Tag Archives: Potter County

Uncategorized

Election provides a couple of stunners

Two big surprises highlighted my watching of the Republican primary elections Tuesday night.

One of them is quite good; the other is potentially troubling.

First, the good.

Nancy Tanner’s victory in the GOP primary for Potter County judge caught me off-guard, but it does demonstrate that competence and experience can win an argument over name identification and relative sizzle.

Tanner is going to take over the county judge’s duties at the first of the year. The GOP voters of the county showed that they appreciate her two decades serving as administrative assistant to Arthur Ware, the current judge who’s stepping down.

Ware had fired Tanner from her job in 2013 for reasons that haven’t been explained fully. Tanner had just made known her intention to run for Ware’s seat after he had announced his impending retirement from public life. Ware had been slowed considerably by a devastating stroke he suffered in 2010, leaving Tanner and other county officials to perform many of the duties attached to the county judge’s office.

It was her experience and intimate knowledge of the nuts and bolts of county government that made Tanner the most qualified of the five candidates running for the office.

Which brings me to the surprise. I was quite sure no one was going to win this primary outright. I figured it would be two of three top-tier candidates — Tanner, former Amarillo Mayor Debra McCartt and Bill Bandy — competing in a runoff.

Silly me. I underestimated the wisdom of the voters.

***

State Sen. Kel Seliger’s hair-raising win over former Midland Mayor Mike Canon provided the other surprise.

Seliger, R-Amarillo, by all rights should have won that race in a walk. He’s smart, articulate, knowledgeable, calm, reasonable, effective, collegial, detail-oriented, friendly … what am I missing? Whatever. He deserved to be re-elected to the Senate District 31 seat he’s filled since 2004.

Then came Canon, who began accusing Seliger of being a closet liberal, which is fightin’ words in this part of the political world. The word among some observers is that Canon was recruited by Michael Quinn Sullivan, a tea party political operative who over the years has developed a nasty relationship with Seliger.

Even given the Texas political climate, I didn’t believe Canon would come as close as he did to defeating Seliger.

There is a potential for concern here. Seliger’s re-election — with no Democrat on the ballot — should not signal a sharp turn to the right for the already-conservative lawmaker. Other elected public officials have reacted badly at times to these challenges from their left or the right by tacking too far in either direction.

My hope is that Seliger is comfortable enough in his own skin to stay the course and keep up the good work he’s already done — such as water planning and funding for public education — on behalf of his constituents.

All in all, where these two races are concerned, the election turned out just fine.

Uncategorized

What did I learn from candidate forums?

It’s an interesting exercise to try to explain what one can learn from interviewing candidates for public office.

I’ve noted already that election cycles have taught me things about my community — whether it’s back home in Oregon, or in Beaumont — where I learned that Texas politics is a contact sport — or Amarillo, where I’ve lived more than 19 years.

This past week I had the honor of taking part in a Panhandle PBS-sponsored series of candidate forums. I was among six local journalists who asked questions of candidates for the 13th Congressional District, Texas Senate District 31 and Potter County judge.

At some level every single one of the candidates — we talked to 10 of them overall — had something interesting and provocative to say in response to questions from the panel.

My single biggest takeaway from this series of interviews?

I think it’s that I learned that West Texas is not immune to the tumult that’s under way within the Republican Party.

In recent years I had this illusion that West Texas Republicans all spoke essentially with one mind. Wrong.

The campaigns for all three offices are showing considerable difference among the candidates.

The Texas Senate race between Sen. Kel Seliger and former Midland Mayor Mike Canon perhaps provides the most glaring contrast. Seliger is a mainstream Republican officeholder who knows the intricacies of legislating, understands the dynamics that drive the Senate and is fluent in what I guess you could call “Austinspeak.” His answers to our questions were detailed and reflected considerable knowledge gained from the decade he has served in the Senate. Canon also is a smart man. However, he tends to speak in clichés and talking points.

