Tag Archives: Amarillo City Hall

Uncategorized

Going back to school to study Amarillo 101

I’m heading back to school, so to speak.

Sad to say I’ll miss the first day of class, but I’ll pick it up on Day Two and then go with it the rest of the way. It ought to be an interesting endeavor.

Amarillo City Hall has invited me to be part of a class called Amarillo 101. Its aim is to teach its students about the basics of what makes City Hall tick. I’ve been able to watch our city government up close in my job as a daily journalist, which I did in Amarillo for nearly 18 years before leaving that job in August 2012. I’ve been a freelance blogger and part-time employee in other pursuits ever since.

Frankly, I’m flattered that City Hall would ask a washed-up journalist to take part in this exercise. I don’t claim to know everything about how the city provides service to its 195,000 or so residents. I know a good bit about it. What I don’t know I’ll learn.

The first session is going to go over a lot of the city organizational structure, its history, charter, the City Commission, open meetings, the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation and the Public Information Act. The second session will cover some hands-on duties, such as driving a trash pickup truck, a bus, operating a knuckle-boom truck and operating a backhoe.

There’ll be other sessions covering how the city spends our tax money and we’ll get a tour of the city’s newly rebuilt Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. We’ll also talk about the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and public improvement districts.

I did something similar years ago when I went through an 11-week Citizens Police Academy. That gig, I’ll tell you, was a serious blast.

I might be too old to do a lot of things, but as they say, you’re never too old to learn something.

I’m looking forward to peeking under the City Hall tent.

Uncategorized

Osprey takes off with new assignment

That big aircraft assembly plant next to Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport has a new gig.

The MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft being assembled out there is now being assigned to carry key White House personnel as part of the Marine Corps presidential security detail.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/ospreys-get-a-big-presidential-lift-95478.html?hp=l8

Maybe one day, the cutting-edge birds will be hauling the president himself (or herself) to and from the White House.

The Osprey has come a long way from its formative years when Bell Helicopter returned to Amarillo in 1999 thanks to a grant awarded by the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation. The plane, which lifts off like a helicopter and then flies like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft, has had its fits and starts — and its share of tragedy. It has crashed with Marines aboard, killing 19 of them once on a training mission in Arizona. The Marine Corps and Bell engineers fixed what was wrong with the bird and put it back into the air.

Mechanical difficulties have grounded the Osprey on other occasions. The Pentagon stayed with it, lobbying Congress to keep funding the program.

It’s been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, where it has ferried troops and supplies to and from the battlefield.

Now, according to Politico, the Osprey has been used to fly White House support staff and equipment to Martha’s Vineyard, where President Obama has been vacationing with his family.

Any kind of state-of-the-art aircraft is going to have trouble. That’s been the history of U.S. aviation. The Osprey in that context is no different from other aircraft.

The bird that’s being built in Amarillo is earning its wings with an important new mission.

Well done, Bell.

Uncategorized

Thanks for all you do, Amarillo firefighters

You know … there are times when you get to witness your tax money at work and you come away quite satisfied with what you see.

Such an event occurred Thursday afternoon at the Canyons Retirement Community. My wife and I — not to mention the residents and the staff at the place — are grateful for the professionalism demonstrated by the firemen who came to assist.

I stopped for a brief visit around 1 p.m. with my mother-in-law, who lives at the Canyons. Upon walking into the lobby, I detected a faint smoky order. I went to her apartment and said, “I think I smell smoke.” We both went into the hall and, yep, sure enough, the smell had gotten a bit stronger. “I’m going to tell the manager about this,” is said. I walked back into the hall and was stunned at the sight of smoke so thick you couldn’t see down the hall.

I then blurted out a bad word and told my mother-in-law, “We’re getting the hell out of here!” I plopped her into her wheelchair and we raced away from the smoke and found a fire exit. We went outside and then let the door slam shut behind us. We’re locked out. But hey, we’re safe.

The firefighters arrived seconds later. Two ladder trucks came, along with an ambulance. The police arrived. The fire — which began in the apartment next to my mother-in-law’s apartment — was extinguished immediately.

There we sat. I called my wife to tell her what had happened. “Is Mom OK?” she asked. Yes. She’s just fine. We were actually joking about the incident, although I’m quite sure the woman who lived next door to my mother-in-law wasn’t laughing. I would call her several times to keep her advised. We had only one vehicle available at the moment, so it was a little while before I was able to get her and bring her to the Canyons to be with her mother.

The rest of the residents were gathered in the lobby or on the front patio. I couldn’t get Mom down the stairs, we had to sit for quite some time. The sprinkler system went off and had flooded the hallway with about 2 inches of water, some of which seeped into residents’ apartments. The firemen would have to give us the all-clear before we could get her back.

I found the manager. “Is your mother-in-law OK?” she asked. Yep. “Where is she?” On the fire escape. “I’ll get some firemen to take her downstairs,” she said. “How will they do that?” I asked. She said they’d carry her if they need to. I laughed out loud. I told my mother-in-law what might occur. We both howled at the prospect of some brawny firemen slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of spuds. It didn’t happen. They got an elevator to work at the other end of the building. The smoke had cleared and we wheeled her to the elevator and she joined her friends in the dining room.

OK, here’s the moral of this tale. The firefighters reacted tremendously. I am grateful for the courtesy they extended to the residents who peppered them with questions. They were anxious to get into their apartments. The firemen understood that and showed extraordinary patience with the residents.

The carpet cleaners came and sucked the water up with some power vacuums. The place was secured. And by 7 p.m., almost everyone had returned to where the live — except the lady who’s cooking fire started the whole thing.

Thanks, Amarillo Fire Department. You guys did well.