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Ordinarily, people never get a second chance to make a first impression. Leaders must lead by personal example in who they are, how they present themselves, how they communicate, how they connect with others, their personal accountability and by the condition of their place of business or personal residence.

I had the opportunity to meet Brian Beasley, candidate for City Council Ward 2. I contacted Brian via social media and asked to meet. I was pleased by his prompt reply. (Quite often it takes a while to get a response from some city councilors, if any response at all.) Brian arrived at our meeting early. He drove up in a nice clean vehicle, was well dressed, friendly and cordial. Over the course of our meeting, I felt I learned a lot about Brian, his background, family, work, business and vision for our community. I thoroughly enjoyed our meeting and was impressed on many levels with Brian.

Brian is an excellent communicator, listens intently and gives undivided attention in conversation. Brian is personally engaging and carries himself with respect, kindness, professionalism and openness. He is intelligent and brings vast knowledge and experience of working both in the private and government sectors. He has served communities and led teams during major natural disasters in providing emergency rapid responses. Brian seems to be a team player, interested in building, empowering and supporting those around him. He is well versed in personality type indicators, such as Myres Briggs, DISK assessments and strengths-based leadership. This will be invaluable for our city council in developing understanding and cohesiveness, and building on the strengths, interests and abilities of elected leaders.

Brian has served communities across the United States including in South Dakota, New York and Minnesota, and has worked successfully to reduce costs, implement common sense efficiency protocols, secure millions of dollars in grants, as well as build morale and momentum among teams with whom he has served. He is vested locally, serving as the director of facility services for Austin Public Schools and is the owner of Beasley & Co. Leather, a custom fabricator of high quality leather goods. Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit is well suited for helping encourage, inspire and support our local entrepreneurs and business leaders. Brian’s vision for helping our community grow, prosper and attract, are the four B’s: Beautification, budget, business and branding. All of these are important for our community. I am excited about Brian’s desire to serve our community. Regarding beautification, we know our community is faced with continual challenges with blighted properties, older failing structures and efforts to identify, address and mitigate such challenges. In our meeting, my final question to Brian was if I could have his home address so I could personally drive by and see his property. Without hesitation, he gave me his address. I beheld a beautiful, clean, well manicured and cared for property; the property of someone who is already leading by personal example. I encourage the residents of Ward 2 to consider voting for Brian Beasley.

George Marin

Albert Lea