Brett Hicks

How old are you and what do you do?

I’m forty-one years old, and I work for a Fortune 250 company, Land O’Lakes. I’m on the food and restaurant side, and oversee our regional national chain, strategies and business.

What is your previous experience to an elected or appointed office?

I don’t have any kind of political career, other than my two years serving on Bandera’s city council. I’ve served on some industry boards, and I’ve been involved in all children’s youth sports. My family has been here for close to a century and that goes back to my grandfather serving on the school board, my dad – before he passed – served on the school board, and so do my wife [Brittany Hicks] and my sister [Heidi Battle]. So, I come from a family that has been involved in local politics going back a hundred years.

Tell me about some of your community activities.

We’re a big sports family and I volunteer my time in Little League and the Boys and Girls Club. I have three kids that are growing; one is in 8th grade, another in 7th grade, and I have a 3rd grader. I’ve been involved with sports within the community, and I donate my time a lot of times into different foundations and causes in Bandera. I’I support several charities such as education foundation and other athletic foundations that raise money for the community’s youth.

Why should voters trust you?

I think there are several reasons. First and foremost, I’m very vocal about being a Conservative Christian. I want voters to know that. I do what I say I will do and now have a track record serving the Council/Community that backs that statement up. I also hear a lot about transparency and coming on to the council, I think we’ve come a long way. Transparency is important to me, and we now live stream every meeting, we have minutes and resources available, and we have a text app to keep our community informed. I’m also an open book, and open record. I constantly reach out to people when I see comments or get emails or even in-person conversations – I want to make sure I’m hearing from everyone, and they feel their voices are heard. A lot of time decisions are made that maybe the public doesn’t have the whole picture, and it’s important that they do. Again, there’s no substitute for doing what you say. I care more about Bandera than anything. I spent my whole life here, I hope my kids come back here, so I’m in it for all the right reasons.

I also try to find a balance in the activities we have. We have a lot of bars and live music which are important – I mean, I enjoy that just like everyone, but I also want there to be family-friendly events, too. I want kids to have great memories of Bandera, and a lot of times, when you establish that kind of community and memories, those kids come back and raise their own family and give back to our community. That’s the reason why I co-founded the Christmas in the Park event, which I think was a great success, we had about 500 people in our community come out last year and expect this year’s event to be even bigger.

Bandera is growing. How would you handle the growth and more coming?

Growth is inevitable. I talked to some citizens that don’t want any growth, but you can’t stop it. People love it here and want to come here. You’ve got to be mindful of different things. Obviously, water is an important thing that we are trying to manage and have infrastructure plans in place with our Wastewater treatment plant. We have a rich history here, and people love Bandera for what it is, and we have to be mindful of that.

What is Bandera’s biggest asset?

What makes Bandera unique – you know, every little town has something they hang their hat on, and it’s pretty cool that we have such a history of cowboys and western heritages. People like to visit here, from all over the world. My family owns and operates the Mayan Dude Ranch and a large portion of our guests come from the UK and other countries. They can’t wait to put on their cowboy hats and live a little bit of this experience. We also have great opportunities for business owners here to attract people to visit. We want people here spending money. We need visitors’ tax dollars to help fund a lot of the projects we have going on.

What is your biggest strength?

I would think my biggest strength is two-fold. One is common sense, and the other is loving Bandera. I have lived here my whole life, and I know how Bandera ticks, I know what people think is important and what they want in this community, what they want our city to become, and I am right there with them.

Common sense is necessary for politics. I am Bandera through and through and I want to spend the rest of my life here. I’m a taxpayer myself and I’m mindful of that, and mindful of preserving this community.

What is your biggest weakness?

I think that in my mind, when I decided to get into politics a couple of years back, I had a lot of big ideas. Listening to the community, they would say we [Bandera] need better roads. We need a new Wastewater treatment facility. We need more events to help our community. There were so many things, and I think I’m guilty of wanting so much, so fast. So, patience is one thing that I lack, and I have been working on, seeing the bureaucracy side of things and how things move, and it can be frustrating at times. So, wanting to do too much too fast.

Why should people vote for you?

Transparency, I put Bandera first, and proven leadership. Two years ago, our department heads were all outsiders, which isn’t the worst thing, but with all the stuff I’ve talked about, our community is unique, and you need people that are invested in leading here. I am proud that under my leadership on the council we’ve instilled people that have the same morales and ties to Bandera. All our departments are thriving because we have Bandera-first leaders; people that have spent their lives here serving, and I’m no different. My family has been here for nearly a century, and I have my best memories here. I won the state-championship in football here in 2002. I want our youth to have those same memories while preserving what makes our community so desirable and special. It’s Bandera first – or I should say, Bandera only.