Politics often breeds cynicism. I understand how that can happen when politicians listen more intently to deep-pocketed special interest groups than they do to rank-and-file voters.

But Amarillo might be witnessing a brand new level of cynical political strategy at work. It galls me beyond measure.

Some individuals who oppose the Amarillo City Commission’s decision to ban the use of handheld cellphones by motorists have created a Facebook page, as reported by the Globe-News’ Kevin Welch, that calls for residents to not vote in the May 11 municipal election.

The strategy, as these loons see it, is to lower the petition-gathering threshold for those seeking to put the cellphone ban on the ballot in November. The fewer voters who cast ballots for municipal office, the fewer signatures they would need to collect to qualify for a spot on the ballot this fall.

Mayor Paul Harpole, the lone commission member facing an opponent on May 11, labels this tactic correctly: It’s “not democratic” and “distressing,” he told Welch.

I’ll add a couple more adjectives, Mr. Mayor. Let’s try “insane,” and “foolish.” Perhaps I could declare that the reason for doing this is based on an outright lie.

Someone named David Kossey – who, I should add, lives in Canyon – reportedly is leading this Facebook nonsense. He contends that Amarillo commission members approved the ordinance with “little or no input from the public.” Really? I could swear the city called for public hearings prior to voting on it. I also could swear that the city debated this issue publicly for months before deciding finally to enact the cellphone ban. Where was Kossey during all of this?

The good news, though, comes from City Attorney Marcus Norris, who says the vote-squelching effort won’t affect this petition drive. Petitioners still need to reach the threshold set by the 15,280 people who voted in the 2011 municipal election; they need to collect enough signatures to equal 25 percent of that turnout. Seems that the date of the beginning of the petition drive locks them into the previous turnout, not the one that’s about to occur.

But the whole idea of discouraging voter participation turns my stomach. It’s nothing but a shameful display of cynicism.