I asked the two of them their thoughts on term limits for legislators: Seliger said voters can discern whether their lawmaker is doing a good job and that there’s no need for term limits; Canon vowed to impose a two-term limit for his own service and said fresh faces mean fresh ideas. Of the two, Seliger provided the more honest answer.

The congressional race pitting incumbent Rep. Mac Thornberry against Elaine Hays and Pam Barlow provided more of the same. Both challengers are seeking to outflank the incumbent on the right and for the life of me I cannot fathom how they can get more to the right than Thornberry. They, too, used talking points to make their case, with Barlow asserting that she is a true-blue “constitutional conservative,” whatever that means.

Even the county judge race provided differences among the five Republicans seeking that office. Nancy Tanner, Debra McCartt, Bill Bandy, Jeff Poindexter and Bill Sumerford all spoke clearly to their points of view. They differed dramatically on several questions, ranging from whether the county should take part in a taxing district aimed at helping downtown Amarillo rebuild itself to whether they could perform a same-sex marriage ceremony were it to become legal in Texas.

You’ll be able to hear for yourself this week. Panhandle PBS is airing the congressional and state Senate forums Thursday night, beginning at 8 p.m. Each runs for 30 minutes. The county judge forum airs Sunday at 4 p.m., and will last an hour.

West Texas Republicans’ political bubble has burst.

Uncategorized

LBJ was the toughest of the tough guys

A friend and I were visiting the other day about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s troubles over the bridge lane-closing fiasco.

Some of Christie’s critics have called him a bully. “I have a three-word answer to that,” my friend said. “Lyndon Baines Johnson.”

Agreed. Ol’ Lyndon was tough, vengeful, mean, coarse, profane … and whatever else you want to say about someone who knows how to exact painful revenge. I think my friend’s point is that LBJ makes Christie look like a piker in the bully department.

Then another friend wandered into my workplace the other day, Rick Crawford, a former Republican state representative who now sells commercial real estate in Amarillo. Crawford’s been around the political pea patch for longer than many folks. He grew up here, knows the lay of the land, knows many big hitters.

As we talked, the conversation turned to Lyndon Johnson. Crawford made a remark about LBJ’s decision to close the Amarillo Air Force Base in the late 1960s. He repeated something I have heard ever since I arrived here in January 1995, that Johnson closed the base because he “hated the Panhandle” and because the region voted for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, which LBJ won in a landslide.

Whoa. Not quite. I reminded my friend of something he admitted not knowing. It was that of the 26 counties comprising the Texas Panhandle, Goldwater won majorities in eight of them. And, I noted, Potter County — which is where the air base was located — voted for Lyndon Johnson.

So the question has lingered for nearly 50 years: Did Lyndon Johnson act out of spite or did he make a strategic decision based on a needs assessment given to him by the Pentagon?

Crawford and I talked about LBJ’s friends here who have insisted the president acted nobly. I have concluded that the LBJ-hates-Amarillo reason for closing the base has evolved into urban legend. It’s one of those things no one can prove, given that I am quite sure no one living in the Panhandle was in the room — the Oval Office, the Situation Room, the White House kitchen, wherever — when Johnson made that fateful decision.

The story, as it’s been told and retold over many decades since — and with embellishments added along the way — does illustrate President Johnson’s toughness.

I don’t doubt he was one mean SOB. I’ve read enough accounts over the years about how he treated those around him. I’ve heard many stories of how he could bully lawmakers into voting the way he wanted them to vote on legislation. I know all that.

However, I’m waiting for someone to prove he nearly destroyed the economy of a region in his home state just because a portion of it voted for the other guy in a presidential election.

Oh, but yes. Lyndon Baines Johnson was a whole lot more of a bully than Chris Christie ever thought of being.

Uncategorized

Potter-Randall merger: Is it remotely possible?

Nancy Tanner is running for Potter County judge.

I’m seeing an increasing number of her lawn signs cropping up on yards — in Randall County.

