local news

Manager gets strong statement of support

So, the Jared Miller era at Amarillo City Hall is off to a rousing start.

The City Council has voted unanimously to hire Miller as the next city manager. I am heartened by this news. I do not harbor concerns that the new manager has nowhere to go but down after this.

It’s been a rocky time at City Hall. Two city managers have quit under duress. The first one to go, Jarrett Atkinson, couldn’t work with the new council majority; the second one to split, interim manager Terry Childers, couldn’t control his big mouth and resigned after cursing at a constituent.

I’m going to hope now for a smooth transition — which is kind of in the news these days, you know — as Miller gets set to grasp the reins of municipal government.

City Hall is in dire need of some stability.

Not only did Atkinson quit, but a number of key senior staffers bailed about the same time. The city attorney resigned and an assistant city manager retired. A new council member called for the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board to quit. The interim city manager realigned downtown development operations and moved many of the AEDC functions into City Hall departments.

I guess the concern Miller needs to address is how he’s going to calm the occasionally stormy waters at City Hall. I take heart in the unanimous vote by the council, which hasn’t always spoken with a single voice since this council bunch took office in the spring of 2015. The manager needs to know he has council support for the big job that awaits him as he moves from San Marcos to Amarillo.

One more point about the council vote: I am glad that this council acted quickly, rather than waiting — as some have advocated — for the next election. The Amarillo Globe-News editorialized in favor of the council waiting until after the May 6 council election, apparently thinking that a potential wholesale turnover among council members could produce a set of councilors with vastly different priorities.

Nuts! The city charter empowers the current council to act. It chose to move forward. Besides, with just a two-year gap between elections, there’s never a perfect time for an Amarillo City Council to make such a critical hiring decision.

Here we go. The new city manager has unanimous support among the folks who hired him. Let’s get busy, Mr. Manager.

local news, political news

Dismal voter turnout is no sign of satisfaction

I’ve written about this before, but I cannot say it enough.

Amarillo’s history of dismal voter turnouts is no endorsement of how well the city is being run. It’s more basic than that. It just pure apathy. We don’t care.

The city is tracking toward another municipal election. Filing for the five City Council seats has begun. It will end on Feb. 17. My trick knee tells me the ballot will be full, that all five council seats will have multiple candidates vying for election to the governing board that pays its occupants a whopping $10 per public meeting.

I’ve been watching Amarillo’s municipal elections for 22 years. Most of that time was spent as a working journalist, as editorial page editor of the Amarillo Globe-News. I have lamented, scolded and cajoled Amarillo residents to turn out to vote for these races.

Most years residents have ignored my entreaties. I don’t take the rejection personally.

They’ve registered often in the mid to high single-digit percentages. When we put ballot measures up for decision from time to time, the turnout spikes dramatically. My favorite example was the 1996 vote to sell the publicly owned Northwest Texas Hospital to a private health care provider; 22 percent of voters turned out for that one and you’d have thought — listening to city officials — that they’d just discovered a cure for the common cold.

I chose at the time to look a good bit more dimly at the turnout, noting that four out of five voters stayed away from the polls.

My question always has been: Do these dismal turnouts reflect some sort of endorsement of the way City Hall is being run? I don’t believe that’s necessarily the case. I do, though, believe in the human trait to respond more vigorously to negativity than to positivity.

My initial hope for this next election is that, given what I expect to be a ballot full of candidates, the turnout far exceeds what’s become a sad norm in Amarillo. My other hope, of course, is that the election produces victories for the right candidates. I’ll have more to say later on who I think should win.

Today, though, my target is that turnout matter. Historically in this city, it stinks. I want residents to wipe away the odor by voting in large numbers.

Representative democracy works better when more people — not fewer of them — take part.

I’ve noted this, too, before: Why would anyone want to leave the choices for the people who set their property tax rates to someone else? We all have a stake in these local elections and it is incumbent on all of us  to have our voices heard.

media news

Obama’s poll numbers spiking in final days

I have a good time following certain public opinion polling sites, my favorite of which is the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

Here’s what it shows now about President Obama’s poll standing among Americans: The nation is falling back in love with the guy.

The average of polls shows Obama’s standing at 57 percent. There’s now an 18-percentage-point spread between the “favorable” and “unfavorable” ratings.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html

How does the poll average rate Congress? It’s about 14 percent. Interesting, yes?

