Tag Archives: Amarillo City Council

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Light ’em up, just not around me

I am not too proud to acknowledge making a mistake.

Such as when I railed on the blog about smoking indoors. I once thought that Amarillo needed to enact an ordinance that banned the activity everywhere. Other cities had done so; even communities where residents are as politically conservative as this one.

Then it occurred to me: Although my wife and I don’t go out all that often, we are able to enjoy meals and each other’s company in smoke-free environments — even without a smoking ban ordinance in effect in Amarillo.

I guess, then, it’s time to acknowledge that my view on smoking bans has, um, evolved yet again.

Back when I was working for a living — specifically writing editorials and editing the Opinion page for the Amarillo Globe-News — I got to offer perspectives with which I didn’t necessarily agree. One dealt with smoking ordinances. The newspaper’s editorial board, of which I was a member, opposed citywide ordinances banning the activity. The Globe-News believed that privately held businesses had the inherent right to determine such matters.

I sucked it up and espoused the company line.

A smoking ban ordinance went to a citywide referendum twice. Both times Amarillo voters rejected the proposed ordinances.

It’s not that I oppose citywide bans as a matter of principle. I wouldn’t object to Amarillo’s City Council imposing such a ban if it chose to do so. What I’ve determined is that such a mandate from City Hall is unnecessary, given what I’ve determined has occurred in the city without such an edict.

I’m sure there are still joints in Amarillo where smoking is allowed. I won’t go to any of them. Neither will my wife. To the best of my knowledge, neither will our son. The Chamber of Commerce office in downtown Amarillo likely has data on which places are smoke-free and which still allow patrons to smoke ’em if they got ’em.

I recently made a lunch date with a friend. We’re going to a diner on Sixth Avenue that used to be notorious for its smoke-filled environment, which was the sole reason my friend stayed away from the place; frankly, so did I. I mentioned that in the past year, the diner has remodeled its interior and has gone smoke-free.

Good deal! That’s where we decided to meet.

I quit the nasty habit of smoking cold turkey more than 37 years ago. I dropped a two-pack daily habit to zero simply by tossing the weeds into the trash can. No one told me to quit. No one forced it on me. Indeed, the price of smoking has gone beyond prohibitive. I recently saw a guy drop about $150 on two cartons of cigarettes. My thought: You’ve got to be kidding me.

I figure that business owners know how to market themselves to attract paying customers whose money will keep the lights on.

That’s what has happened in Amarillo, Texas. I am grateful.

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Here’s an idea: How about sprucing up AMA?

Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson rode into office partly on the strength of an ambitious six-point campaign platform.

It pays a lot of attention to economic development, fiscal responsibility, accountability to taxpayers and even makes a nod toward improving the appearance of public rights-of-way along our interstate highways.

I didn’t see any mention of Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. Indeed, I am keeping my copy of an Amarillo Globe-News story that profiled Nelson’s campaign platform; my intent is to remind myself of issues she is addressing and which of them she needs to devote more attention.

About the airport.

I just returned this evening from a quick trip to AMA and noticed a couple of things about the site.

One is that the grounds immediately around the covered parking structures look better than they have looked in recent months. The grass is cut and trimmed. I did notice a number of weeds sprouting through the pavement in the parking lot. Tsk, tsk.

The other thing I continually notice as I drive along Airport Drive is that it, um, is so non-descript. I didn’t notice a “Welcome to Amarillo” sign, or any roadside artwork that depicts the personality of the community travelers are visiting … many for the first time, or perhaps for the only time.

I make the point about AMA for this reason: In the 1990s, the city spent a lot of tax money to subsidize jet traffic provided by American Airlines. The idea of spending Amarillo Economic Development Corporation sales tax revenue on these jet aircraft was to make air travel more comfortable for business travelers. The AEDC subsidy was intended to lure business to Amarillo. It drew its share of criticism from other communities. Frankly, it sounded like so much sour grapes.

I found the strategy to be innovative, aggressive and ambitious. The city ended the subsidy. American Airlines pulled the jets out of its Amarillo-to-D/FW route — for a time. Then the airline brought jet traffic back to AMA, as did United Airlines and Continental; Southwest always flew jets in and out of AMA.

The city once staked a lot of public money on air service at its airport. What’s more, in recent years the city has renovated and remodeled AMA, modernizing the terminal, turning it into an attractive site.