The appearance of these signs begs a question I’ve been kicking around in my noggin for the nearly two decades I’ve lived in Amarillo: Why don’t the counties merge?

Here’s a bit of background for readers of this blog who live far away.

* Amarillo straddles the line dividing Potter and Randall counties. It serves as the Potter County seat; the Randall County seat is about 12 miles south on Interstate 27 in Canyon. The city’s population is now very close to 200,000 residents. Roughly 60 percent of whom live in Potter County, the rest in Randall County.

* Randall County’s main courthouse complex is in Canyon, but the bulk of its business is done at its annex in south Amarillo, which collects about 80 percent of all the revenue for the county and adjudicates a similar percentage of all the small-claims crimes decided by the justice of the peace.

* Amarillo, indeed, comprises about 85 percent of Randall County’s population and generates about 80 percent of the county’s property tax revenue.

* The Randall County jail sits on the southern edge of Amarillo, next to the Youth Center of the High Plains.

All that said, the Potter County judge race featuring five candidates running for the Republican nomination is of interest to Randall County residents because many of them work in Potter County. As for Tanner’s yard signs showing up in a county where residents cannot vote for her, that’s just good politics on her party. They put her name out there and give her more of a ubiquitous presence. I’m quite sure the other candidates — those with the money to spend — will do the same thing eventually.

Back to the question of a merger. It’s always made sense to me to meld the counties into one, given their common interests and the fact that Amarillo sits atop the line dividing them.

It’s an immensely complicated process politically. How would one merge the county governments? Who gets to keep their job? Who would lose theirs? How do you settle the obvious turf fights? How do you accomplish this thing legally? Would Canyon residents want to lose their status as the county seat? Lastly, what would you call this new county and how do we settle on a name?

It would require at minimum a constitutional amendment election, meaning that all Texans would have to vote to allow the counties to merge in a statewide referendum. We’ve amended the Texas Constitution for far less consequential things than this, so this is a natural.

I know this topic has been nibbled at for many years. Nothing ever happens for obvious reasons. Merging the counties would step on too many political toes and there would be too many battles to fight. No one seems to have the stomach for fighting them.

I get all that.

Lawn signs, though, for candidates running for office in a neighboring county seem to make as much sense as having two counties of nearly identical size sharing a single significant city.

Which is to say it makes little or no sense at all.

Uncategorized

Sad news about end of railroad museum board

I was saddened to hear the news this morning about the disbanding of a board dedicated to raising money for a Santa Fe Railroad museum.

However, I got to thinking about the sequence of recent events.

After the board had backed out of a plan to install the museum on the second floor of the Santa Fe Building, it looked at space at the former Santa Fe Depot near the Civic Center. Then the city purchased the depot for as yet undisclosed reasons. Then the Potter County Commissioners Court, namely Commissioner Mercy Merguia, began asking questions about the money the board had raised; Merguia sought an accounting of the funds.

Now this. The board has disbanded.

It’s fair to ask: Is there a connection between the funds inquiry and the disbanding of the board? Is there a there there?

Walter Wolfram, an Amarillo lawyer, has been the front man for the fundraising effort and he expressed sadness that board had been unable to make significant progress toward establishing a museum.

I share his sadness.

The Santa Fe Railroad played a huge role in the development of this region. It moved freight in the form of harvested agriculture products from the Panhandle to points all across the country throughout much of the first half of the 20th century. The rail company had a division headquarters at the Santa Fe Building in downtown Amarillo. Its corporate presence here was huge.

Then it vanished. The Santa Fe Building went dark in the mid-1970s and remained that way until Potter County bought it for $400,000, renovated it and located several county offices in it.

But there’s no museum. Now there’s no board of directors to oversee raising money to pay for it.

Amarillo can do better than turn its back on the concept of a museum dedicated to such an important part of this region’s history.

Uncategorized

Commissioners asking: Show us the money

Potter County commissioners are asking some tough questions of a man who’s been raising money for a railroad museum in Amarillo.

