Sam Hall

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Sam Hall
SamHall.jpg
Born August 14, 1957
Trigg County, Kentucky
Occupation Pensacola City Council
District 2 Councilman
Religion Anglican
Spouse Diana Hall
Parents Sam Franklin Hall and Jessie Marie Crabtree
Children James, Sam, Becca

Samuel Thornton Hall was president of the Pensacola City Council. He was elected to serve as the representative for District 2 in November 2006. In 2010, Hall changed to the At Large District B seat and ran unopposed.

Hall is most notorious for clashing with Father Nathan Monk and other homeless advocates in 2011. He limited the speech of those who spoke out against him and other council members. Hall has since been condemned for these actions by many city leaders who followed him.

Hall is retired from the United States Coast Guard. He co-authored Threats and Challenges to Maritime Security 2020. He served as an Intelligence Anaylst (Eco-terrorism, Organized Crime) and Intelligence Watch Officer. He was a founding member of the Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center (PAC). He also worked as an Operations Chief in Alien Interdiction and Counter-narcotics.

Sam graduated with a Bachelors in Science from Murray State University in 1986. He pursued graduate studies at the University of West Florida and Joint Military Intelligence College.

Hall and his wife Diana have two sons, James and Sam, a daughter, Becca, a daughter-in-law, Beth (married to James) a grandson Byron, and a granddaughter Lily.

Accomplishments

Hall is one of several community forces who pushed for comprehensive charter review for the City of Pensacola. The City Charter had not undergone comprehensive review since it was adopted in 1931 by an action of the City Council. It had never been adopted by the electorate in Pensacola, which was a concern of the Pensacola Bay Area League of Women Voters (PBALWV). Moreover, the League of Women Voters cited flaws with provisions for citizen-led referenda that allowed the Pensacola City Attorney to interpret the provision at his or her convenience. Hall failed to get a second the first two times he moved to adopt charter review, and on a third try received four votes in favor. After the PBALWV joined with a movement proposing a strong mayor form of government, all nine Council members voted with him to form a Charter Review Commission.

Hall is Chair of the Neighborhood Services Committee (police, fire, parks, roads, sanitation) and serves on the Finance Committee, Enterprise Operations Committee (port, airport, Saenger Theater, Osceola Municipal Golf Course, Library, Energy Services of Pensacola), Community Redevelopment Agency, and the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization.

Blog

Hall maintains a blog at http://pensacolad2.blogspot.com which he uses to inform constituents of issues and comment on city business. Hall came under fire for a July 6, 2007 post on his blog that said, "The joke around town is, 'what is white, shaded, and sleeps three?' Answer: A city truck."[1] He was referring to an apparent discrepancy between complaints he had received about a lack of maintenance at a Parker Circle park, which City of Pensacola officials blamed on budget cuts, and reports from his constituents that City employees spend much of their time sitting inside the vehicle instead of working. Following the incident, however, the park received additional attention from the Parks & Recreation Department, and the president of the Parker Circle Neighborhood Association wrote Hall to say that their park had been a tipping point, transforming the area from a "normal" neighborhood to an "envied" neighborhood.

Electoral history

Pensacola City Council, 2008

This election was held November 4, 2008. Pensacola City Council races are non-partisan.

Sam Hall 2,257 68.04%
Peter Saccomanno 1,060 31.96%

Pensacola City Council, 2006 (Run-off)

This election was held November 28, 2006. Pensacola City Council races are non-partisan.

Sam Hall 479 61.7%
Paul Young 297 38.3%

Pensacola City Council, 2006

This election was held November 7, 2006. Pensacola City Council races are non-partisan.

Paul Young 1,027 46.4%
Sam Hall 958 43.3%
Stephen Kolokouris 227 10.3%

As no candidates in this race garnered a majority of the vote, the top two candidates proceeded to a run-off election, held November 28, 2006.

External links

References


Preceded by:
J. D. Smith
Pensacola City Council
District 2

2007 – present
Incumbent