, for that

57:18 response. Paul, we'll move on to you for the same question. How would you start rebuilding

57:24 the police department? Would it be through the public service commission? and would you keep the job?

57:32 >> Much like Bob's answer, u we're done in the process by hiring the consultant uh

57:38 that's doing our work now. Um new policies and new procedures. So that's that's in the process.

57:47 Um again, again, the jail may not be something that we can answer because if

57:54 they if if they say no, it doesn't matter what we would like to have. If

58:00 they say no, it's it's a done deal. So, it doesn't really Yeah, I would like for

58:05 us to be able to do that and be able to work it out, but that may not be a

58:10 possibility at all. >> All right. Thank you, sir. Chris, same question. How would you start rebuilding the

58:20 police department? Would it be through the public service commission? And would you keep the jail?

58:26 So, you start that process by going and having a conversation with AMIC. What

58:31 information have you requested? What information have you received back? Where do we stand with y'all? What do

58:38 you need for us to do next? What is that checklist that we need from you to be

58:43 able to complete? and where are we at on that? It is something that needs to be

58:47 taken very seriously with AMIC. Um if there is something that hasn't been completed, we need to get on that ASAP.

58:54 If there's things that we can be proactive and go ahead and start doing,

58:57 we need to get those things done now. Um we need to be able to build that

59:00 relationship with AMC and they need to be able to trust whoever is at the top

59:04 of the food chain and that is going to be one of the three of us that is

59:07 setting up here. Um the jail um that all depends. That's a multidirectional process. If AMX says

59:17 no, it's no. We pay Cullman County whatever they're going to charge us. If

59:21 they say it's up to us, then you have a financial responsibility to look at

59:25 that. The jail does come with a lot of liability. It does. But can we operate a

59:30 jail cheaper than Cullman County will charge us? Um, I was told that it is not

59:35 a per inmate per day charge for Cullman County that they charge you a flat rate

59:39 for the year. So that is something that we have to get down into the numbers and

59:43 evaluate. Is it something that we can afford? What is that additional liability going to cost us with the

59:51 insurance company? There is no one clear-cut answer because every question is going to turn it a different

59:57 direction. Um but we have to be able to do whatever AMC is going to ask of us.

1:00:03 We need to have different procedures in place. We need to know how we're going

1:00:08 to recruit talent. We need to know how we're going to retain talent. We need to

1:00:13 know how we're going to hold those people accountable and what our hiring process is going to be. There is a

1:00:18 multifacet portfolio to that to look at and it all starts with AMIC. It is whatever they

1:00:26 will allow us to do in whatever time frame that they will allow us to do it

1:00:30 and however much trust that we instill. >> All right. Thank you, sir, for that

1:00:37 response. We'll move on to this uh second of the three uh audience questions. Paul, this will begin with

1:00:44 you. How many officers do you think Hansville needs? And would you bring back any

1:00:52 officers that were previously at Hansville Police Department? whomever we hire

1:01:08 is our bullish chief. I think we have to be confident in him. If if it's this person that uh is our

1:01:19 consultant at this moment in time, if he winds up being the guy that we hire

1:01:26 uh and he becomes the new director of public safety, I believe we have to

1:01:33 trust him. I I don't think that's something that that I can sit here and tell you because

1:01:39 I'm I'm not a u a police officer. Um, I don't know a lot of those things. And

1:01:49 I'll say this, uh, as as a leader, there's going to be some things that I

1:01:53 don't think none of us is going to be professionals at. And we're going to

1:01:56 have to trust other people. That that's where we're going to have to delegate and we're going to have to

1:02:03 trust the counsel and helping us make decisions. There'll be some decisions that we may have may have to make, but

1:02:12 who whenever we make those decisions, we don't have to put trust in other people

1:02:16 as well. And and that's my answer to that. I who whomever we wind up going

1:02:22 with and saying, "You're the man for the job." We're going to have to say,

1:02:26 "Here's the keys and you get to drive the ship." And that's the way I would

1:02:31 handle it. >> All right. Thank you, sir, for that response. Chris, we'll move to you. Same

1:02:37 question. How many officers do you think Hansel needs? And would you bring back

1:02:43 any officers that were previously at Hansel Police Department? >> Officer standpoint, I believe it's going

1:02:50 to be a minimum of six officers. Um would be a minimum number. Um would like

1:02:57 to have more than that if the budget allows that. Um but that was the number

