Tag Archives: Amarillo City Council

environmental news

City Council candidates? Recycling … make it a priority

I have some wishes for the Amarillo City Council candidates to ponder as they campaign across the city in search of votes … and I likely will reveal some of them in this blog during the course of the campaign.

Here’s one that I think needs City Hall’s attention: recycling.

The idea of reusing our products seems to be on no one’s radar. Plastic jugs, bottles and cans, newsprint? Pfftt! Just toss it into the trash can, let the big ol’ trucks pick ’em and haul it all of to the dump.

The city used to place Dumpsters at locations around town. You could toss newsprint — such as old newspapers — into them. The Dumpsters lasted some time, then the city yanked them away. Why? Too many residents were just tossing run-of-the-mill garbage into these recycling bins. It created a headache for solid waste disposal crews, so the city said “to hell with it” and surrendered. It gave up.

I haven’t heard much debate of any kind about the City Council campaign, at least not yet. I hope to hear from some of the candidates for council member and for mayor to discuss the issue of recycling.

I would love to hear how the city could institute a curbside recycling program for residents. This discussion just doesn’t resonate with anyone, it seems.

My wife and I came here from Beaumont, a city of about 120,000 residents near the Gulf Coast. Beaumont isn’t known as an environmentally conscious community. Yet for years it ran a curbside recycling program where residents could fill bins with plastic products, glassware and newsprint; we would put the bins along the street in front of our homes and recyclers would pick them to, um, recycle them.

My understanding is that the program lost some of its steam after we left.

All five City Council seats are up for election on May 6. Is there any notion out there among one or more of the candidates about whether there’s any possibility of establishing a recycling mindset in our fair city?

local news, political news

Trying to gin up voter turnout for May election

Back when I was working for a living as editorial page editor for two newspapers in Texas, one of my ongoing tasks was to boost voter turnout for municipal elections.

For the most part, I butted my head bloody — figuratively, of course — trying to get residents in Beaumont and then in Amarillo to get off their duffs and cast their ballots.

I no longer work for a living, but I cannot put my desire to boost voter turnout to rest. That’s what this blog is all about

Amarillo is going to the polls on May 6. The city is going to produce another new City Council majority, with three incumbents choosing not to seek new terms. One of them is the mayor, Paul Harpole; the other two are City Councilwoman Lisa Blake and Councilman Randy Burkett.

That’s three out of five seats that will welcome new occupants. Change is afoot.

How will Amarillo voters respond? Since I no longer predict anything political, I’ll refrain from doing so here. If history is any guide, we are headed for another dismal turnout in a couple of months.

Single-digit percentage turnouts have occurred frequently during the 22 years I’ve been watching municipal elections in Amarillo. Oh sure, occasionally we get a “spike” into the 20 and 30 percent range. Those events occur usually when we have much-hyped and ballyhooed ballot measures.

Do you recall the two efforts to ban smoking indoors, both of which were defeated? Or how about the 2015 multipurpose event venue vote, which approved the MPEV? In 1996, Amarillo voted in favor of a resolution to sell the publicly owned Northwest Texas Hospital to a private health-care provider.

They all produced greater-than-normal turnouts. Were they great, as in great? My recollection is that the first smoking ban vote attracted a 30-percent turnout. Thirty percent is nothing to brag about. It means that seven out of 10 registered voters sat on the sidelines. Shameful!

At the risk of repeating myself, I am going to remind readers of this blog who happen to live in Amarillo of this fundamental truth.

It is that local elections matter in a tangible way far more than votes for president or members of Congress; they matter more than votes for governor; the Legislature, though, is a different matter, as our legislators decide on bills that could have an impact on our community.

City Hall is where these issues matter. It also matters who we elect to decide them. They set our local tax rates. They decide how many cops we have patrolling our streets. They determine the level of fire protection we get. They ensure our water flows, our lights shine and garbage gets picked up.

The municipal ballot will decide who fills all five of our City Council seats. All of those positions have contested races on the ballot.

Are we going to vote? Or are we going to let our neighbors — some of whom we might detest — decide who makes these policies for us?

It’s your call. I’ll remind you later to be sure to vote.

local news

City manager shows serious class

I like Jared Miller’s style.

The Amarillo city manager has been on the job for just a few days and he already is serving notice that he is in the business of learning about the municipal government he is now administering.

Miller has told all candidates for the City Council and for mayor that he wants to hear from them. He wants to know their objectives, their goals and their aspirations. Miller wants to sit down with all them and, I am going to presume for a moment, listen intently to what these individuals have in mind if they get elected to the council.

They, after all, will be his bosses. Two incumbents are running for re-election. Three new council members will take their seats after the May 6 election; one of the newbies will be the mayor, the presiding officer of the governing body.

