Tag Archives: Amarillo City Council

local news

‘Quality of life’ at stake with parks proposition

thompson park

“SHALL the City Council of the City of Amarillo, Texas, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the City in the principal amount of $22,250,000 for permanent public improvements and public purposes, to wit:  acquiring, constructing, improving, expanding, renovating and equipping neighborhood park and recreation facilities of the City and the acquisition of land therefor; such bonds to mature serially or otherwise over a period not to exceed twenty-five (25) years from their date, to be issued and sold in one or more series at any price or prices and to bear interest at any rate or rates (fixed, floating, variable or otherwise) as shall be determined within the discretion of the City Council at the time of issuance or sale of the bonds; and whether ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon all taxable property in the City sufficient to pay the annual interest and provide a sinking fund to pay the bonds at maturity?”

* Proposition 4 on the Nov. 8 Amarillo municipal ballot

It’s called “quality of life.”

The term usually describes occasionally hard-to-define public infrastructure needs.

Although communities do not require parks, or recreational venues to function, residents become used to having them available and being able to use them whenever they wish.

Amarillo voters are going to decide this November whether to spend nearly $22.3 million to improve parks and recreation infrastructure throughout the city.

Is this one worth supporting? I believe it is.

The city is putting seven propositions on the ballot. This is the second in a series of commentaries I’d like to offer on the propositions.

The largest single expenditure will occur with construction of a recreation center in the North Heights neighborhood. The city has identified that center as a major need in a neighborhood where residents occasionally have expressed the belief that City Hall doesn’t care as much about them as it does about residents in other parts of the city.

The list of all the projects can be found on the link here:

http://amarillo.gov/pdf/CIP_list_for_ballot_resolution.pdf

Parks matter for a city’s quality of life. Amarillo has a population now of about 200,000 residents. We have enjoyed steady, moderate growth for decades. New residents are still coming to Amarillo to take jobs, to build lives for themselves and their families and to enjoy the amenities the city has to offer.

We don’t cry out for good parks and recreational opportunities the way we do, say, for police officers to respond quickly or for firefighters to arrive immediately to protect us.

If we’re going to let parks go to seed, or not support the community centers that become the lifeblood of neighborhoods, then ponder this: What would Amarillo be like without any of them?

We might not always be able to define issues that give us a good “quality of life,” but most of us know when those things aren’t available for us to enjoy.

local news

Expand and improve Civic Center? Absolutely!

ama civic center

“SHALL the City Council of the City of Amarillo, Texas, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the City in the principal amount of $83,430,000 for permanent public improvements and public purposes, to wit:  constructing, improving, expanding, renovating and equipping civic center facilities and the acquisition of land therefor; such bonds to mature serially or otherwise over a period not to exceed twenty-five (25) years from their date, to be issued and sold in one or more series at any price or prices and to bear interest at any rate or rates (fixed, floating, variable or otherwise) as shall be determined within the discretion of the City Council at the time of issuance or sale of the bonds; and whether ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon all taxable property in the City sufficient to pay the annual interest and provide a sinking fund to pay the bonds at maturity?”

* Proposition 5 on the Nov. 8 Amarillo municipal ballot

That might be the longest sentence ever written in English. Ever!

But it speaks directly to an issue that has been on the top of Amarillo residents’ minds ever since, oh, we began talking about building the multipurpose event venue across the street from City Hall.

Amarillo City Council has put forward seven ballot propositions. This one, No. 5, deals directly with the Civic Center.

This is the first in a series of blog posts — as I promised earlier — commenting on the propositions coming to us this November.

The city asks residents to spend $83 million and change to improve, rehabilitate and “expand” the Civic Center.

Those who objected to the MPEV said the Civic Center ought to be a higher priority for the city than building a new ballpark. They cited the city’s lack of convention meeting space. Meanwhile, pro-MPEV forces argued that the new venue would be a great attraction for people to venture downtown for an evening of entertainment — which doesn’t argue directly against Civic Center improvements.

The Civic Center is a decent venue for conventions. Sure, it could stand some improvements. The Cal Farley Coliseum isn’t exactly a first-rate sports venue. It’s cramped, with limited seating for hockey and indoor football, although fairness requires me to say that neither the hockey team or the football team play to many sellout crowds during their respective seasons.