1:03:02 with talking with people that are in the the police world that it would be a

1:03:05 minimum of six officers but would need to be more than that. Um on the case of

1:03:11 the other officers um that is one of those processes that you open up

1:03:15 applications and you independently evaluate every single officer without being able to have pervy information to

1:03:23 some of the questions that I would have. I can't say whether we can or cannot

1:03:27 hire some of the previous officers. Um, to me, it all plays into integrity. How

1:03:32 many of those officers knew that that hole was in the wall? If you knew that

1:03:36 the hole was in the wall and you looked the other way, how many of those

1:03:39 officers ever saw that? If you saw that, no, you don't need to be in this police

1:03:42 department. You don't need to be in any police department. Um, that's just my

1:03:46 opinion. Integrity is a key aspect to a police officer. So, if there's officers

1:03:54 that never had evidence, that never dropped anything in that box, that had never been in there, and never had to

1:03:59 make an arrest, um, then you independently look at each one of those officers and evaluate each application.

1:04:06 You pull their personnel file. Was there any problems here? Was there any problems in anywhere else? Um, if those

1:04:14 questions can be answered, then you give everybody an equal opportunity to be employed.

1:04:20 Thank you, sir, for that response. Bob, same question. How many officers do you

1:04:26 think Hansville needs? And would you bring back any officers that were previously at Hansville Police

1:04:32 Department? >> So, if you're talking about sworn personnel, which is the police officers,

1:04:39 um you got to have a minimum of 10. Okay? You've got 12-hour shifts. You run

1:04:44 a a shift and a B. You've got day shift and night shift on two different

1:04:48 rotations. Um during our busiest hours, we actually had a guy who would come in

1:04:52 at noon and work till midnight. Uh there were times during a month we might

1:04:56 answer 2,000 or 2200 calls during a month. Um a call could be anything from

1:05:02 you calling 911 and we send an officer down to help the fire department. Um or

1:05:07 it could be a burglar, a prowler. Um it could be your neighbor's dogs barking

1:05:12 too loud. It's not safe to be out there one man by yourself. I can tell you I've

1:05:16 done it. years ago, Hansville used to work one man per shift. Okay? You don't

1:05:21 want them out there. Um, as far as hiring additional officers, I know some

1:05:26 of the people that lost their jobs, they had nothing to do with the scandal that

1:05:31 was developed. There were nonsworn personnel. They had been there 8, 10, 12, 15 years. Nothing to do with that

1:05:39 particular incident. Lost their jobs. So, yes, some of those people would have the opportunity to come back, but would

1:05:45 they want to? That's the question. Do they think that maybe if something goes

1:05:49 wrong in the next few years, we're going to get rid of everybody again? You know,

1:05:53 trust is a hard thing to earn, but once you destroy it, it's even harder to get

1:05:58 it back. And that's going to be one of my number one priorities. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And

1:06:04 that brings us to our final question. Chris, this is this will start for you.

1:06:10 This is kind of a three-part question. Mhm. >> What is your favorite thing about living

1:06:16 in Hansville? How long have you lived here? And where in Hansville? What what

1:06:22 kind of what part of the area in Hansville do you live? >> So I live on the southwest side of

1:06:29 Hville. Um I have been a legal resident of Hville 98 days prior to the election. Not going

1:06:40 to hide that. have been connected with the community and had a business here

1:06:43 for many many years and have had children um that have been a vibrant

1:06:49 part of this community. Um I have lived in the Hansville school district since

1:06:57 2014 um when I bought my previous house, rented it and then did a owner finance

1:07:02 and then a purchase. Um, but my favorite part about HZville is the small town

1:07:09 aspect that this is still the small town that has a community. It is what Cullman

1:07:18 used to be. Cullman used to be the wonderful little small town that everybody was so happy to to call home

1:07:24 and was growing and was amazing. That is Hansville. You know the people that are here. You

1:07:31 know the community. When something happens to a member in the community, we can be able to pick up and help that

1:07:37 individual. We put politics to the side. We put the needs of everybody else on

1:07:43 hold to help somebody when an issue happens. Somebody loses a loved one. Um

1:07:48 car breaks down. That still small town community feel that people care about each other is my favorite part of

1:07:55 Hansville. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. Bob, same question. What is your

1:08:02 favorite thing about living in Hansville? How long have you lived here and what part of Hansville do you live?