Yes, it will be a consequential election with the second consecutive new majority taking over from the previous group. The size of that new majority, of course, is yet to be determined.

Miller’s role will be determined by how well he and the new council work together.

The part of Miller’s style I find appealing is his proactive approach to determining how that relationship should develop. He’ll learn about all the candidates, who in turn will learn about the city’s chief executive officer.

Moreover, Miller is likely to learn about this community and the amazing change that’s occurring at this very moment.

I have encountered a tiny handful of individuals over the years who have come to communities such as this one, assume positions of importance and power — and never ask a single question about their new city of residence. They come here believing they have all the answers and aren’t interested in learning anything new.

An individual such as that, simply, doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

Jared Miller looks to me as though he is intent on learning.

I am heartened by what I am sensing early in the Miller administration at City Hall.

local news, political news

That is some platform, Mayoral Candidate Nelson

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I have just examined the platform on which Ginger Nelson is running for Amarillo mayor.

Three words come to mind: W. O. W!

My sense is that Nelson either possesses the greatest memory known to humankind or she is going to keep this position paper with her 24/7 if she get elected on May 6.

The Amarillo lawyer has presented an impressive array of issues, policies and strategies to implement them.

She is focusing, quite naturally, on economic development. No surprise, given that she once served on the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board and is invested heavily in some commercial property downtown.

She breaks down her platform into six essential planks: job creation and economic development; neighborhood safety; street and highway improvement; communication and participation; customer service; and fiscal responsibility.

At the surface level, it’s impossible to disagree with any of the policies she has targeted for enhancement and/or improvement. I mean, who doesn’t want more jobs, better streets, better communication, better customer service, safe neighborhoods and sound fiscal management?

To be honest, Nelson’s platform is the most detailed and expansive I’ve seen from any Amarillo mayoral candidate in the 22 years I’ve lived here. Most of that time — when I was working for a living — my job as a journalist was to keep tabs on what candidates for public office were pledging to do.

I noticed a holdover from one of Mayor Paul Harpole’s priorities: graffiti abatement. Harpole took aim at the defacing of private property by assorted juvenile delinquents or gang members. He claims progress in that effort and I’m glad to see Nelson pledging to continue that effort.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Nelson’s platform is that she’s pledging to do all this while earning virtually nothing to serve as mayor. The job pays a whopping $10 per public meeting; oh, yes, there are some assorted expense reimbursements along the way. But this is basically a volunteer job, a labor of love.

She’s talking about better outreach to the community, cutting red tape, business recruitment, working with local colleges and our university on various partnerships, making utility billing more efficient and — I presume — more accurate, working to improve emergency response times … and on it goes.

She has two opponents in this race for mayor. I’ve already declared my preference for who I think should succeed Harpole, who’s not running for re-election. It happens to be Nelson.

I will await the platforms to be crafted by candidates Renea Dauntes and Jim Lowder II. Dauntes told the Amarillo Globe-News she wants to “improve civic pride”; Lowder plans to deal with conflicts of interest. I am confident their full platform statements won’t be as detailed as the one Nelson has presented. But, hey, if they prove me wrong, I’ll welcome their contributions to the public discussion.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, that Nelson has gone into great detail, check it out here.

If Nelson becomes our next mayor — and I hope she does — I strongly suggest she keep the platform document handy.

local news, political news

Council to lose its loudest mouth

I do not know this person, only witnessed his antics from some distance. Still, I feel the need to offer a brief critique of someone who is going to exit the Amarillo political scene.

I hope his departure is permanent … unless he learns to change his way of doing things and learns how to act in a more collegial manner.

Randy Burkett has served one occasionally tumultuous term as an Amarillo city councilman. He has chosen not to seek re-election to a second term. I won’t miss him or his occasional outbursts and fits of petulance.

Burkett was one of three newbies elected to the council in May 2015. He promised to change things. He did — in his own sort of way.

You see, I’ve always viewed Amarillo City Hall politics to be a fairly genteel endeavor. I have watched it up close — as a journalist — for more than two decades and have grown fairly familiar with the rhythm of the place and of the governing body once known as the City Commission and now known as the City Council.

There’s always been a sort of unwritten code among City Council members: You are welcome to disagree with policy matters, but once we make a decision, we prefer to lock arms and speak with one voice. The city has had a couple of notable contrarians who have served during the years I have watched its governing body. I can think of the late Commissioners Dianne Bosch and Jim Simms. They generally, though, lived by the terms of that unwritten code.

Burkett didn’t seem to adhere to that code. He would mouth off publicly when he disagreed with a city policy, or if he had differences with the way Mayor Paul Harpole conducted City Council proceedings.

Burkett seemed quite willing to call attention to himself.