We have a new mayor and an entirely new City Council making policy at City Hall. Our new city manager, Jared Miller, came here from San Marcos with a reputation as someone who emphasized economic development.

I’ll throw this idea out to them all for consideration: How about developing some sort of strategy to make Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport a good bit more inviting to those who come here from the Metroplex, from Houston, Denver, from Las Vegas or from Phoenix?

There might be a business opportunity to be gained for the city if the traveler gets a first-glimpse look at what the city has to offer on his or her way out of the airport.

Just some food for thought, folks.

local news

A new City Council takes charge

It’s done.

Five new Amarillo City Council members have taken their oath of office and have settled in behind the dais at the City Council chambers on the third floor of City Hall.

A new era has begun. Right? Maybe.

I fielded an interesting question today from a friend who asked: Do you think the city will get turned around now? My answer: I am happy with the outcome of the election.

My friend’s question, though, seemed to suggest something with which I disagree. Although I was unhappy with much of the bickering, backbiting and backstabbing that occurred at City Hall during the past two years, I am not going to subscribe to a notion that the city had backslid dramatically since the 2015 municipal election.

Mayor Ginger Nelson declared her intention to ensure that Amarillo is a better place when she leaves office — eventually. “I see two ways to do that,” she said, according to the Amarillo Globe-News. “Everyone works and we work together.”

It  sounds almost cliché, I suppose, for the new mayor to pledge political teamwork. Nelson does present a vigorous image as the new mayor. She spoke often during her campaign about the need for the council to move ahead as a single unit once it makes a policy decision.

I do not want that message to suggest a stifling of differences of opinion among council members. I am quite sure the mayor would resist any such implication.

What I do want, though, is for the council to unite behind a policy decision to ensure consensus and to let those who work in the trenches — and those of us who pay the freight while watching from a distance — that the council is moving forward with a unity of purpose.

The previous council didn’t always project that image. The sense of open dissent perhaps sent a message beyond the city that could be interpreted that Amarillo’s government wasn’t functioning as efficiently as it should.

To the extent that such perceptions turned the city in the “wrong direction,” I’ll accept my friend’s question about the need to turn the city around.

City Hall, though, has functioned well with professional senior staffers who continue to do their job with competence and dedication. I don’t sense that those qualities diminished — even as the city struggled to steady its administrative ship while it sought a new permanent city manager.

A new City Council has taken over. All five of them represent the same at-large citywide constituency. They all earn a whopping $10 per public meeting. They have taken this job on, I am going to presume, because they believe in public service.

I wish them well, good luck and patience as they strive to keep the city moving forward.

local news, Sports news

How about that MPEV? Any news … at all?

Amarillo’s new City Council will take office very soon with a heaping plate of unfinished business.

Downtown revival is proceeding nicely. But the city has this big ol’ vacant lot across Seventh Avenue from City Hall that it’s got to fill with something. They knocked down the old Coca Cola distribution plant and relocated it to a business park near Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.

That something happens to be a ballpark/multipurpose event venue. You remember it, right?

Amarillo voters in November 2015 approved a “non-binding referendum” that authorized the city to spend $32 million on the MPEV. The cost of the structure has escalated a bit since then, to around $45 million.

But the city has assured residents it will be built. Some things must happen before we start busting up pavement. First and foremost is that the city needs a commitment from a minor-league baseball franchise to come to Amarillo. The council formed a Local Government Corporation to lead the negotiation with owners of the San Antonio Missions, which is looking — one still hopes — for a new place to play some hardball. San Antonio wants a AAA franchise; the Missions are a AA outfit.

Meanwhile, Amarillo is without baseball of any kind since that joke of a team vacated the city to relocate in Grand Prairie. Why did the team bolt? They didn’t have an adequate place to play ball.

The MPEV is supposed to solve that issue. It will be a shiny new venue that will serve many purposes in addition to being the home field for an affiliated minor-league baseball team; the Missions are part of the National League San Diego Padres organization.

City Hall has been quiet about the MPEV negotiations, which might be a good thing. Lame-duck Councilman Randy Burkett popped off a few months ago about a deal he said was on the verge of being struck, but LGC chairman (and former mayor) Jerry Hodge quashed any hope of an imminent deal; he said the LGC was still working on it and said he was “ashamed” of Burkett’s big mouth.

