A fascinating ritual is about to take place at Amarillo City Hall.
Five individuals seeking to become the fifth member of the City Council are going to interview Tuesday in person — in full public view — with those individuals they seek to join.
The city is seeking to fill the seat being vacated later this summer by Dr. Brian Eades, who’s leaving the city to set up a medical practice in Colorado.
http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2016-07-10/council-question-hopefuls
I wish Eades hadn’t taken this opportunity for professional advancement. But hey, a man’s got to do what he’s got to do. I wish him well and thank him for his service to this city.
Back to the task at hand.
The council is interviewing five folks who emerged as finalists from a pool of 14 original applicants. The 10 questions they’ve established I presume have been seen by the finalists. They’ve had time to bone up on the answers.
I sense we’ll know who among them have done the best preparation. Then again, we also might get a sense about which of them is the most rehearsed and whether that element of the preparation will present itself when they answer the questions.
Without question, the most provocative question is No. 4: How should a council candidate conduct himself or herself publicly and privately “when they may ultimately serve as the people’s ambassador?”
Pay attention to that one, Sandra McCartt. The question I’m sure is aimed at her, given the tempest that stirred when some social media posts she authored came to light. They weren’t exactly the type of messages that cry out “people’s ambassador!”
This process is new to the city. I hope it works well for the council. More importantly, I hope it works well for the public that will be listeningĀ to what these individuals say about how they intend to govern our city.
I’ll make one final point just one more time.
Council members are not obligated to convene an executive — or closed — session to deliberate over who they prefer. State open meetings laws only empower the council to do so.
If they are dedicated to full transparency and public accountability they now have the chance to demonstrate it.
Deliberate in public, gentlemen of the City Council.
Good luck to you all.