Tag Archives: Amarillo City Hall

local news

Hey, new guys! Listen to the good doctor!

Brian Eades may be whistling in the dark with this request.

That doesn’t diminish its value.

Eades is the senior member of the Amarillo City Council and he’s urging his new colleagues on the council — Elisha Demerson, Randy Burkett and Mark Nair — to reconsider their effort to toss out the city’s top-level management.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/29472902/veteran-council-member-urges-colleagues-to-reconsider-resignations#.VZdU7CrjfnU.facebook

As he told NewsChannel 10, the effort to replace City Manager Jarrett Atkinson and the entire Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board is, at best, “premature.”

Do you think?

All of this has taken a stunning turn. Nair took his oath of office this past Tuesday — and later on that very same day he said Atkinson should resign. The voters elected to Place 4 to be an agent of change, he said, and by golly he intends to fulfill that mandate.

Same with Demerson and Burkett.

Eades, a physician who was elected to the council in 2007, said the call is at best premature.

I’ll go a step or three further. It’s reckless.

Eades told NewsChannel 10: “New individuals may want to understand how the city works before you launch into that. It took me almost two years on the council to figure out exactly all the details regarding city government and how it works.”

Yes, there have been stumbles along the way. I concede readily that the city has been embarrassed by some remarkably inept occurrences. The city erred in hiring a traffic engineer; its animal control operation came under intense fire; it stepped on every one of its toes over that ridiculous city logo fiasco. To be sure, the city manager — as the city’s chief executive officer — is responsible ultimately for everything that happens, good and bad.

But Eades issues another cautionary suggestion: “Certainly, ultimately he is responsible, but I think you have to hold middle managers and lower level managers responsible for what they do in the workplace everyday as well.”

Will the new guys heed the good doctor’s advice when the council meets next Tuesday?

Well, I’m not holding my breath for that to occur.

Some municipal government experience, though, does bring more than a hint of wisdom.

Uncategorized

Is it time to put up … or then shut up?

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Accusations have been flying all over Amarillo of late.

They have involved the sale of the Commerce Building downtown and whether the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation overpaid for the site. They also have involved allegations of secret meetings, back-room insider deals, back-scratching among ultra-rich friends.

The downtown Amarillo redevelopment effort has begun moving forward. There’s now some talk of it all being stalled — or perhaps blown apart — if the top level of city management is forced out. There might be some kind of vote to decide if residents really want to build multipurpose event venue planned for a vacant piece of property just south of City Hall. The vote might occur against the backdrop of the allegations that have been leveled.

I haven’t yet seen any evidence of something improper, let alone illegal, going on here.

We’ve had a well-publicized public forum at the Civic Center. We’ve had public hearing after public hearing on the three-pronged project — MPEV, downtown hotel and parking garage. We’ve seen detailed analyses of how the city believes the MPEV can work for the city, how the hotel proposal is tied to the MPEV’s construction and how economic developers intend to convert Polk Street into an entertainment district that could be an inducement to keep young people from leaving their hometown for places that boast of a little more pizzazz.

The doubters persist. They continue to cast aspersions not just on the project, but on the motives of those who support it.

I’m just a guy who lives in Amarillo with my wife. We pay our taxes regularly every year. We enjoy living here. We also want to see our city develop, evolve and become something more than just a place along Interstate 40 where people stop overnight en route to points east and west.

These allegations are troubling to me only in this regard: They come with zero evidence, just assertions.

I welcome healthy debate, as we all should welcome it. I do not welcome the ugliness that crept into it long ago and which persists to the detriment of what many of us want for our city.

local news

Hold on for bumpy ride at City Hall

My cell phone rang this morning. I answered it and on the other end was a friend of mine who works at Amarillo City Hall.

We chatted for a few moments about some blogs I’d written about the new City Council makeup, the potential fate of City Manager Jarrett Atkinson and a few other things.

I told my friend, “I don’t feel good about what I’m seeing happening at City Hall.”

My friend answered, “It’s going to get a bit bumpy around here.”

My final response to my friend was to “keep your head down.”

Later in the day, I visited with another friend who recalled when he first came to Amarillo, one of the things he had heard about city government was “how well everyone worked together.” He talked of the espirit de corps that existed among city leaders, the business community and just plain folks.