We’ve got five newbies coming aboard at City Hall. Let us hope they can nudge the negotiation along, with the help of City Manager Jared Miller. My faith in the LGC’s ability to finalize a deal remains fairly strong.

The MPEV issue, though, has tested many residents’ confidence that the city can deliver on its promise to bring minor-league baseball back to Amarillo — and to put it downtown.

Welcome to the thick of the fray, City Council.

local news, political news

Make way for the ladies at Amarillo City Hall

Amarillo’s history is layered with tales of the exploits of men.

They were involved with cattle, the railroad, oil and natural gas. They formed civic clubs, became active in politics and in government. They built banks and other businesses throughout the city.

It was a man’s world around Amarillo. A good ol’ boys club. Men ran the show.

Well, an election just occurred in Amarillo and — presto! — just like that the City Council has an entirely new look. We have three women comprising a majority on the five-member governing board.

I once lamented the loss in 2015 of two women who had served on the council. They got beat by two men whose election created an all-male City Council. I wanted Ellen Robertson Green and Lilia Escajeda to be been re-elected two years ago, but then they got beat by Elisha Demerson and Randy Burkett, respectively, in the contests for Places 1 and 3.

Burkett didn’t seek a second term, and his seat will be taken by Eddy Sauer. However, Demerson lost to Elaine Hays; meanwhile, Freda Powell defeated a male candidate in the race for Place 2, which had been occupied by Lisa Blake, who decided against seeking election to the seat to which she was appointed after Brian Eades resigned from the council.

The third woman on the council is none other than the new mayor, Ginger Pearson Nelson, who defeated two opponents handily to win the right to succeed Paul Harpole, who decided to bow out after three terms as mayor.

What, precisely, does a female-majority City Council mean for Amarillo? I haven’t a clue. Indeed, the entire council has been turned over, with Howard Smith becoming the fifth member of the body after defeating incumbent Mark Nair in the race for Place 4.

It really shouldn’t matter a great deal that we have a majority City Council comprising women. Except you might recall the big deal that was made in 2007 when Debra McCartt was elected the city’s first female mayor.

She became a marvelous spokeswoman for the city and it was on her watch that the city took the bold step of installing automated surveillance equipment at troublesome intersections to catch motorists running through red lights. McCartt stood firm in her support of the red-light cameras in spite of sometimes blistering criticism that some had directed at the City Council.

There well might be some more bold initiatives undertaken by this new council. Is it an inherent fearlessness that enables female politicians to do things their male counterparts cannot do? Beats me.

I also must note as well that Potter County’s Commissioners Court is being led by the county’s first female judge, Nancy Tanner, who was elected to the post in 2014.

There simply is something appealing to me now as the city awaits the transition to this new governing council about the prospect of a female-majority body making critical policy decisions.

Take it away, ladies. I’m pulling for you.

local news

Time to start establishing City Council ‘team’

I listened a bit Saturday night to some of the comments from the Amarillo City Council election victors.

Mayor-elect Ginger Nelson and Councilman-elect Eddy Sauer both talked about being members of a “team.” Sauer called himself a “team player” and vowed to work with his colleagues on the City Council to advance the city’s future — I presume in a positive direction.

Here’s a thought for the new mayor: Assemble your new colleagues right away and start setting some parameters.

As I understand it, Texas open meetings rules don’t prohibit council members- and mayors-elect from meeting as a body. Heck, they aren’t in power yet, so they can all get together and talk about city issues to their heart’s content.

Nelson, Sauer and council colleagues Elaine Hays, Freda Powell and Howard Smith now have a chance to bury the discord that occasionally flared up during the past two years.

The leader of this task ought to be the new mayor.

I’ll stipulate that I get that all five council members represent the same citywide constituency. The mayor’s extra stroke comes in the way he or she uses the office as a bully pulpit, not that I expect Mayor Nelson to become a City Council bully.

All five council members need to face among themselves some of the questions that bubbled up from the community. I refer to the suggestion among some that a high-powered local political action group — Amarillo Matters — “bought and paid for” the council.

They all have spoken about pushing the city’s economic engine forward. They all expressed their concern over some of the misdirection that occurred at times during the past two years. They all vowed in some form or another to correct all of that and to move forward as a single unit.

