Paul Matney is a positive man.

He spent his lengthy and distinguished public life telling the community that our glass was half full, not half empty. I’m sure he’s said a negative thing a time or two — or maybe three. In public, though, he offers a serene sense of optimism.

Taking the high ground

A group that Matney chairs has begun airing a 30-second spot on TV and on social media extolling the virtues of the proposed $32 million multipurpose event venue — which includes a ballpark — that Amarillo voters will decide on Nov. 3.

I’ve heard Matney say — again in public — that Vote FOR Amarillo will not resort to negative campaigning to sell the MPEV to the skeptics out there.

I believe he intends to be faithful to that pledge.

My hope is that the other side can do the same, although realistically it is impossible to argue against something without saying something negative about it.

I heard Matney over the course of many years stand before audiences and sing the praises of the educational institution he led. Amarillo College has enjoyed a remarkably high public standing in Amarillo while other public institutions — Amarillo City Hall, Randall and Potter counties, even the Amarillo public school system — occasionally have taken broadsides from constituents who are disaffected at some level.

Matney, of course, doesn’t deserve all the credit for AC’s high standing.

Look, I’m not a Pollyanna. I get that politics can be tough. It can get negative. The late U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen called politics a “contact sport.”

I do hope, though, that the MPEV campaign that’s unfolding doesn’t drive a huge wedge between disparate community elements.  I am heartened to see that one side of that campaign has pledged to take the high ground.

If the other side is destined to go negative, then my hope is that they do so with honesty and integrity … and with an absence of demagoguery.