The questions are valid and need an answer.

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=986819#.UrxAUVKA2t8

They involve an amount of money, $400,000, that the county has contributed to the creation of a Santa Fe Railroad museum. Walter Wolfram, an Amarillo lawyer who’s been leading the fundraising effort, has been asked by commissioners to give a full accounting of the money he’s raised. He spoke to commissioners recently and bristled a bit at the implication from the panel that he may have done something wrong.

I’m not going to second-guess or speculate on what’s happening here, but the commission is asking a legitimate question. It’s given a lot of public money for the past five years and wants to know the status of the contribution and wants to know the progress — if any — toward the creation of the museum.

Wolfram initially sought to put the museum on the second floor of the Santa Fe Building on Ninth Avenue, between Tyler and Polk streets. He gave up on that idea and apparently has targeted the old Santa Fe Depot just east of the Amarillo Civic Center.

The commission is wanting to know what’s happened to the money the county has given. It’s a simple query, right?

Uncategorized

Potter County judge race handicapping is tough

Let’s play a little game of political prognostication regarding Potter County’s five-person race for county judge.

Five Republicans have filed to fill the seat occupied by County Judge Arthur Ware, who’s decided not to seek another term. He’s still trying to recover from a devastating stroke.

I’ll stick by my contention that the two frontrunners remain Nancy Tanner, Ware’s long-time assistant, and former Amarillo Mayor Debra McCartt.

Three more candidates have filed: Bill Bandy, Bill Sumerford and Jeff Poindexter.

Of the three, let’s look at Bandy as the serious third choice behind Tanner and McCartt. Bandy has been involved at many levels of government and civic organizations … or so I understand. Sumerford and Poindexter have run unsuccessfully for other offices. Poindexter is a nice fellow. Sumerford is nice enough, too. Neither of them should be serious factors.

Back to the top three.

Tanner, McCartt and Bandy all figure to gain the lion’s share of votes. In a five-person race, therefore, it becomes difficult — as I see it — for one candidate to emerge with an outright majority in the GOP primary next March. That means a runoff would take place with the top two candidates.

If I were a betting man — and I’m not — I’d suggest that in a runoff, the second-place finisher is in the catbird seat. The individual who finishes first has his or her supporters on whom to count. The person who finishes second has his or her supporters, plus the whole rest of the votes cast for candidates other than the person who finished first.

I’ve seen this scenario play out before in Randall County, where the No. 2 candidate scarfs up enough of the anti-first-place vote-getter’s supporters to win a runoff.

Will this occur next March in the critical race to see who becomes the next Potter County judge?

I cannot predict it will, but it could emerge quickly as a distinct possibility.

Stay tuned for a most entertaining campaign.

Uncategorized

Field of five emerges for Potter judge race

As is quite often the case, my attempt at political prognostication proved pointless.

I had posited a notion that two candidates for Potter County judge would vie against each other the seat being vacated by long-time incumbent Arthur Ware. Silly me. I didn’t anticipate a field of five Republicans running for the office next year.

I’ll stick with my view that two leading candidates will continue to be Nancy Tanner, Ware’s long-time administrative assistant, and former Amarillo Mayor Debra McCartt. The rest of ’em?

I know two of the other guys: Jeff Poindexter and Bill Sumerford. Poindexter has run unsuccessfully several times for Amarillo City Commission posts. He’s an earnest and nice guy. Sumerford is the “gadfly” I mentioned in an earlier post. He’s a kind of tax-cutting tea party activist and has led petition drives to put measures on the ballot, believing that voters should have to decide everything.

Neither of these guys is a serious contender for the judge’s office.

I don’t know Bill Bandy, the fifth person in the race. He’s done a lot of things in his life, served on some boards and once worked as an “assistant” to former state Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas. I am intrigued by the “assistant” label attached to him in media coverage. I’d like to know to what level he assisted Swinford, whether it was on serious policy matters or whether he moved furniture around in Swinford’s office.