Is all of that gone now that we have a new City Council comprising three new guys who campaigned for “change”?

Three new council members have taken their oath and two of them have called for the resignation of the city manager, whose status will be the subject of a City Council meeting next Tuesday.

The stakes, though, go far beyond the fate of one man. Jarrett Atkinson might survive this tempest. If he does, then he’ll have a majority of the council — if not all five of them — watching his every move.

If he doesn’t survive, if he quits or is let go, what happens then to the grand plan that’s already begun its forward movement? The effort to revive downtown already has begun.

The Coca-Cola distribution center has been vacated to make room for construction of that multipurpose event venue; Xcel Energy has broken ground on its new office complex; the block that used to house the city jail has been cleared away to accommodate construction of a convention hotel.

Do we really and truly have the stomach to see all of the hard work that went into this proposal tossed aside?

If the need arises and we need to look for a city manager, the process is going to take months — perhaps many months. Is anyone going to rise up from within the ranks to take the job? You can stop laughing. I get it. Of course not.

My friend was trying to be diplomatic with the description of a “bumpy” ride coming up.

We’d all better hold on with both hands.

Oh, and that spirit of cooperation? Well, that’s a goner, too. I do not object to healthy dissent and debate — along with constructive criticism. I fear the potential for a City Hall donnybrook.

local news

Council member makes waves right off the top

Mark Nair might not like being called this, but he’s turned into a rabble-rouser.

The newest member of the Amarillo City Council stirred ’em up this week with a call for City Manager Jarrett Atkinson to resign. He did so just after he took his oath of office. He took his seat on the council, participated in a public meeting — then tossed the grenade right into the public’s lap.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/29455295/what-do-potential-resignations-mean-for-downtown-development

This is not the fellow I understood was running for a spot on the council. His friends and allies call him thoughtful and deliberative. Yes, he said he sought “change” at City Hall. I recall reading a news report immediately after he won the runoff for the Place 4 seat on June 13 in which he said he didn’t even know Atkinson, but that he looked forward to seeking answers to key questions about the way the city administration is run.

OK, then. He takes the oath and immediately calls for Atkinson’s resignation?

I’ve met Nair once, at a downtown Amarillo coffee shop. He was running for the council. Some friends of mine introduced him to me. We exchanged pleasantries. That’s it.

So, I’m not going to scold Nair too harshly here. I just would caution the young man about the land mines that await him if he becomes too out front on some of this get-rid-of-Atkinson rhetoric without knowing (a) the man about whom he is speaking and (b) all the details of what goes on at the highest levels of city government.

As a council member, he and his colleagues have authority to demand the manager’s resignation. They set the policy and the manager implements it on their — and our — behalf.

However, he’s one of three brand, spanking new members of the City Council. None of them has serious management experience, although Place 1 Councilman Elisha Demerson did serve a single term as Potter County judge — more than 20 years ago!

I was hoping for a go-slow approach when the new council members took office.

My hope has been dashed.

Those agents of change out there are happy, I reckon. Fine. Be happy.

Me? I’m hoping we can maintain some continuity as we move forward and start pondering our careful next steps in this downtown revival effort.

 

local news

So many questions at City Hall

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Amarillo City Council members decided to start their new tenure off with far more than a bang.

It went off like a volcano.

Place 4 Councilman Mark Nair called for City Manager Jarrett Atkinson’s resignation. He was joined by his pal in Place 3, Randy Burkett. That’s two votes against the manager.

Where does a city councilman’s authority begin and end here? Can one, or two members of a five-member governing body make such a call?

The two men also called for the resignation of Assistant City Manager Vicki Covey, who then agreed to quit.

Given that the assistant city manager is hired by the city manager, do council members have any actual authority to call for a city manager subordinate to resign?

Suppose Atkinson doesn’t quit. Suppose he wants to go to the mat. He then can ask for a public airing of the grievances against him. State open meetings law exemptions do not require that personnel matters be kept secret; they only allow for it.

Would the City Council — in the interest of the transparency on which its three new members campaigned — be willing to discuss all this in the bright light of day?

The city is knee-deep — and maybe even deeper than that — in plans to redevelop its downtown district.

What does all of this mean to the city’s efforts and does it derail it if the top municipal administrator is no longer in the picture?