He recently talked out loud about a so-called pending deal to lock up a minor league baseball franchise relocating to Amarillo. He drew a sharp rebuke from the head of the Local Government Corp., which is negotiating the deal. The deal is far from done, said LGC chairman Jerry Hodge, who said he was “ashamed” of Burkett for speaking out of turn.

Burkett loves to use the social medium known as Facebook. He has posted some pretty, um, controversial messages. Some critics have complained about what they consider to be some xenophobic comments regarding Muslims.

A TV reporter just recently broadcast a story that questioned whether Burkett — the owner of an outdoor advertising company — had profited from a City Council vote he had cast that benefited the firm he owns. Burkett denied it — vigorously and vociferously on social media.

Burkett makes no apologies for the manner in which he helped govern the city. I don’t expect any from him. And I do wish him well as he departs from the public arena after the May 6 municipal election.

My expectation would be for the city to return to a more civil public demeanor among its governing council members.

And, no, I don’t want a pack of “yes” men and women. However, it’s not unreasonable to hope they can return to the credo that has helped keep this wonderful city moving forward smoothly for the past several decades.

local news, political news

City faces second straight ‘change’ election

Amarillo voters opted for “change” when they cast votes for their City Council in 2015.

Three new guys got elected to the council two years ago, giving the body a new majority.

Guess what, folks. The city is setting up for its second straight “change” election this coming May. The context is a bit different than the 2015 earthquake, but it’s fascinating in the extreme nevertheless.

Word came out today that one of the “change agents,” Councilman Randy Burkett, has decided against seeking re-election. From my vantage point, City Hall won’t miss him.

Burkett becomes the third incumbent to forgo another go on the council. Councilwoman Lisa Blake, appointed to succeed former Councilman Brian Eades, won’t seek election. And then there’s the mayor, Paul Harpole, who has decided to call it a public service career.

What I see shaping up is a City Council that will be a more functional and collegial body, now that Burkett has decided to bow out.

Ginger Nelson appears to be the prohibitive favorite to be elected mayor. That would be a good thing for the city.

Elisha Demerson and Mark Nair — the other two newbies who got elected in 2015 — are seeking re-election to their seats.

Blake endorsed Freda Powell to succeed her in Place 2. From what I’ve observed of Powell over the years, she would add a great, fresh new voice to the council.

Burkett’s Place 3 seat well might be filled by Eddie Sauer, an Amarillo dentist apparently with many friends within the city’s business community.

Two years ago, two of the three new council members defeated incumbents; this year, three new council members will succeed incumbents who are bowing out voluntarily.

Despite the differing circumstances, the city is facing its second consecutive “change election.”

I have been a longtime supporter of Mayor Harpole, but I believe the city is poised to welcome a strong new presiding officer on its council, assuming that it’s Ginger Nelson.

I don’t know Lisa Blake well, but I’ve been impressed by her own commitment to the city and hope she returns to the arena eventually.

Demerson and Nair have done fine in their first term as council members. I trust they’ll continue to grow and learn as they work with a city administration led by City Manager Jared Miller.

As for Burkett — a social media gadfly and occasional loudmouth who’s argued openly with Harpole about city policy — his “contribution” won’t be missed. I’ll concede that my knowledge of Burkett lies only in what I’ve read in local media reporting of his antics.

If his successor is Eddie Sauer, then I have a good bit of faith that the city will be served well.

Can we handle a second straight “change election”? Sure we can.

business news

After all that … council makes a great AEDC choice

Well, that was a bit of a bumpy ride but the Amarillo City Council finally finished a short trip down a rocky road.

It chose Laura Street — a certifiable force of economic development nature — to fill a vacancy on the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation.

The vacancy occurred when Ginger Nelson resigned while announcing her candidacy for mayor.

The council voted 4-1 to select Street, with Councilman Randy Burkett casting the lone negative vote; hmmm, imagine that.

The ride got a bit bumpy toward the end of this process when applications for the AEDC post went missing. They were “overlooked” by council members. One applicant, real estate developer Perry Williams, emerged as a “favorite” for the spot when his application was discovered. It turned out Williams wasn’t answering city requests to meet with him — and then he pulled his name out of consideration.

The council looked a bit like a gang that couldn’t shoot straight.

Then it hit pay dirt with Street’s appointment. Street has been active in civic and business affairs for years and she brings a huge demonstrated commitment to the city’s economic well-being to her new post.

AEDC’s mission has been revamped a bit since the resignation of City Manager Jarrett Atkinson. The former interim manager, Terry Childers, took some of AEDC’s duties away from the board and placed them in the hands of City Hall staffers. AEDC president and CEO Buzz David retired and moved to Washington state. Now the corporation has a new CEO and it has a full complement of board members.

What’s more, the city has a new manager — Jared Miller — who got the job largely on the basis of his emphasis and experience with economic development.