1:08:10 >> Well, for me it's really easy. Um, many of you may not know it, but before I got

1:08:15 involved in law enforcement back in 1995. I was a professional Arabian horse trainer. That's how I met my wife. Um, I

1:08:22 moved down to Alabama. One of my clients set me up on a blind date. The only one

1:08:25 I've ever been on my entire life. I'm never going to do it again. Been married

1:08:29 almost 41 years. So, as our children grew and got married, moved off, the

1:08:35 youngest joined the Marine Corps, I told my wife, I'm going to get another horse.

1:08:39 She thought I was crazy. Um, but I started buying up some tack and

1:08:43 equipment and so forth before I even had the horse. Um, in n or 2019, we decided

1:08:49 that we were eventually going to wind up moving to Hansville. And I wanted land

1:08:53 inside the city limits so that fortunately one day I could run for office. I wasn't intending to do it this

1:08:59 soon, but that's how it's happened. So, in 2019, we bought some land. Um, we

1:09:06 actually built a large barn dominium. I live right at the intersection of Bluntsville Street and Highway 91. Many

1:09:12 of you may have seen it. It's a big large white horse barn. It's got an

1:09:14 indoor arena. Uh, it's a barn dominium. You walk out my back door and you're in

1:09:18 the barn. I really enjoy getting back into the horse business a little bit.

1:09:22 We've got some uh three registered mayors, one quarter horse, two Arabians. We bred them to a national champion

1:09:28 stallion and hopefully next year I'm gonna have some real pretty little babies. >> Thank you, sir, for your response. And

1:09:36 Paul, you're last to answer for this debate. Um, what is your favorite thing about

1:09:43 living in Hansville? How long have you lived here? And where do you live in

1:09:48 Hville? >> My favorite thing about living in Hansville is I'm right across from the

1:09:54 school. Uh, my grandkids can walk to my house. They can get in my refrigerator

1:10:01 anytime they want to. Uh, they can bring all their ladies over uh and hang out in

1:10:07 my living room anytime they want to after school. Uh, that my that's my favorite thing about

1:10:14 living in Nel. And I can walk to work. [Laughter] Uh we we've been here 23 years.

1:10:27 Hansel's a great town. The the reason I'm sitting up here today is because Hansel's a good place to be.

1:10:40 Hansel's wholesome. Hansel's got Yeah. It's it's got history, but uh it's got character

1:10:49 and and a small town that that that offers what it offers here. A good

1:10:55 school, a great school system. A Hansel may not always have the uh have been given the

1:11:03 best u image in times, but hey, we've got a great school. We've got great

1:11:10 teachers. Uh one of my grandchildren are right is right here. in this school as

1:11:16 well. And u I'm thankful to be in a small town, a small town that uh that

1:11:23 that that has good gossip and you know everything that's going on around the town. Um I I live on the

1:11:33 right side of the Methodist church. Uh I did live on the left side of the

1:11:38 Methodist church, but we we took that house and made that the learning center

1:11:43 and it had it become our children's ministry. Um and we bought the house to

1:11:48 the right and we've been in that house now I don't know 10 11 years but uh

1:11:56 location location it it's a great place to be and I'm honored to be in Hansel.

1:12:04 >> Thank you sir. Thank you all for coming today and answering our questions and

1:12:09 speaking out to uh the community and the voters. Now it's time for closing

1:12:14 statements. Uh Bob, we'll start with you. Everyone will have 90 seconds on closing statements.

1:12:23 >> Well, thank you for having us here today. For me, it's u it's all about

1:12:29 home. You know, this is where I live. Um, my grandchildren, a couple of them

1:12:34 go to brother Paul's daycare. The oldest one, the little girl, she got me and

1:12:38 they sent her off to kindergarten this year. Uh, but my grandson, he's still

1:12:42 there. Um, I attended hundreds and hundreds of ball games um here. I've seen some of these kids um graduate

1:12:50 school that I watched them walk across the street when they were in kindergarten. I mean, that's how long

1:12:54 I've been here. Um, so to have this black eye, um, this embarrassing moment here, um, it hurts.

1:13:06 And one of the things I want to do is just restore honor back to this city so

1:13:12 that when you say, "I'm from Hansville." They don't look at you say, "Oh, yeah,

1:13:15 we heard about your police department." We're much more than that police department, okay? We're a community.