Change has arrived at City Hall. The new guys said they wanted to shake up the way things had been done.

Something tells me we’re about to see whether we reap the benefits of that change — or pay for it.

 

local news

Here comes that ‘change’ at City Hall

Mark Nair took his oath of office as the Amarillo City Council’s newest member and then asked for the resignations of City Manager Jarrett Atkinson, Assistant City Manager Vicki Covey and the five Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board members.

Isn’t there a “getting acquainted period” involved here?

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/29447986/city-leaders-asked-to-resign

Nope.

So, here’s the change voters seemingly said they wanted when they elected Nair and two other new guys to the City Council. Randy Burkett joined the newest guy in calling for the resignations.

Haven’t heard yet if the third newbie, Elisha Demerson, feels the same way. I’ll assume for the moment he does.

The $113 million question is this: What would changes at the top of the Amarillo administrative municipal chain of command mean for its downtown redevelopment efforts?

I hope that rumble I’m hearing isn’t the sound of a train wreck about to occur.

 

business news, local news

Still wondering: How does downtown plan hurt?

Amarillo MPEV

Let’s take the long view, shall we?

The drawing here depicts what Amarillo’s downtown district is set to look like in about, oh, five years.

It shows a nifty little ballpark directly across the street from City Hall. To the west of the ballpark we’ll have a convention hotel. Next to City Hall there’ll be a covered parking garage.

City officials think all of this is doable. They believe that once the project is complete, the city will draw additional convention business, with flocks of convention-goers putting themselves up in lodging downtown and perhaps as well along Interstate 40.

Xcel Energy has broken ground on a new office complex it will occupy once it vacates the 31-story Chase Tower.

City and downtown development officials are planning a daylong session Wednesday to lay out the project in detail. They’ve invited the public to take part. They want to hear everyone’s concerns; they’ll certainly accept supporting comments. They also say they intend to listen to the concerns of those who are opposed — some of them adamantly — to the downtown project.

What on God’s Earth, though, can be wrong with redeveloping a downtown district that once flourished as a gathering place for Panhandle residents, but which has languished over many years as a place that remains a business and financial center, but needs some energy?

The City Council and economic development leaders have told us until they’ve run out of breath that the downtown redevelopment will occur without spending additional property tax money. They contend that hotel/motel taxes will pay for it. The money will come from those who visit Amarillo, from folks who live elsewhere.

And even that has drawn criticism.

The projects are moving forward. Agreements have been signed. They’re finally starting to bust up some pavement to make room for what promises to be a grand new look for our downtown business district.

The price tag is around $100 million. Development leaders are securing private investors to foot a huge part of the bill. Has that quieted the critics? Oh, no. They’ve persisted in the demagoguery.

I need to ask: Are we going to forsake this investment in our city’s future because some of us just cannot believe it’s possible in little ol’ Amarillo, Texas?

How about stretching our reach just a little bit to grasp what — to my eyes — looks quite promising?

 

entertainment news, local news

City hears from the young and, until now, the silent

downtown amarillo

Amarillo City Council members got a snootful this week from some of their constituents.

No, it wasn’t the usual gaggle of naysayers who keep harping on why Amarillo can’t do this or that.

The pleas instead came from a handful of young people interested in seeing the city redevelop its downtown district into a place that would attract them, make them want to come back here or perhaps to stay and start their lives.

The open meeting at City Council Chambers featured a number of folks who support the concept that’s been developed for downtown’s rebirth — assuming, of course, that it’s allowed to come into this world.

They like the idea of a multipurpose event venue, the MPEV. They like the notion of redeveloping Polk Street, turning it into an entertainment district. They like the idea of a downtown convention hotel which, quite naturally, will require additional parking.

They didn’t speak to council members Tuesday about the nuts and bolts of funding. They spoke instead of the concept.

I’m not a young person. I do agree, though, with our young residents.

Some other, older residents, said they disapprove of what’s being promoted. While the young folks like the idea of emulating, say, Austin, at least one other said the city should retain its current flavor, its ambience and whatever else it currently boasts.

Well, so much for “thinking outside the box” for some folks.

Me? I’m willing to take a chance on turning Amarillo into something more than a tad more vibrant than it has been.

