I am pulling for Jarrett Atkinson.

The former Amarillo city manager is now in the running to become the chief administrator down yonder in Lubbock, Texas.

He was run out of a job he was doing well here. There’s no way to sugarcoat what happened to him in Amarillo. Voters elected three new City Council members in reaction to some sense of municipal “anger.” I’m still puzzled by the source of that alleged anger and angst.

Was he the perfect city manager? Did everything he touched turn to gold? No, but if you look at the big picture, you see a city that was on the move in the correct direction. Amarillo enjoyed steady growth, maintained a low tax rate, kept its debt obligation to a bare minimum. The city manager deserves a huge chunk of credit.

Atkinson quit his job not long after the new council took office.

Now he might be on the cusp of getting back into municipal government game.

Lubbock needs some help managing a priceless resource. I refer to water, something about which Atkinson is an acknowledged expert. On his watch at Amarillo City Hall, Amarillo was able to acquire vast water rights, setting the city on course to remain viable for the next century or two.

I didn’t like what happened to Atkinson here. I don’t have any inside information on how the Lubbock City Council will go with this key appointment.

I just want to put it on the record that I hope for the best for Jarret Atkinson … and for the city that might be about to hire him to do a difficult and demanding job.