1:13:20 We're a fire department. We're the street department. We're the park department. We all get in there and work

1:13:25 together. I've been there with them. I've helped fight the fires. I' I've run

1:13:28 the medical calls. I've built the stuff with them. And that's something that I'm

1:13:32 going to continue to do. And if you'll put me in office and you'll vote for me,

1:13:36 I'll give you 100% of my best. I'll never lie to you. I'll always tell you

1:13:41 the truth. You might not like what I say, but you can bet one thing. It'll be

1:13:45 the truth or I believe it to be the truth. >> Thank you, sir, for that remark.

1:13:51 Paul, it's time for your closing remarks. 90 seconds, sir. >> I'm not a politician. I've never claimed

1:14:00 to be a politician. I'm not even sure if I like being a politician.

1:14:06 >> Hang in there. >> Uh uh the the last few weeks has been

1:14:12 difficult for me. I'll be very honest with you. uh some of my people whom have

1:14:19 uh pushed me to uh to do some of the things that I've done over the last few

1:14:24 weeks has probably been a little upset with me because I didn't work as hard as

1:14:28 Bob's worked or Chris even. Uh but I promise you this. I give you my word that I'll do

1:14:41 whatever it takes to make Hansel a better place to live. a better place to to work,

1:14:50 uh a better place to shop, a better place to be. Uh I probably don't have all of the

1:14:59 credentials to do it, but I believe that I know some people that can help us and

1:15:05 u they'll work close with us and work hard with us to help us become all that

1:15:11 we really need to be and want to be. Um, so I I ask for your vote uh Tuesday the

1:15:18 26th and all I can do is say, "Hey, I'll work for you and I'll serve you the best

1:15:23 way I can." And I'll ask you, though, to serve with me and become a partner in a

1:15:29 shared purpose of making this place a better place to be. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir, for the response.

1:15:38 All right, Chris, move to you. Closing statement. You have 90 seconds, sir. >> I'd like to thank each and every one of

1:15:45 y'all for being here. The people that are online watching, the city council members that are here, all of the

1:15:51 citizens, everybody that has showed up today. Um, I would ask you to vote not

1:15:58 for somebody that you know, but to independently evaluate each candidate that is up here on the stage and not

1:16:05 just on this, on the city council as well. Um, I can promise you that I will

1:16:10 install integrity, transparency, and strong leadership back to the city of Fansville. It will be a place that you

1:16:16 can be proud to call home. That hopefully my vision and goal is in 8

1:16:22 years, any kid that's 10 years old doesn't have to leave this community to

1:16:26 be able to afford a house and a car. To begin with, that's an apartment with

1:16:30 somebody else as you move out at 18. um and a car from a buy here pay here, but

1:16:36 you're able to grow beyond that. I don't want the current citizens that we have

1:16:40 in what would be two terms to have to leave the city of Hansville and go to

1:16:45 Cullman, go to Birmingham, go somewhere else to be able to support the lifestyle

1:16:49 that they desire to live here in the city of Hansville. That is my goal, my

1:16:53 plan, and my vision. And to touch on something else that wasn't brought up

1:16:57 tonight that I hope would have been is annexation. That is something that the

1:17:02 city and the leadership needs to look at very seriously. In a very short few

1:17:09 years, you're going to have to have difficult conversations with some business owners on the north end of

1:17:14 Hsville all the way up to at least Walker Brothers. Do you want to be in

1:17:19 the city of Hville or do you want to be in the city of Cullman? If you go out

1:17:25 west on 616, do you want to be in the city of Good Hope or do you want to be

1:17:30 in the city of Hsville? >> That's Tom. >> All right. I want to thank all three of

1:17:37 you for coming today and answering our questions, showing up for the public, showing up for those watching at home,

1:17:43 uh, being able to answer these questions. I know it took a little longer than expected and we we got a

1:17:48 little earlier start, but I appreciate you all for coming and doing this. I

1:17:53 appreciate Dr. Carlicks and Wallace State for hosting and allowing us to be here. I appreciate everyone who came

1:18:00 from uh council members and the public. Thank you for coming out. The debate

1:18:05 series will continue next Tuesday, next Thursday, and next Saturday. We have a full slate on all of those. Um you can

1:18:15 find those on Cullman Tribune Facebook and also on Cullman Tribune.com. If you all have any questions you would like to

1:18:23 submit for these next debates, please send them to news@mantribbune.com. Or if you would like to show up for any

1:18:30 of those debates, please RSVP through that same email address. Again, thank you all for coming and I hope you all

1:18:38 have a great evening.