I’ve been helping produce a weekly newspaper in Tucumcari, the Quay County Sun. I just finished editing some stories that told of that community’s weekend festival, called Rockabilly on the Route — that would be Route 66, which runs through Tucumcari, just as it runs through the heart of Amarillo.

Isn’t there an opportunity for Amarillo, with its own Route 66 heritage and its own arts and music community, to capitalize in such a manner? Sixth Avenue runs right through the city’s central district, connecting with Historic Route 66 west of the central district.

How about not letting such an opportunity slip through our fingers?

That, I believe, is what the young people said they want for their city.

I’m glad they spoke out. I now hope the council members heard them.

 

 

local news

City suffers PR schizophrenia

Amarillo’s latest embarrassment — those “estimated” water use bills — might be cause to rethink a view that the city is well-run.

It’s one of those “on one hand this, but on the other hand that” kind of assessments.

On the one hand, you have a city with a superb bond rating. It has relatively low debt. It asks residents to pay a mere pittance in property tax to fund municipal government. It has a fine park system. Its police department is a mostly progressive operation that runs well most of the time. Firefighters answer the bell quickly.

On the other hand, there’s a series of misfires that makes me wonder: Can’t they shoot straight down there? The city hired a traffic engineer who, it turned out, had been fired from his previous job because of serious malfeasance. The police department didn’t alert residents that a rapist was on the loose for several days. The city animal control department had to be reformed, renamed and reorganized after it was revealed that animals were being euthanized in a less-than-humane manner.

Now we have perhaps the most ridiculous development of all: The city “estimated” water bills without reading residents’ meters, in some instances assessing bills about six times the normal amount usually billed monthly. The city had fired eight of its 11 water meter-readers — on the same day.

Does the juxtaposition — the good financial performance measured against these mistakes — make sense?

Well, if you think about it, one really doesn’t have anything to do with the other. The city still is in solid fiscal shape. Its financial house is in order; the city provides essential services to the residents who pay for them. All that good news, though, gets overtaken by the nonsense that bubbles up from time to time.

Overlaid across all of this is the city’s effort to revamp its downtown district.

I remain committed to the concept that’s been presented. I still believe it’ll work. The ballpark, the hotel, the parking garage all make sense when you consider the sequence of what the city is planning. The financing of this project also makes sense — and it means next to zero impact on residential property taxpayers.

The competence issue — and the lingering doubts arising from these series of hiccups, such as the latest one involving the weird water billing SNAFU — is darkening my optimism.

It hasn’t been snuffed out. But, man, the doubts are building.

 

 

 

State news, Uncategorized

Another PR bombshell falls on City Hall

It’s becoming almost like a trivia game down at Seventh Avenue and Buchanan Street in downtown Amarillo.

Which public-relations nightmare has caused the most sleepless nights for senior city administrators and council members?

Is it the revelation that the police department withheld from the public that a rapist was running loose?

How about the tempest over the way animal control officers were disposing of unwanted or abandoned pets?

What about the hiring of a traffic engineer who, it turns, out had been under investigation for alleged misdeeds at his prior place of employment?

Let’s add the latest SNAFU to the list. It involves water bills sent the other day to about 12,000 residential customers in southwest Amarillo that, to be charitable, didn’t accurately reflect actual water usage. Utility customers who normally pay about $55 per month for water and sewer use received bills, in some cases, of more than $300.

In the interest of full disclosure, my water bill was not among those affected by the serious misfire.

The city fired eight of its 11 water meter readers on the same day, creating a situation that made it impossible for utility employees to read all the meters, forcing the city to “estimate” water use; residents became furious with the size of their water bills.

This is the best part: The week the water bills went out, the phones went on the fritz at City Hall, meaning residents couldn’t call in to register their concerns or ask questions about their sky-high water bills. Some residents are quoted in the media as believing the phone mess-up was not a coincidence. How does the city persuade an irate constituent that it was?

Wow! I almost don’t know what to say about this.

And on top of all that, we hear from the city’s official spokeswoman, who said: “You know, sometimes when you’ve got someone on the other line going, ‘I need answers!’ you’re just going to make up an answer.”

Holy crap! That is precisely the kind of thing you might think to yourself, or whisper to your colleagues, but you damn sure don’t say such a thing out loud … to the public.

To paraphrase the famed astronaut Jim Lovell: Amarillo, we’ve got a problem.