Why the poll spike for the president? It might have something to do with how voters view him in relation to the man who will succeed him in just a couple of days.

He’s conducting himself with remarkable calm, grace, dignity. Donald J. Trump, meanwhile, is continuing to lash out at his foes, the media, almost anyone who makes a critical statement.

What’s not to admire about a president who is leaving the stage with such style?

business news, national news, political news

Hey, Mr. President-elect, how about those tax returns?

Donald J. Trump says only the media are concerned about his tax returns.

I beg to differ.

A lot of Americans way outside the mainstream media have become interested in those returns. You see, it’s that Russian hacking issue that has re-energized the interest in Trump’s returns. Specifically, it centers on whether he has business dealings in Russia. Trump denies it. But if prior presidential scandals have shown — such as, say, Watergate — we’ve all learned that we cannot take a president solely, exclusively at his word.

Trump keeps yammering about a “routine audit” that kept him from releasing the returns during the campaign. It was yet another “tradition” he tossed aside; presidential candidates have released those records every election cycle since 1976.

Trump won the election despite his refusal to comply with that tradition, not to mention all the other traditions he tossed over the cliff.

The taxman’s audit doesn’t preclude releasing these returns. Trump knows it. His accountants know it. So do his lawyers.

For that matter, Trump still hasn’t even provided proof that he, in fact, is even being audited by the Internal Revenue Service.

Come clean, Mr. President-elect. This inquiring mind — along with millions of others — want to know the unvarnished truth about those alleged Russian business dealings.

local news

Well done, Mr. Mayor … and thank you

Paul Harpole took his share of incoming rounds during his three terms as Amarillo mayor.

I am not going to lob any more of them here. I intend instead to say a word or two of praise for the man who today announced he’s calling it quits. It’s perhaps the least surprising development of this ever-changing city political season.

Harpole’s decision seemed certain the day Ginger Nelson announced her mayoral candidacy, considering Nelson’s chops as an Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board member — a board that has Harpole’s strong support.

Harpole’s tenure as mayor ends as the city’s downtown rebirth continues at a quickening pace. He has been at the forefront of what I consider to be a bold new initiative in reshaping the city’s image and bringing its downtown district back to life.

Have there been hiccups? Oh, yes. Wallace Bajjali, the Houston area-based master developer hired by the city to manage the downtown rebirth went belly-up a couple of years ago. The city, though, survived the tumult that befell other cities that had been tied to the development firm.

But all in all, the city’s effort at downtown rebirth has been a net positive. A new downtown hotel is going up, along with a parking garage; West Texas A&M University is working on a new downtown campus; other developments have come to fruition as well.

Harpole recognized what other city officials in many other successful cities have known: Cities flourish when their downtown districts flourish.

The mayor’s dominant — some say domineering — personality at times has helped result in some testiness with other City Council members. For instance, he has feuded openly at times with Councilman Randy Burkett, one of three new councilors elected in May 2015. The impact has produced negative images for the city and cast doubt among some observers over the council’s ability to govern effectively.

The mayor has overseen the city’s administrative makeover as well. A city manager resigned, the council hired an interim administrator, who then quit and now the council has brought aboard a new permanent manager to run the City Hall machinery.

He was at the helm as the city purchased water rights to secure a stable growth future.

All in all, Paul Harpole’s tenure as mayor has produced many more successes than disappointments, and thus, Amarillo has moved many steps forward in its evolution during Harpole’s time at the municipal helm.

For that, I want to say: Well done, Mr. Mayor.

media news, national news

Tweeter in chief doesn’t appreciate majesty of his office

In just a couple of days, Donald J. Trump is going to become the 45th president of the United States of America.

He’ll be head of state of the greatest nation on Earth. And, yes, it’s still the greatest nation, Mr. President-elect.

It’s fair to ask, given this fellow’s use of Twitter as his primary mode of communication: Does he truly understand the majesty attached to the office he is about to assume?

Trump has tossed countless conventional norms into the dumper on his way to become president. He has gotten away with countless insults, boorish stunts and profoundly bizarre statements. All of them — or any one of them — would have disqualified him in the eyes of voters.

Instead, his supporters stiffened their spines. They stood behind him. They cheered him on for “telling it like it is.” Good grief!

