My dear ol’ dad had a number of favorite sayings.

Dad would use one of them when something surprised him pleasantly.

“Well,” Dad would say, “I’ll be dipped in sesame seeds.”

Pass the seeds, will ya? I’ve just been surprised — along with quite a few other folks around Amarillo — by the actions today of the Amarillo City Council.

Council members voted 5-0 to take two items off their agenda; they dealt with the “status” of City Manager Jarrett Atkinson and the potential fate of the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board of directors.

As I write this post, I don’t know what Atkinson has decided to do. Does he stay or does he go? City Councilman Mark Nair wants him to go. At least two of his colleagues, Mayor Paul Harpole and Councilman Brian Eades, want him to stay.

The tumult, tempest and turmoil all have contributed to considerable unrest at City Hall.

The city’s downtown revival effort has begun. Atkinson has been helping steer it forward. Councilman Nair, the newest of the five men who serve on the body, wants to replace him.

As for the AEDC board, they’ve drawn fire from another new council member, Randy Burkett.

This entire exercise over the course of the past few weeks has been unsettling in the extreme.

My sincere hope now is that all the principals can reflect on the changes they want and whether the man who’s running City Hall is the one to implement them.

At least for now, it’s good to know that the City Council isn’t populated by men with itchy trigger fingers.