Well, all that said, the contest remains — in my view — a two-woman campaign between Tanner and McCartt, although the three other candidates could produce a runoff if the winner of the GOP primary doesn’t reach the 50-percent-plus-one-vote majority needed to be nominated outright.

I’m thinking now that Bill Bandy could be the darkhorse.

This could be fun.

Uncategorized

Clear the decks for this county judge race

If anyone out there is interested in joining the Republican Party primary field in the race to be the next Potter County judge, they ought to go find something else to do between now and next March.

The developing contest between Nancy Tanner and Debra McCartt is shaping up to be a barn-burner.

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=978847#.UqB8Hkrnat8

The two candidates appeared recently on a local TV news special and addressed specific concerns critics have leveled at both of them. They acquitted themselves well.

Tanner and McCartt bring specific and unique strengths to this campaign.

Tanner brings 20 years of experience as administrative assistant to County Judge Arthur Ware, who’s not running for re-election. She knows the county, its elected and appointed department heads, and how its government works. Ware fired her earlier this year for reasons he — nor Tanner — have yet explained publicly. My guess it had something to do with the fact she announced her intention to consider running for the office before Ware — who’s been recovering from a devastating stroke — declared his intention to step down.

McCartt lacks Tanner’s hands-on experience. She doesn’t lack, however, any public relations skills. McCartt had a successful run as Amarillo’s first female mayor, where she proved to be an effective spokeswoman and advocate for the city’s policies, strategies and goals. She showed significant courage in pushing the city forward in implementing its red-light camera program and has made no apologies for that decision. I applaud her for that. The major question facing McCartt, though, will be: Can her PR skills and political backbone transfer easily into the detailed work required of a county judge?

I heard a rumbling earlier this week about a possible third candidate stepping in the race. I won’t reveal the name I heard, other than to describe him as a longtime political gadfly. Other names have been bandied about the County Courthouse almost since Ware’s stroke in 2010.

My hunch also is that Democrats need not apply.

This campaign is going to boil down to which of these two well-known women will win the GOP primary next March.

If the early indicators play themselves out, we’d better strap ourselves in for a wild ride along the campaign trail.

Uncategorized

Amarillo logo snafu has familiar look to it

Amarillo City Hall perhaps can find some comfort — although it is small comfort indeed — in knowing it isn’t the only government entity to struggle with a form of identity crisis.

The city has unveiled a new official logo that looks almost identical to a logo used by a Dubai company. The city is rightfully embarrassed by the mixup, which reportedly occurred when it went with a design submitted by a city employee instead of using a company it had sought to produce the new logo.

There seems to be a copyright infringement issue in play here. City Hall needs to fix this problem in a hurry.

Ah, but this might sound a bit familiar to long-time area residents.

There once was a day when Potter County ran a flag up the flagpole at the County Courthouse. They thought they were unfurling the Texas flag that day. Instead of the Lone Star banner, it turns out they were flying the Chilean national flag, which also features a single star on a red, white and blue banner.

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1994/Potter-County-Mistakenly-Flies-Chilean-Flag-Instead-of-Texas-Banner/id-a8b851f0061247dacbafd192e6139adf

The two flags look quite similar, although not as nearly identical as the newly minted Amarillo logo and the insignia representing the Dubai company.

The Chilean flag was run up the courthouse pole in April 1994. It flew over the courthouse for a full day before anyone noticed it. Turns out a sharp-eyed assistant district attorney, Paul Hermann, noticed the discrepancy.

”We thought we had been invaded, overthrown, and didn’t know about it,” Hermann said at the time.

The Chilean flag boo-boo occurred because someone crated the wrong flag in a box marked for Potter County. At least the county didn’t commit any potential copyright offenses.

In Potter County’s case, one can say simply that “These things happen.” Regarding the city’s embarrassment, some serious repair is in order.