They also are cheering on his Twitter taunts and tirades. They, like their man, are giving raspberries to the very office that Trump is about to inherit.

He uses Twitter, in the words of some pundits, to “punch down” at critics. Presidents of the United States are supposed to be better than that; they’re supposed to hold themselves above the petty bickering that erupts all around them.

Twitter is supposed to be a tool reserved for schmucks — like, oh, yours truly — to fire off barbs or share others’ barbs.

Not so with the president-elect of the United States of America.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that he doesn’t appreciate the grandeur of the office he sought — and won! He has had zero dealings with any of its previous occupants.

He acknowledged meeting President Obama for the first time after the election. And this comes after he spent years questioning out loud whether Barack Obama was qualified to hold the office. You know … the birther baloney.

You know, there at least is the remote possibility that after he takes the oath, bids good bye to the Obama family and then settles in behind the Oval Office desk he might appreciate the immense power and tradition of the presidency.

He might …

I am not holding my breath.

 

national news, political news

When guys like Frank are sweating it …

My friend Frank doesn’t get rattled too easily.

He’s in his early 60s. Frank has been around. He told me he has witnessed a lot of presidential transitions. None of them prior to what’s about to occur has him as concerned — even a bit frightened — as the one that’s coming up.

Barack H. Obama is going to hand the presidency over to Donald J. Trump.

Frank is deeply concerned. As am I.

We chatted for a bit and we agreed on at least one fundamental point: It’s that Trump’s absolute lack of public service experience has left him woefully ill-prepared for becoming president of the United States of America.

I reminded Frank that we’ve had a number of dramatic transitions in our respective lifetimes. I mentioned Ronald Reagan taking over from Jimmy Carter in 1981. Sure, some folks considered Reagan little more than a B-movie actor who starred in those films with a chimpanzee named Bonzo.

But as I told Frank, even Reagan had government experience. He had administrative experience at that, as a successful two-term California governor.

Trump? He has spent his entire adult life in pursuit of a single goal: personal enrichment. He got a head start with a healthy inheritance from his wealthy father and then parlayed that nest egg into a vast fortune.

Public service? None. Zero.

Frank wondered, “What kind of thing is he going to do? What in the world does he stand for?” I told him that we don’t know. The president-elect campaigned for this office espousing zero core values. He didn’t articulate an ideology. Instead, he boasted at seemingly every campaign stop about how rich he is and how he intended to use his business acumen to “Make America Great Again.”

We did agree on this point, too. We both want Trump to succeed. We’re hoping for the best. Failure, we reminded each other, is going to cost all Americans dearly. Therefore, neither Frank nor I will wish the kind of failure for Trump that many of Barack Obama’s foes wished for him when he became president eight years ago.

Frank has another thing quite right: Now is the time to pray real hard for our country.

I’m with him on that, too.

local news

Troubled times — and thunder — recall memory of old friends

My mind has this way of wandering vast distances at the strangest times.

Today it did that. I thought of two old friends as I was pondering the state of political play in this country, and the presidential transition we’re all about to witness.

Their names are Buddy Seewald and Virgil Van Camp. They died within days of each other in September 2013 here in the Texas Panhandle. They came to my mind for two vastly different reasons.

One of them is the hostility that exists between individuals and groups of opposing points of view. I’ll get to the second reason momentarily.

Buddy and Virgil were total opposites politically. Buddy was a flaming liberal political activist; Virgil was a staunch conservative who wasn’t politically active, but who had strong views on the world … as did Buddy.

They were partners in a feature we used to publish at the Amarillo Globe-News. We called it Point/Counterpoint. They would argue opposing points of view on subjects we would select in advance.

They also were friends. They harbored no ill will toward each other. We’d meet for lunch every few weeks to discuss upcoming topics. They got along famously.

I think of them as I compare that relationship with the non-relationships that exist these days between liberals and conservatives. I think of them when I hear politicians on one side refer to those on the side as the “enemy.”

Buddy and Virgil would rise up out of their respective graves — if only they could.

I wrote about them in an earlier blog post, paying tribute to their civility and their collegiality. I wish they were around today to share that sense of decency with you all.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2013/09/there-goes-another-good-man/

Near the end of that earlier blog post, I mentioned something else that makes me think of them today.

