Below are profiles for the three candidates vying to be Bellaire’s next Place 6 council member. This begins InstantnewsBellaire.com’s Q&A Series, which runs until the November election. Do you have a question for city council candidates? Please email any questions to agrant [at] instantnewsbellaire [dot] com.
Jim Hotze
Jim Hotze said he is running for city council because he fears that the slowing economy and dropping real estate prices may negatively affect the city’s revenue in the coming years.
“I think we’re going to be faced up with having to really look at our budgets,” Hotze said. “I thought at this point in time, someone with my background and experience may be able to contribute to the process.”
For 30 years, Hotze has owned a Bellaire-based company that sells copiers, printers and fax machines. He is a certified public accountant. Over the years he has volunteered with the state Republican Party, serving as chairman of the Harris County committee, as a member of the state executive committee and as an election judge for Harris County.
Watching the budget and spending conservatively are at the top of Hotze’s list if he’s elected to the city council. He said he also wants to support the police department, see the comprehensive plan through to completion, but also make sure the city properly maintains its current infrastructure.
“One thing I want to be sure is with all this planning we’ve been doing we don’t take our eye off the ball of taking care of what we already own,” he said. “We just need to be sure we’re not causing ourselves a greater expense in the future by not doing current maintenance.”
According to a campaign finance report that Hotze filed on Oct. 12, he has raised $600 from resident contributions, which he has not spent yet, but he has spent nearly $2,200 of his own money on printing yard signs and mailers, and postage.
Mandy Nathan
Mandy Nathan said she wants to be a council member because she loves living in Bellaire, and she wants to stay here for a long time.
“I’d like to do my part in keeping what is good about Bellaire, and trying to make things that can be improved even better,” Nathan said.
Nathan is an attorney involved in commercial litigation work dealing with breach of contract and tort cases in the securities, oil and gas, and construction industries. She served on the Bellaire Parks and Recreation Advisory board from 2000 to 2004, and served on the Board of Adjustment from 2004 to 2008. Nathan has been involved in many other community organizations spanning back to 2001, such as Bellaire Little League, the Condit Elementary PTO and the Christian Community Service Center.
Issues important to Nathan include enforcing the city’s laws and ordinances, including criminal laws, and using momentum from the city’s new comprehensive plan to spur economic development. She said she also wants to help see the city through the economic downturn.
“I think a critical one given the economy is maintaining a fiscally responsible budget,” Nathan said. “That’s going to be critical and it’s going to require a balancing of priorities.”
According to Nathan’s Oct. 5 campaign finance report, she has raised about $4,400 from resident contributions, ranging from $60 to $250 each. She has spent almost $4,200 on her Website, printing yard signs and other campaign materials, photography services and purchasing voter information.
For more information visit http://www.mandynathan.com.
Scott Scheinthal
Scott Scheinthal said he wants to be on the city council to correct what he views as problems with taxation and spending in Bellaire. He said he wants to ease the tax burden on residents during the economic downturn by making sure the city spends conservatively and trying to attract more businesses to contribute to city revenues.
“I think one of most important things right now is to bring in small business or big businesses into Bellaire,” Scheinthal said.
Scheinthal is an attorney who works in civil litigation, including personal injury trial law and defending businesses from frivilous litigation. He currently serves on the Bellaire Building and Standards Commission. Scheinthal also volunteers with a Houston Bar Association program that sends attorneys to elementary schools to speak against using drugs, and another program that offers legal advice to indigents over the telephone.
One of the most important issues facing Bellaire right now, he said, is making sure the new comprehensive plan attracts businesses that will contribute taxes to help fund the city during the economic downturn. He said he wants development to follow what residents want, and he also wants to continue the city’s street and drainage improvement projects.
According to Scheinthal’s Oct. 5 campaign finance report, he has raised about $1,700 from resident contributions, ranging from $20 to $500 each. He has spent almost $1,400 on printing yard signs and t-shirts and producing his Website.
For more information visit http://scottscheinthal.com/.
