October 1992-Greg Shindler
I suppose the message here is about taking the initiative, about getting the job done.
Getting the job done is something one man in Houston takes seriously. Long after the pulse of the city slows to a relaxed pace and families join together around dinner tables and televisions, Jerry Hall is still hard at work. He is on a mission. While people talk about change and taking action, they also fear change. After meeting Hall and talking well into the night, his approach to change brought only one word to mind – determination.
Allow me to digress. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine suggested I call this guy Jerry Hall. The name was familiar. My brain performed a word search and retrieved the file; I remembered the bright yellow campaign signs all around the Heights and Montrose areas. I also recalled a recent conversation with a group of young politicos in which his name was mentioned.
“Isn’t he the Republican candidate competing for a seat in our district (District 137)?” I asked. My friend informed me that I was correct. So, I took down his number and thanked her for the rip.
One Tuesday afternoon I decided to ring him up. As I expected, he wasn’t in, so I left a message and asked the girl to have him call me. I had just put the computer to sleep, cleared off my desk, turned out the lights and was on my way out the door when the phone rang.
“Hello,” I said.
“Greg, it’s Jerry Hall
“That was quick,” I replied.
“How can I help your?”
“I want to interview you,” I said.
“How’s 10 o’clock?” he asked
“Tomorrow morning, 10 o’clock, sounds fine.”
“No, 10 o’clock tonight.”
“Oh.”
We agreed to meet at a diner at ten and I hung up the phone, wondering why I had said yes.
Sipping my coffee and waiting for my interview to show. I began to wonder what to expect. When a well-dressed man entered the diner greeting the cashier and joking with the waitress. I knewthis had to be the guy. He introduced himself, sat down and started talking about the day. After a long business day (which started at 6 a.m.), two civic meetings and walking the streets of the Heights, Hall was alive with freshness that made me feel guilty about wanting to leave the diner and go home to sleep. Nevertheless, we talked on.
“It;s like anything else,” said Hall, “Whether it’s your business, your family, your health, your community, whatever these things demand constant attention.
Hall says this is the wake of a story he’s told about correcting a problem of soil contamination from a gas station in the Montrose area, As he talked on I could feel the intensity rising in the small cafe.
Hall described himself as determined and dedicated. I asked him to elaborate. “To me, dedication is a whole-hearted devotion to something…religion, marriage, job, as long as your dedicated to something. And determination is approaching something with firm intention of getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ not matter what. So if you put everything you have into every part of your life and you approach things with a firm purpose in mind, how can you fail?” Put simply, he says, “I think it’s more important to get the job done than to simply talk aboutit.”
When I asked from where he inherited his fierce determination, he told me it was from his family. Influenced by a long line of ministers and preachers in the family tree, Hall learned early on the meaning of the work dedication.’
“I grew up stuck in the middle of five brothers and sisters. Sometimes it’s easy to be overlooked, or at least you feel that way. You always have to employ whatever skills you have in any situation. But sometimes that is not enough. So, in your mind, you tell yourself that you are determined to be noticed for your efforts, or accomplish what ever it is you’ve set out to do.”
Hall is in the business of placing mediators. His dedication to starting his own business and making it a success landed him the title of Entrepreneur of the Month by Entrepreneur magazine. A year later, he went on to become recognized as the president of one of Houston’s fastest growing companies. His annual employment fairs, which have created over 25,000 jobs since their inception in 1989, are just another way Hall is giving something back to his community.
Hall’s company, ADR Services International, Inc. has been a major contributor to Houston’s arts for years. To list his involvement in the community would take an eternity. Suffice it to say that this man has participated in everything from blood drives to food drive. Indeed, it is the same philosophical approach to life and to business Hall brings to his campaign.
As an honorary deputy of the Harris County Sheriff’s department, Hall feels passionate about making the inner-city communities a safe place to live. Moreover, he backs it up, Hall recently donated all of the proceeds ($4,000) from this year’s employment fair to the HPD substation located at 802 Westhiemer. Furthermore, he is in favor of “street blocking,” which would block off designated streets in the Heights, making them less accessible as thoroughfares, this less vulnerable to crime.
“Many of the neighborhoods in District 137 have a lot of charm,” Hall explains. “Their roots are deep and a lot of the families in these communities have lived there for many, many years. They (the families) are not going anywhere, but they don want something done about their concerns. There has been the same unopposed governing rule in the inner-city for over a decade. After some time, there’s a certain amount of complacency and that breeds neglect. Frankly, the job is just not getting done. And the community as a whole suffers under these circumstances.”
While at a recent fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation. Hall had the opportunity to meet Judge Mike McSpadden. Certainly not the shy type, Hall immediately asked the judge how he could get more involved in understanding the city’s crime issue. His pursuit landed him a seat on the grand jury for three months. His duties were to evaluate the convictions of criminals. This experience only added insult to injury.
Hall was shocked to find that the average criminal serves 23 days for every one-year sentence. After listening to some of the crimes that were committed and being exposed to the entire process for three months, Hall was outraged.
“The thing that really angered me,” he says, ” is that a criminal defense attorney could use his/her legislative position to delay trials and subsequently avoid convicting these criminals. Sometimes, they never even come to trial! And that is a crime against the community.” Enough said.
Should you decide to brave the Houston humidity and step outside one evening, whether your are chatting with a neighbor or taking the dog for a stroll, you are likely to bump into Jerry Hall. The face may not be familiar but the name should be. He’s determined to make a change., and his dedication to his cause is certainly wholehearted. No wonder so many people are sitting up in their chairs and lending an ear to Hall. Go ahead, stop him on the street and see for yourself.