Do they all have to agree on every detail, on every bit of minutia that comes before them? Of course not. Indeed, I’ve witnessed my share of contrarians on previous city governing bodies; I keep thinking of the late Commissioners Jim Simms and Dianne Bosch, both of whom bucked the majority on occasion, but usually found a way to line up with the body when it made its decision.

The new council also no doubt will sit across a table with City Manager Jared Miller and perhaps lay out its expectation. May they understand that the current council acted in good faith by hiring Miller and gave him the authority to run the city administrative machinery. I am hopeful the new council won’t seek to change that arrangement simply because it can.

Yet another new day is about to dawn at Amarillo City Hall. I like the looks and the sounds of the new City Council.

Sure, take a breath. Get some sleep, y’all. It’s not too early, though, to get to work. Talk among yourselves. You have a lot of ground to cover … in a hurry.

local news

Mandate? There is none in this election result

For those of you who might take offense over a scolding because you didn’t bother to vote in Saturday’s municipal election in Amarillo …

… that’s too damn bad!

You’ve got it coming.

A little more than 15,000 registered cast ballots in the Amarillo City Council election. Roughly half of them voted early. The remainder waited — as I did — to vote on Saturday.

We’re going to hear some bitching and griping from Amarillo residents about the “power” of Amarillo Matters, a political action committee that backed a competent and qualified slate of candidates for the council; they all won by substantial margins.

If Amarillo Matters had all that stroke, packed all that punch, why didn’t more residents take a few minutes of time to cast their ballot? Why didn’t those who took umbrage at Amarillo Matters’ push to back its slate energize their own counter-movement?

Where was the turnout among those who supported Amarillo Matters and those who opposed the PAC?

The city has more than 100,000 residents registered to vote. The turnout for Saturday’s election fit the norm for Amarillo. Call it whatever you wish: abysmal, dismal, pitiful, pathetic, measly … whatever. Any of those descriptions will work. All of them would work, too!

The candidates who won will comprise an entirely new City Council. They will take office soon and embark on a mission to guide the city, to set government policy and then — I’ll presume — let the newly hired city manager, Jared Miller, implement those policies.

I do not want to hear any of them talk publicly about a “mandate.”

The way I see it, they got nothing of the sort based on the turnout. A majority of a tiny minority of registered voters cast their ballots in favor of the individuals who won.

Look at it this way, as well: That percentage of turnout declines even more dramatically when you factor in the residents who live here but who aren’t even registered to vote.

Did this group of business leaders — Amarillo Matters — exercise inordinate influence over the election results? No. If it did, then the city would have had to count a lot more ballots than it did.

If you’re upset at the results of the election — but didn’t bother to vote — I suggest with all due respect that you keep your trap shut.

local news, political news

Voters clean house at Amarillo City Hall

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Amarillo voters have made a bit of history at the ballot box.

They have elected a female-majority City Council; that shouldn’t be a big deal, although I do recall there was a good bit of media and community chatter when Debra McCartt became the city’s first female mayor.

They also have booted out two incumbents, meaning that the city will have a brand new five-member governing council take office in a few weeks.

This is potentially a huge step forward for the city.

Mayor-elect Ginger Nelson will take office with a lengthy platform full of promises to do a lot of things. Many of the planks in that platform deal with economic development, wise expenditure of tax money, greater citizen involvement and (this is my favorite) beautification of rights-of-way along Interstates 40 and 27.

Council members-elect Elaine Hays in Place 1, Freda Powell in Place 2, Eddy Sauer in Place 3 and Howard Smith in Place 4 all are newcomers to city government — as is Nelson.

They all come to office with the backing of a political action committee, Amarillo Matters, that raised a good bit of money to get their message out. Yes, there was some blowback expressed on social media about the motives behind Amarillo Matters’ investment in the candidates who won.

I am not going to join that chorus of naysayers. I’m honestly optimistic about what this new City Council will bring to the community.

They all pledged in some form or another to restore a sense of cooperation among its members. Such a pledge doesn’t necessarily mean an absence of dissent or debate among council members, nor should it.

However, for the past two years residents have witnessed the occasional flareup of tempers and of at least one council member occasionally speaking out of turn, getting way ahead of the rest of the governing body. That council member didn’t seek a second term.

The City Council managed to force out a competent city manager, hire an interim manager and then make a mess of the search for a new permanent chief administrator — before settling finally on a solid choice in Jared Miller.