Still, an $83 million price tag would seem to do quite a bit for the Civic Center, which has been standing along Buchanan Street since the late 1960s.

Here’s our chance, then, to improve this venue to make it an even better draw for convention business.

Hey, we’ve got that five-star Embassy Suites hotel going up across the street. The folks staying there ought to be able to do their business in a first-cabin convention center as well.

local news

Meanwhile, City Hall asks for some tough decisions, too

vote1

So, perhaps you thought your tough decisions begin and end with the vote for president of the United States.

Hmm. Wrong!

Amarillo City Hall has put forward a package of seven ballot propositions. They total nearly $340 million. If we approve them all, our municipal property tax rate will increase a few cents per $100 assessed valuation on our property.

What we’ve got here is a comprehensive list of projects covering a multitude of areas involving the service that our city provides.

Here’s the link that summarizes them:

http://amarillo.gov/pdf/CIP_list_for_ballot_resolution.pdf

The package of measures represents a significant change in the process of governing at City Hall. The list is almost mind-numbing.

The list includes projects set for streets, public safety, municipal facilities, parks, the Civic Center, athletic facilities and the vehicle fleet.

My guess would be that every single one of Amarillo’s 200,000 residents partakes in at least one of those municipal services. Thus, we have a vested and tangible interest in ensuring we get the most of them.

This is a fascinating method of securing public support for these services. If voters approve all of them, they all get done — over time.

Voters, though, have the chance to decide which of these projects are the most important. If they don’t want to improve the city’s park network, they can vote no on that proposition. If voters think they’re safe enough and do not want to improve police and fire protection, well, you can say “no” to that one, too. Hey, if you like the condition of the streets, you can reject that one, too.

Here are the proposals as presented by the City Council:

http://amarillo.gov/pdf/Resolution_Callilng_November_Election_16.pdf

The total price tag, I should add, was winnowed down from an original wish list of nearly a billion bucks.

Amarillo’s elected and senior administrative leadership have boasted for as long as I can remember — and I’ve been observing City Hall for more than 21 years — about the city’s famously low municipal tax rate.

The city also carries relatively little debt, unlike other cities of comparable size around the state.

City Hall has done a thorough job of examining areas that need improvement. It has asked us — the taxpayers — to dig a little deeper to pay for them. It’s reasonable to ask those of us who partake of the services offered to pay for them.

Those agents of change who took office in the spring of 2015 promised to do things differently than what has happened before. I’ve been critical of some of the changes brought by the City Council.

This one, though, represents a positive — and proactive — new direction.

***

In the weeks ahead, I’ll be looking at some of these individual propositions and offering a comment or two on them. Until then, study up.

local news, Sports news

Here’s why minor-league baseball is good for Amarillo

baseball

I’ve spoken already about my hope that Amarillo can reel in a baseball franchise that would play ball in a new downtown ballpark.

What I want to explore briefly here today is why the potential new franchise is so much more desirable than what the city has at this moment, which is a “franchise” in name only.

The current baseball team calls itself the Texas AirHogs. It is an “independent” team that splits its home schedule between Amarillo and Grand Prairie.

When these guys play their Amarillo half of their “home” schedule, they suit up and perform at the Potter County Memorial Stadium, which in reality is a dump.

I’m not sure what next season will bring us. The AirHogs might go somewhere else next year. They might devote their full home schedule to Amarillo. Or, they might decide to stay full-time in Grand Prairie.

The push now is on to lure a Double A franchise from San Antonio. The Missions are affiliated with the San Diego Padres of the National League. The Padres appear to be a well-run major-league franchise. They produced a Hall of Fame outfielder, the late Tony Gwynn. Indeed, Gwynn finished the 1981 season in Amarillo, hitting .462, which was a precursor to the brilliant career he forged with the Padres.

Amarillo is no longer a one-horse burg known only for Cadillac Ranch and the gigantic steak. We’re on the cusp of passing the 200,000-population barrier; we might already have passed it, for all I know. We are blessed with a healthy local economy and an increasingly diversified work force.

The city has committed to building a downtown ballpark. It cost is about $50 million. Demolition and construction will begin perhaps later this year. The city is now negotiating with the sports group that owns the Missions to bring that franchise to the Top of Texas.

My hope is that the city can sell itself to the Missions, persuade them to come here, rather than go somewhere else. My expectation doesn’t yet match my hope, but the gap between them is narrowing.

