A former colleague and dear friend, the late journalist Claude Duncan, used to say, “There are about as many original ideas as there are original sins.”
That was his way of saying that it’s all right to capture others’ ideas and use them as your own.
I’ve heard some folks with expertise in civic development say out loud in Amarillo that they are concerned about the push to move the city’s downtown revival efforts forward. Chiefly, they wonder whether the machinery that had been set up to start the process has been dismantled too abruptly.
Here are some cases in point from those with whom I have spoken.
City Manager Jarrett Atkinson quit after determining he couldn’t work with the newly elected Amarillo City Council. City Hall also lost other key senior administrators, such as City Attorney Marcus Norris and Assistant City Manager Vicki Covey. They all played a key part in administering the city’s Strategic Action Plan that laid the foundation for what has transpired to date.
Downtown Amarillo Inc. executive director Melissa Dailey quit as City Hall absorbed many of the economic development activities that had been left to DAI.
Amarillo Economic Development Corporation CEO and president Buzz David has left his post. He, too, has been a key player in moving the downtown processes forward.
The Local Government Corporation has said goodbye to a lot of intellectual firepower, such as Amarillo lawyer Richard Brown, who is widely considered to be the godfather of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone that has helped breathe new life into the downtown district.
Where do we stand now?
The LGC is moving forward with plans to develop the multipurpose event venue and ballpark. It has decided to pursue an affiliated minor-league baseball franchise and put that team into the downtown ballpark when it is built.
Construction has begun on the Embassy Suites convention hotel and the parking garage across the street from it. There appears to be a legitimate chance for a big announcement soon relating to the future of the long-abandoned Herring Hotel.
The MPEV price tag has escalated from $32 million to something north of $50 million. Yes, voters approved the lesser price when they endorsed the citywide referendum this past November. The LGC, though, has signed on to the double-A baseball recruitment effort and has accepted that it requires a little more money to finance it.
Against the backdrop, though, of the dismantling of the machinery that set this process up, it is fair to wonder whether the city and its affiliated agencies have the know-how to finish the job that others have started.
The city is looking for a permanent city manager. DAI’s future is cloudy at best. The AEDC’s mission might be reconfigured as the city looks for a new executive director.
Moreover, the City Council itself will have to find someone to succeed Dr. Brian Eades, who’s leaving office this summer. Eades has been a stellar champion of downtown’s revival efforts and has been a staunch supporter of the multi-faceted apparatus that has been so critical in moving those efforts along.
I remain hopeful that the city will be able to take this process to the finish line.
I also am getting mildly nervous about the potential hazards that lie ahead and whether the newly created apparatus will be alert enough to avoid them.