Fairhope City Hall is located at 161 N. Section Street in the Municipal Complex, which also includes the Civic Center and the Council Chamber. Offices are open Monday through Friday from 8 to 5 p.m. The phone number is 251-928-2136.

City Clerk Lisa A. Hanks

Lisa A. Hanks was appointed City Clerk in June 2008 after serving as Assistant City Clerk. A native of Mobile County, she graduated from Murphy High School in 1980 and received a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Administration, Cum Laude, in 1996 from the University of South Alabama.  She obtained Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) status in 1993.  She was awarded “Honorable Mention” for Outstanding Senior Project.  Her paper was presented and published in the Social Issues, Women in Management, and Ethics Track at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Management Association in 1996.  She was co-author of an article published in the Journal of Business and Psychology in 2002.  She is a member of Christ United Methodist Church and participates in charity events, such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and United Cerebral Palsy, throughout Mobile and Baldwin Counties.

Application for Absentee Ballot

Application Emergency Absentee Ballot

Cecil Christenberry grew up in Chickasaw and has a degree in agricultural science from Auburn. After living for several years in Montgomery, he and his wife Linda moved to Fairhope in 1985, opening their business, Old Tyme Feed and Garden, two years later. The Christenberrys are the parents of three daughters -two grown and one at Fairhope High School. Cecil says he is very comfortable with the new administration. "I feel like we're very open," he says. "I think we can all work together to maintain the quality of life we enjoy here and face any problems in a positive way."

Mike Ford, ACMC, was first appointed to the council in 1982 but is now serving his sixth full term. Mike grew up in Mobile and graduated from McGill Institute and Spring Hill College, but he spent summers in Battles Wharf as a child. After being discharged from the Army in 1960, he moved here and began working in real estate two years later, opening his own company in 1967. Mike and his wife Dorothy have eight children and 21 grandchildren. Mike says he wants to keep a handle on growth. "You can say it a hundred different ways, it's many issues brought together, but it all boils down to preserving the high quality of life we enjoy here."

Bob Gentle, CMO, and his wife Ellen moved to Fairhope from Birmingham five years ago. A graduate of Samford University with a degree in management, Bob built a business as a construction consultant and mediator in Birmingham, serving clients all over the country, and he continues that work here. Bob and his wife Ellen have four children and five grandchildren. Bob says his experience will serve the council and city well. "My goal is to use my abilities as a mediator to understand all sides of any issue," he says, "and help keep the council from being caught up in emotions or personal agendas."

Debbie Quinn, ACMC, is in her third term as council member for Place 1. A lifelong resident of Fairhope, she is a graduate of Fairhope High School, Providence School of Nursing and the University of South Alabama. She and her husband, Michael, a radiologist at Thomas Hospital, have two sons, Neil, a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and post graduate work at the University of South Alabama and Bryan, a student at the University of Southern Mississippi. Debbie's primary goals are the protection of our neighborhoods and environment, good planning and zoning, excellent police and fire and a walkable community. 

She and the city council have been successful in creating a new $7million Library in the downtown with circulation and patrons more than doubling since it’s opening. They have also worked together to create new environmental protection strategies, an updated Comprehensive Plan and a new traffic addendum to the study for new growth. Debbie also worked to add the South Beach Trail and the update of the South Mobile Street trail.  She is also encouraging the development of more trails, bike paths and sidewalks through good planning and grant writing and the possibility of a small bus transit system to better facilitate our businesses and our citizens' independence. Our youth and education are of tremendous concern and the city's needs to be a participant in their vitality. With Debbie’s help, the city received a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to help with the cost of a Skate Plaza for our youth.

Debbie feels that Fairhope needs to be in the fore front of local, regional and state politics to be proactive and not reactive to issues. She was chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce for four years and received their Annual Service Award for 2001-2002. She is a past Chairman of the Thomas Hospital Foundation and past Chairman of the Alabama League of Municipalities Committee on Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources and now Chairman of their Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations Committee.  Debbie is presently Chairman of the National League of Cities Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources and appointed by Governor Riley in 2004 to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Recreational Trails Advisory Board Grant Committee.  She also serves as chairman of DesignAlabama, an affiliate of the Alabama State Council on the Arts that educates and encourages good planning in Alabama communities and is a grant reader for the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Dan Stankoski and wife Cheryl moved to Fairhope in 1989 when Dan was assigned to the Mobile FBI Office. He retired from the FBI in 1995 and went to work for the Federal Public Defenders Organization in Mobile. Dan and Cheryl have two sons, Rob and Clark, who practice law together in Fairhope and a daughter, Blair Jaye, Bay Minette, Al a teacher at Spanish Fort High School. They have three grandchildren.
As I end my third year on the City Council, I look back at the many good things have happened in Fairhope. The new library was completed, hurricane damage to the pier has been repaired, and our garbage pickup has been automated. We added additional police officers to an already top notch department and our volunteer fire department provides outstanding service to our community. Our recreation program is growing with the addition of a new pool, tennis courts and ball fields to meet the needs of our youth. The Nix Center is world class and flourishing, and an airport authority was created and additional land around the airport acquired.
These accomplishments are a credit to the cooperation of the council, mayor, city employees and citizen volunteers, but we must not stop here. We need to look ahead and plan for the future. I don't want to know how we did it 10 years ago, I want to know how we will do it 10 years from now. We need to implement a five year strategic financial plan , traffic plan, and infrastructure plan in order to move the city forward as we grow so Fairhope will remain the "gem of the Eastern Shore".