The Amarillo City Council has done a good job of jerking my emotions around. The council occasionally says the right things to assuage my concerns about the direction the city might be going. Then some council members blurt out intemperate remarks that get people’s attention — for the wrong reasons.

An affiliated minor-league baseball franchise would be wonderful for Amarillo. That it would play baseball in a new venue downtown would produce a fine return on the investment being made in that venue.

Again, this only is a hope, but I think it’s a reasonable one: The crowds attending baseball games downtown could bring plenty of what we could call “recreational revenue” to many of the businesses that would be clustered in the downtown district.

I will presume the city is negotiating with the group that owns the Missions is bargaining in good faith. If it comes to pass, as one council member has suggested will happen soon, then the city will reap the benefit.

How do I know that? It’s happened thousands of times already in many American cities. It surely can happen here.

I believe it will.

local news, Sports news

Is an Amarillo baseball deal at hand?

ballpark

“Amarillo Councilman Randy Burkett said he expects his city’s leaders will sign an agreement with Elmore Sports Group in late September or early October.”

— From an Amarillo Globe-News Facebook post

What prompts Councilman Burkett to make such a bold prediction? Lubbock missed a deadline to put a proposed tax increase on the November ballot that would pay for construction of a new baseball stadium.

Lubbock’s late entry into the baseball franchise hunt appeared for a moment to hinder Amarillo’s own quest.

Thus, the deck now appears cleared for Amarillo to negotiate aggressively to bring the Double A minor-league baseball franchise to the High Plains. The franchise currently does business as the San Antonio Missions.

The Missions are planning to vacate the Alamo City, which is angling to bring in a Triple A franchise.

I am not privy to the goings-on at City Hall. I just sit out here in the peanut gallery hoping for the best.

And “the best” appears, if Burkett is correct, to be taking shape.

Amarillo is set to begin making room for its downtown ballpark. Crews will begin demolition of the old Coca-Cola distribution building across the street from City Hall. Once the lot is swept clean, then the plan is to build the multipurpose event venue that voters endorsed with their November 2015 referendum vote.

So, if an agreement is about a month away, then the franchise that now plays hard ball in San Antonio will bring its act to Amarillo — hopefully soon.

Then the city can have a legitimate minor-league baseball franchise to root for in a shiny new ballpark. It would be a significant improvement over the half-in, half-out bunch that splits “home” games between Amarillo and Grand Prairie and plays half of its “home” schedule at a rat hole ball park at the Tri-State Fairgrounds.

Amarillo can do better than that.

local news

Waiting for the big ‘change’ at Amarillo City Hall

tx amar city hall

The agents of change on the Amarillo City Council have made their mark.

Some of it’s been good. Some of it’s been, well, not so good.

I’m waiting for the proposal that will tell me these individuals really meant it when they campaigned for election to the council in 2015.

It involves the city’s at-large voting plan.

Perhaps you know how it goes these days. All five City Council members stand for election every other year. The next election date occurs in May 2017. They’ll all get to run for re-election — or “election” in the case of new Councilwoman Lisa Blake, who was just appointed to the spot vacated by Dr. Brian Eades.

What might the change involve?

Let’s try this: Expanding the council to seven members. Then let’s try electing four of them from voter precincts, dividing the city into equally apportioned quadrants. Then we can elect two council members at-large, along with the mayor.

The debate in Amarillo over single-member districts has been an all-or-nothing proposition. Those who favor changing the system seem fixated on the notion of electing all four council members from districts, having them represent their own neighborhoods. They’ve never seriously discussed the idea of expanding the body and developing a hybrid system that blends the at-large system with their preferred method of electing council members at-large.

Back in the old days, when I was working for The Man, I argued that the current at-large system works well for the city. My view on that has, shall we say, “evolved” since I’m now writing for myself. It’s not that it doesn’t work well; my view now is that some tinkering could make it work better.

Each quadrant could be divided among equal numbers of residents. It would require some finely tuned research to ensure two things: that each section has roughly the same number of voters and that they all represent a “community of common interest.”

They need not be gerrymandered beyond all that is reasonable, the way the Texas Legislature rigs the apportioning of legislative and congressional districts.

A hybrid voting plan has another consequence. It gives the mayor and the two at-large council members additional power by virtue that they would represent the entire city while their colleagues would represent roughly a fourth of Amarillo.

