East County Fire Protection District: Bruce Hanebrink

Name: Bruce Alan Hanebrink

Year of birth: 1962

Place of birth: Cape Girardeau

Spouse, children's names: Dr. Tamela Hanebrink, wife; Amy Hanebrink, Kyle Randolph, Grace Hanebrink, Lacy Randolph

Occupation: Ph.D. candidate and adjunct faculty at Southeast Missouri State University and University of Missouri-St. Louis

Employer: Southeast Missouri State University and University of Missouri-St. Louis

Businesses owned, all or part: None

Previous offices held or sought: None

1. What is the most important issue facing the East County Fire Protection District? The continuing need for firefighter training and proper oversight of district resources and facilities are the two most important issues facing the district.

2. What in your background or education makes you qualified for this office? For 10 years I was employed by Southeast Missouri State University as business operations coordinator. As such, I was responsible for the oversight of six university budgets. Operating an auxiliary unit for the university required the generation of revenue in addition to controlling expenses. My continued employment depended on the profitable operation of these enterprises. This gave me firsthand experience with all phases of public budgeting. While at Southeast I became a building coordinator for the Dearmont Residence Hall. For this appointment I took part in the CERT first responder training offered by the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and Southeast. I served on a number of important committees while at Southeast working with students, faculty, staff and administrators. From this I learned the value and importance of a collegial management style.

My employment history also includes 13 years in restaurant management and three years in a factory setting. For the last five years in the restaurant industry, I was district supervisor for as many as five stores. This entailed complete responsibility for profitable operation of the stores. At Lone Star I was safety officer, which required additional training in first responder and first aid.

In addition to these work experiences I earned a master's degree in public administration. For this degree I completed course work in public budgeting, organizational behavior and personnel administration. Recently, I completed all course work and comprehensive exams for a Ph.D. in political science at University of Missouri-St. Louis. There I had additional training in public policy and public budgeting. From this formal training I have extensive knowledge of public administration.

3. Why are you better qualified than your opponents? The combination of formal training in public administration, firsthand experience with the oversight of public budgets and a genuine interest in providing the best fire protection services possible make me uniquely qualified for this position. I offer a blend of formal training, experience and insight into first responder operations that would be difficult to match.