We heard lots of thunder around here over the weekend. My thought in this Sept 17, 2013 post was that I would think of Buddy and Virgil the next time I heard a clap of thunder, as it likely signaled an argument between them from on high.

I recalled that earlier observation as I listened to the thunder roll across the High Plains.

That had to be Buddy and Virgil arguing — without a doubt — about the pros and cons of the upcoming presidential administration.

I am absolutely certain they threw their arms around each other when the storm passed.

I still miss these two friends terribly.

local news

Quality and quantity of council candidates are improving

The pace is picking up in this election contest for the Amarillo City Council.

Freda Powell has announced her candidacy for the council. She’s a known civic leader, who’s been engaged in matters of public policy for many years.

Mayor Paul Harpole is expected to announce today whether he’ll seek another term. My bet? He’s bowing out. We’re also expected to hear from Place 2 Councilwoman Lisa Blake about whether she plans to run for election to the seat to which she was appointed in 2016 to succeed Brian Eades, who resigned and moved out of town.

This is all quite exciting and it bodes well for the city’s experiment in representative democracy.

I’ve said for years that our system of government — especially at the local level — works best when more, rather than fewer, people get involved. It works best when many candidates step up and voters then get a chance to assess their qualities, their message and their intent.

An even better result is when more, rather than fewer, voters actually go to the polls on Election Day.

As I noted many times while I wrote editorials and columns for newspapers in Texas and Oregon, city hall and the county courthouse is where government’s proverbial rubber hits the road. I’ll make the point again here.

Pundits and political scientists all gauge the level of interest in presidential elections by the turnout. The 2016 contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton featured a so-so percentage turnout of eligible voters who actually cast ballots. Why? It’s likely because of the high negative poll ratings both candidates had to bear.

We measure turnout success quite differently at the local level. A turnout of 20 to 30 percent for municipal races in Amarillo is considered a smashing success. I consider it a dismal failure of voters to engage in the policies that have a direct impact on their lives.

We are choosing individuals who will set tax rates and will determine how many cops and firefighters will protect us; they decide on whether our streets should be well-maintained; they determine the cost of our water and sewer service; they vote on whether to improve our parks.

This stuff matters, folks, in a very real, tangible and demonstrable way to all of us.

So … The candidates are lining up to run for City Council. The deadline for filing is Feb. 17. The election occurs on May 6.

We’ve had profoundly important elections before. They have produced dramatic turnover, such as what occurred in the May 2015 election.

My hope now is that as the quality of the field continues to improve along with the quantity that voters, too, will step up and do their civic duty and participate.

International news

MH 370 search ends; now, wait for the gossip

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They will come, believe me. Just wait for the rumors to spring anew.

Australian, Malaysian and Chinese officials have called off the search for a Boeing 777 jetliner that disappeared in March 2014. The best technology in the world — including what was provided by the United States — has been unable to find the missing Malaysian Air Flight 370 that took off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

Then, in a flash, it went poof! Gone. With barely a trace. They’ve pulled bits and pieces of the plane from the ocean and identified them as likely belonging to the missing 777.

Meanwhile, the family members and loved ones of more than 200 passengers and crew members are left to wonder — perhaps for the rest of their lives — about whether the souls lost on that plane might still be alive, somewhere.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-3-years-mh370-search-ends-with-no-plane-few-answers/ar-AAlVSf3?li=BBnb7Kz

As someone with a bit of knowledge about these things, I can tell you that absent the recovery of human remains or spotting the wreckage of the huge jet somewhere in the Indian Ocean, the grieving survivors are going to cling to the thinnest reed possible about those who vanished with the aircraft.

My father was involved in a boat crash in September 1980. The Canadian police didn’t find him for eight days. The period between learning of the accident and the recovery of his remains were eight of the longest days of my life. Your head tells you there’s no hope; your heart, though, pleads for a different outcome. That’s what my head and heart did for that period of time.

I guarantee you that the loved ones who have waited for some confirmation of the fate of those on board MH 370 have endured the same kind of agony.

What’s more, they now will have to endure the crackpot theories from those with too much time on their hands about what happened to that jetliner. We’ve heard our share of those nutty notions already. Be assured there will be many more of them to come for the entire time the plane’s fate remains a mystery.

My heart breaks for those loved ones today.

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