I saw it work in Beaumont, where I worked before moving to the Panhandle in early 1995. Yes, there were occasional disputes among ward representatives over whether a city policy would benefit their particular section of the city. The at-large representatives, though, acted as a bit of a leavening agent to the debate; they could seek to soothe hurt feelings.

I do not want to reveal any names, but one of the new Amarillo council members has told me he intends to propose a change to the city charter that would call for changing the manner in which we elect our governing City Council.

The city is continuing to grow. It is continuing to diversify along ethnic, racial and socio-economic lines. It is continuing to require a little more nuance in the way it is governed.

So far, this council member has been silent.

Let’s have this discussion. Now. Shall we?

local news

Let’s get busy, Amarillo City Council

MPEV

The author of a letter to the Amarillo Globe-News has sounded an alarm for Amarillo.

He suggests that Lubbock is up to no good in its effort to lure a Double A baseball franchise that is planning to vacate San Antonio. He likens the move to someone who is stealing a kiss.

You see, Amarillo is also trying to bring that same franchise, which is currently called the San Antonio Missions, to the Panhandle. Lubbock has just now joined in the hunt for the same prize.

The headline on the letter to the editor calls Lubbock a “wicked stepsister.”

Interesting description, although it does seem a bit harsh.

But make no mistake, there exists a civic rivalry between the communities.

Lubbock is home to more residents; it has Texas Tech University; it has a first-cabin sports and entertainment venue at the Tech campus. There is this perception that Lubbock is able to land the first-line entertainment acts while Amarillo — as often as not — gets stuck with knock-off “tribute” bands and truck pulls.

Lubbock now it seeks to land a baseball franchise that first came into Amarillo’s sights several months ago.

Amarillo wants the Missions to move here and to take up residence in that downtown ballpark that is set to be built — eventually! — on property across the street from City Hall. The multipurpose event venue is part of the city’s downtown revival effort. The key to the MPEV’s success, though, seems to lie in whether the city can persuade the Missions to come here.

Will the Lubbock initiative get in the way?

I do believe that the time has officially arrived for Amarillo’s City Council to pull together, in unison, for the same goal.

There’s been some signs of fracture among council members since the latest municipal election, which occurred in May 2015. It’s more imperative than before, though, for the governing board to set aside personal differences.

A new MPEV tenant does not want to wade into an environment that — in the words of interim City Manager Terry Childers — has produced a “caustic political environment.”

I don’t yet know what Lubbock has up its municipal sleeve.

However, I do believe it is time for Amarillo to show its chops and ensure this potential suitor that it intends to do all it can to make the MPEV/ballpark a success and that whoever takes up residence in the new venue will enjoy the fruits that success will bring.

Some unity of purpose is in order.

local news, Sports news

Amarillo’s baseball quest has gotten complicated

baseball

I thought for an instant — that’s all it was — that I was hallucinating.

The headline on the front page of the Amarillo Globe-News said something about Lubbock making a bid to land a Double A baseball team: the San Antonio Missions.

They did pull plans to build a stadium, but then they might dangle some other incentives and seek to lure the team from the Alamo City to the Hub City.

Hold it!

Isn’t that the goal of the Amarillo City Council, too? Are we now competing head to head with our major municipal rival for the same prize?

I don’t know the particulars of the Lubbock initiative and I know only some of what Amarillo has up its governmental sleeve as it seeks to land the baseball franchise.

Here’s what I do fear, though. I fear that Amarillo’s recent spate of in-fighting, back-biting, name-calling and otherwise  uncivil behavior among members of its City Council might not play well in the Missions’ board room as it ponders where to relocate its baseball franchise.

It’s not as though San Antonio — the second-largest city in Texas — is going to lose anything. The plan there is to bring in a Triple A franchise to replace the Double A team that’s departing.

I’m not going to get into which city is the West Texas top dog. Lubbock has more residents than we do. It does have a Division I public university. Amarillo has its charms, too. We’ve got more scenic splendor nearby with Caprock Canyons and Palo Duro Canyon state parks. And, hey, we’ve got Cadillac Ranch, too!

We also have had our share of recent tumult at the center of our municipal government.

We’re going to start clearing the land to make room for that multipurpose event venue. The MPEV is slated to be home for a lot of activities, anchored — it is hoped — by a baseball franchise.

