In Their Own Words: Hans Appen, Candidate for Alpharetta City Council

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of five articles being posted today, Oct. 10, about Alpharetta City Council candidates, with quotes and video about individual candidates.

Hans Appen, an account executive and circulation manager at his family's newspaper company, said he has a lot to offer voters on City Council.

He said he has the energy, time and "a lot of passion for what goes on here in Alpharetta." And he doesn't have a lot of commitments that would tie up his time.

What should go into the city's Comprehensive Land Use Plan is simple, Appen said. If there's a demand, put it in the plan. If not, leave it out. "It doesn't need to get more complicated than that," he said.

Appen support the new downtown center.

"Look at all the events that happened last weekend. It's sort of a great preview of what we could be doing on a regular basis downtown," he said, referring to the Brew Moon Fest, Scarecrow Harvest and Farmers Market.

One of his priorites is to bring the young people with whom he graduated back to Alpharetta.

"Right now I can't think of any of my classmates who I graduated with in –who went to all these great colleges across the country–that have actually come back to Alpharetta, which I think is telling maybe of about what our future looks like unless we can bring them back here to reinvest in their hometown like we invested in them," Appen said.

Appen wants more pocket parks across the city, and to make them accessible with sidewalks connecting them to neighborhoods. If the city can buy some more park land, he said now is the time to do it.

"Land isn't going to be much cheaper than it is right now," he said.

Appen said people need to remember that the T-SPLOST is a regional issue and Alpharetta has to work with other cities on it.

"As a candidate, I'm committed to being as involved in the issue as I can," he said.

Appen said he's one of two Alpharettans attneding the transportation roundtable meetings, with City Councilman Chris Owens the other person.