So, let’s get busy.

business news, local news

Clumsiness breaks out at City Hall

Amarillo’s City Council is looking once again like a gang that cannot shoot straight.

It is looking to fill a slot on the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. board. It pushed the name of a prominent local developer, Perry Williams, to the top of its finalist list.

Then the candidate went missing in action. The city couldn’t find him. Williams wasn’t responding to efforts by the city to arrange an interview with him.

Then Williams — who is developing the huge Town Square residential/commercial project on Soncy Road — announced he was backing out. He pulled his application for the AEDC board.

Some media reporting indicates that his application had been “overlooked” by council members.

Huh? What the … ?

The council is looking at four finalists to fill the AEDC spot. I am acquainted with a couple of them, one of whom I would recommend for AEDC.

Sitting way out here in the peanut gallery, I am not sure if Williams backed out because of incompetence by the selection committee, or if he just decided at the last minute he had too much to do already … that he couldn’t devote the time needed to craft job-creation policies.

Service on the AEDC is a big deal. The AEDC is charged with using sales tax revenue to lure new businesses — and to enhance existing businesses — in the search for new jobs.

It does seem a bit strange, though, that the council would “overlook” an application, then push it forward — only to have an applicant suddenly become MIA.

Can we get an explanation? From somebody? Anybody?

local news, political news

Councilman thrusts himself into spotlight yet again

Amarillo has a City Council member who appears to enjoy thrusting himself into the spotlight.

Randy Burkett, though, finds curious methods of doing so. He uses social media to sound off on this or that issue. Then, when he takes some heat from residents and even from local media, he tends to lash back at the critics.

I’ll stipulate that I do not know Burkett personally. I have ready plenty about him since he ran for the City Council in 2015 and have been following him at times during his occasionally tumultuous tenure on the council.

He has battled with other council members, namely Mayor Paul Harpole. He has been accused of leaking confidential information from executive council sessions. He has popped off in public.

This latest social media incident, though, seems a bit different. He got into a public fight on Facebook by criticizing a Muslim woman who was wearing a red-white-and-blue head band. Now he’s gone quiet and isn’t speaking to the media.

A silly aspect of this latest dust-up is the criticism leveled at Burkett by the Amarillo Globe-News, which endorsed him for election to the council in 2015. I am beginning to think the G-N might regret its decision to back the councilman’s candidacy.

The Globe-News editorialized today about Burkett’s latest social media tempest. It has scolded him for failing to provide proof that “‘law enforcement authorities’ are investigating threats related to the aforementioned social media exchange.”

I just want to offer this admonishment to Councilman Burkett.

Don’t use social media to spout off in this manner. It is unbecoming of an elected municipal official, someone who represents an entire city of nearly 200,000 residents. All five of these council members serve as de facto ambassadors for the city. Thus, the things they post on social media outlets carries a certain imprimatur that other folks — like, say, yours truly — don’t have.

I realize in this peculiar political climate — exemplified by the election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States — has emboldened politicians at all levels to “tell it like it is” using social media. The president himself has used Twitter with devastating — and sometimes embarrassing — effect.

Just because POTUS can act like a buffoon at times on social media doesn’t give other politicians license to do the same thing.

local news

Change becomes the new norm at City Hall?

Another incumbent has bailed from the Amarillo City Council.

The latest to call it quits — perhaps if only temporarily — is Place 2 Councilwoman Lisa Blake, who announced this week she will not seek election to the seat to which she was appointed in 2016.

This is a loss for the city, as is the upcoming departure of Mayor Paul Harpole.

Blake said “family priorities” are taking precedence over public service, but let’s not close the door, lock it and toss the key on the chance of her returning to municipal politics. In the meantime, she has thrown her support behind Freda Powell, another fine and capable candidate for Place 2.

Two years ago, voters elected three new council members, all of whom vowed to be change agents for the city. This election season might produce at least that many new council members, depending on voters’ mood. Two years ago, voters expressed anger — or so many of us were led to believe. To be honest, I’m still a bit baffled at the reason for the anger, given the city’s robust economic health and the progress it has made toward the redevelopment of its downtown district.

I am not at all sure what will drive this year’s election. But with two incumbents calling it a public service career, there appears to be momentum to a huuuuge municipal ballot in May.

The more candidates the better. That’s my unofficial political motto at any level of the political process.

The more candidates we have, the more choices will be available for voters. The more choices we get, the more ideas we get to hear. Thus, we’ll be grazing along a smorgasbord of guiding principles.

That’s a good thing for everyone.

I’ve already saluted Paul Harpole for his service to the city. He isn’t likely to return to elected public service. As for Lisa Blake, thank you for your brief time in the municipal arena. Here’s hoping you’ll return to the fight one day.