I won’t predict how this will turn out. The Lubbock entry into the baseball sweepstakes, though, does complicate matters.

Do you think it’s time Amarillo starts pulling together?

As a friend of mine noted in a message to me this morning, “Amarillo’s council members should now be incentivized to forget pettiness and unite to get the Missions to Amarillo, because the longer it drags out, the greater the chances other suitors will emerge.”

education news

WT keeps selection process a secret

wendler

Walter Wendler appears set to become the next president of West Texas A&M University.

He’s a true-blue Aggie. His sons are Texas A&M grads. He’s worked with the flagship campus of the massive A&M University System.

That’s all I know. That’s all any of us know.

Why does that matter?

Well, past hiring practices for senior WTAMU administrators in recent years has gone a bit differently than this one has gone. WT often allows finalists to conduct what amounts to a public audition for the job. They meet with university organizations, such as student government officers and faculty senate officials; then they meet the public in meet-and-greet sessions. All of this gives interested and vested interest groups a chance to size up potential WT leaders.

Frankly, I prefer the old way.

Wendler has been presented by the Texas A&M University regents as the sole finalist for the job that was vacated by former WT President J. Pat O’Brien.

Wendler has a long career in post-secondary education administration — in Texas as well as at Southern Illinois University.

“West Texas A&M University is a beautiful campus with a bright future,” said Chancellor (John) Sharp. “I believe Walter Wendler will accelerate the university’s upward trajectory and make that future even brighter. I am glad he has agreed to serve in this important role, and I am honored to welcome him back to the Texas A&M family.”

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/32696430/wt-names-finalist-for-school-president#.V6ex_1lmMoo.twitter

Is he the right person for the job? The WT search committee, led by longtime Amarillo banking icon Don Powell, seems to think so. Powell is no slouch in determining the best course for WT or for the A&M System, for that matter, having once served as an A&M System regent.

Consider, too, the process that the Amarillo City Council used in selecting a new council member. It winnowed down a list of candidates to five finalists and then interviewed them in public.

In this era in which residents are demanding “transparency” at all levels of government, I believe WT — and the A&M System regents — could have served their constituents even better by presenting a longer list of finalists to the public than simply the lone survivor.

local news, Sports news

Hoping for actual minor-league baseball

baseball

My curiosity got the better of me this morning.

I decided to look up the home page for the AirHogs, the team that passes for a minor-league baseball organization that plays some of its home games in Amarillo.

I discovered a serious travesty.

The AirHogs are known as the Texas AirHogs, given that the team splits its “home schedule” between Amarillo and Grand Prairie, a community in the Metroplex.

The home page lists its “home” game schedule by referring to the split between Amarillo and Grand Prairie.

http://airhogsbaseball.com/home/

Which brings me, I suppose, to the purpose of this blog post: the possibility of Amarillo getting an actual minor-league baseball franchise.

City officials have announced a schedule for the knock-down of a vacated Coca-Cola distribution plant across the street from City Hall. It’s coming soon. The lot will be cleared off, scraped clean and then the city will await construction of a $45 million ballpark — once known as the multipurpose event venue.

All the while, the city — or more specifically, the Local Government Corporation — is negotiating with a baseball franchise that currently plays ball in San Antonio. The hope here is that the San Antonio Missions, a Double A team affiliated with the National League San Diego Padres, will relocate to Amarillo once San Antonio lands a Triple A franchise.

The LGC has a huge task before it. Indeed, the negotiation likely is a key reason that interim City Manager Terry Childers agreed to stay on the job a while longer as the City Council continues its search for a permanent chief city administrator.

During the campaign prior to the November 2015 municipal referendum on the MPEV, retired Amarillo College President Paul Matney talked about Amarillo’s history as a “baseball town.” The voters agreed narrowly with Matney’s assessment and approved the referendum that gave the city the green light to proceed with the MPEV.

That history, though, is not being honored by the ridiculous half-and-half home schedule the AirHogs are playing. Heck, they aren’t even playing all their Amarillo home games at that dump called Potter County Memorial Stadium; they are playing some of those games at West Texas A&M University’s home field.

I am trying mightily to retain confidence that the LGC can pull this deal together and that Amarillo can get the kind of minor-league baseball that will make the city proud.