The city is in the midst of a significant downtown makeover. It has a lot of work to do on its streets. It is working with state transportation officials on improvements to our freeway interchange.

I welcome the new folks who’ll take their oaths of office.

I also applaud the city’s voters for deciding to make a bit of history. If only more of them would have voted to make this moment even more meaningful.

local news, political news

City’s political mini-deluge about to end

I’ve wondered from time to time about what it might be like to live in one of those presidential “battleground states,” where candidates flood the local TV airwaves with ads and residents’ mailboxes with campaign circulars.

Living in Texas for the past nine presidential election cycles has inoculated my family from that kind of political browbeating. The presidential candidates haven’t fought for our votes.

Ahh, but then we get to 2017and little ol’ Amarillo has received a tiny smattering of what our battleground-state residents endure every four years.

Amarillo Matters has taken root in our city. It has generated a fair amount of interest in Saturday’s municipal election. Voters who haven’t cast their ballots early are going to show up at polling places to cast their votes for all five City Council seats.

Then the mini-deluge from Amarillo Matters will end.

My doorbell has rung three times during this campaign as Amarillo Matters volunteers have handed out circulars. My mailbox has contained campaign material almost daily for the past two weeks. Today, my wife and I returned from our daily walk through the ‘hood and listened to the tail end of an Amarillo Matters robo-call on our home phone.

I’m glad to see such activity in our city. Amarillo Matters has sought to generate some increased interest in our municipal election, and not just for the City Council. It’s been working as well on behalf of candidates for Amarillo College Board of Regents.

Amarillo Matters has kicked a lot of money into this campaign as well, reportedly spending a significant six-figure amount to back the slate of City Council candidates it has endorsed.

I haven’t heard a lot of grumbling about all this attention, although there’s likely been some muttering under people’s breath around the city. That goes with the territory.

But here comes a dose of bad news.

All this juice from a well-heeled, deep-pocketed political action committee isn’t likely to boost total voter turnout in Amarillo to anything remotely significant. Mayor Paul Harpole, who isn’t running for re-election, said on Panhandle PBS that he projects a turnout of 12,000 to 14,000 voters. Hmm. That’s slightly more than 10 percent of the city’s registered voters.

To be candid, I am far less concerned about whether Amarillo Matters’ slate of candidate wins on Saturday than I am about the dismal turnout we can expect when all the ballots are counted.

Ten-plus percent turnout doesn’t grant bragging rights to anyone.

Thus, Amarillo Matters’ infusion of interest in this campaign has a long way to go to declare victory.

Still, I now have a smidgen of an idea of what occurs in those presidential battleground states. If only it translated to more involvement at the polling place — where it really counts.

local news, political news

No gunfire in Amarillo — get out and vote!

I visited today at lunchtime with Daniel Martinez, a candidate for the Amarillo College Board of Regents — and heard a bit of news about the upcoming local election.

It is that, according to Martinez, about 7,000 voters cast ballots early. Martinez thinks that bodes well for a big turnout when Election Day rolls around on Saturday.

I do not share my friend’s optimistic outlook.

What I think it means, sadly, is that a lot of Amarillo’s voters are casting their ballots early. And that’s it!

Then I watched a video posted on Facebook of an interview with outgoing Mayor Paul Harpole. The mayor said the city is projecting a turnout of 12,000 to 14,000 voters. Let that sink for a moment.

Harpole told Panhandle PBS’s Karen Welch that the city has 104,000 registered voters living here. Amarillo’s population is on the cusp of 200,000 residents.

If Harpole’s projection is correct, that puts the percentage of voter turnout at slightly more than 10 percent.

Hey, let’s stand up and cheer!

On second thought, let’s not!

Harpole then told a story about a couple in Fallujah, Iraq, who made sure to vote while gunfire was erupting just blocks away. The wife handed her infant child to her husband while she voted, Harpole said; she came back out, took the baby, and then her husband went in to cast his ballot.

Harpole then told Welch that Amarillo residents don’t have to face the prospect of getting shot on the street while they vote — which is his way of saying that we have no excuses, none at all, for refusing to have our voices heard in this critical election.

I am running out of ways to urge residents to cast their ballots in these local races. The very idea that nine out of 10 Amarillo residents would sit this election out — and leave these decisions to other residents — means that the democratic process is in danger of going on life support.