Tag Archives: downtown revitalization

local news

Hoping our City Council remains a proactive group

Amarillo is getting ready for another significant municipal election that is guaranteed to produce a body with a majority comprising newcomers to city government.

Three out of five incumbents aren’t seeking new terms. Will there be more “change” coming our way? Perhaps.

What shouldn’t happen is that we get a council that returns to a static bunch that is unwilling to become a proactive agent for change.

I’ll flash back for just a moment.

I arrived here in January 1995 to become editorial page editor of the Amarillo Globe-News. My primary interest upon arrival was to size up the then-City Commission. What I observed — and this is a subjective view — was a passive group of five individuals. I didn’t witness a lot of bold policy initiatives initially.

Sure, the city decided to sell its public hospital and held a referendum in 1996; the measure passed and Northwest Texas Hospital was sold to a private health care provider.

But by and large, the commission didn’t take a lot of initiative relating to economic development.

The city’s governing personality seemed to change with the election in 2005 of its first female mayor, Debra McCartt. It was during McCartt’s tenure as mayor that the city enacted a controversial plan to monitor traffic; it deployed red-light cameras at key intersections around the city.

The plan wasn’t entirely popular. Many residents bitched about it. My own view was that the plan was a needed effort to assist law enforcement authorities in their attempt to deter motorists from running red lights. The cameras are efficient and they do not blink.

McCartt left office in 2011 and turned the mayor’s gavel over to Paul Harpole, who’ll be mayor until after the May 6 election. Under the current mayor’s watch, the city has embarked on a massive downtown redevelopment program. I applaud that effort as well and it’s already paying dividends for the city.

What’s going to happen when we elect the next City Council this spring? My hope is that the next council — with its new mayor — retains its activist profile.

I’ve long been a believer in good government. My conservative friends perhaps mistake me for a big government liberal who believes government can solve all our problems. Not true. I believe that government at the local level can do many good things and can act as a catalyst for others to follow suit.

I further believe we have witnessed that synergy occurring with the reshaping, remaking and revival of our downtown business district.

Whoever we elect in May needs to keep the momentum moving forward. We damn sure cannot turn back now.

In just a little more than two decades, I’ve been able to witness what I perceive to be a fundamental change in city government’s approach to problem-solving.

It’s working.

entertainment news, local news

Let’s think big about the MPEV

Amarillo MPEV

Let us take a moment — or maybe two — to consider some possibilities for a venue that Amarillo officials want built in the city’s downtown district.

It’s called a multipurpose event venue, but “MPEV” has become its signature.

The MPEV is on the Nov. 3 ballot. The ballot language gives voters a narrow choice: whether to allow it to proceed with a “ballpark” included in it design. We will be asked to vote “yes” or “no.”

Critics of the MPEV, estimated to cost about $32 million, say the ballpark element restricts its use. I believe that’s nonsense.

So, we could move the baseball activity that’s been occurring at the Potter County Memorial rat hole, er. stadium for the past few years into a gleaming new downtown stadium.

That’s it? That’s all we can see for this venue? Hardly.

The weather, contrary to many other naysayers, shouldn’t detract from other activities. Why, for example, can’t we have outdoor concerts? Don’t other communities welcome acts to perform outdoors? Aren’t there sufficient numbers of entertainers who would like to play outdoors in downtown Amarillo on a cool autumn evening?

And let’s get real here. We all have appreciated the pleasant temperatures we see even during the summer when the sun goes down along the High Plains. Our altitude — nearly 3,700 feet above sea level — helps make those evenings a reality.

OK, so the winters get chilly around here. And yes, spring can be a bit unpredictable — weather-wise.

The planners who’ve proposed this project haven’t re-invented the wheel. Other communities have enjoyed success with downtown ballparks that have been used for various other activities when they aren’t hawking hot dogs, peanuts and cold beer at ballgames.

What they’re pitching, though, is a new concept for this city. The MPEV will work if it’s given the chance — and if we start thinking expansively about the many uses available to it.

 

local news

Nothing secret about downtown plans

Shall we put to rest a falsehood that’s been banging around Amarillo in recent months?

Yes, we shall.

It has to do with the canard that the downtown Amarillo revitalization project has been carried forward in darkness. That the city is advancing a proposal with zero to little public input. That it’s been done without prior notification and that the public has been deprived of the chance to speak out.

http://downtownamarillo.publishpath.com/Websites/downtownamarillo/files/Content/5143768/Report_PublicOutreach.pdf

The link attached here is lengthy, but I think that’s by design. It’s meant to illustrate all the meetings, public hearings, testimony and public conversation that’s occurred since 2006 about downtown revival plans.

I think what’s happened is that many of today’s critics weren’t paying attention nine years ago when this stuff first came to the public fore. They were occupied with other matters. Hey, that’s all understandable.

What’s not understandable is why the critics today are leveling unfounded accusations and assertions against the city, its business community and its civic leadership that they’ve all conspired to foist something on residents that they don’t want or need.

The media have done their job in posting these events in advance. They have given the public ample advance notice of these events. The public has had plenty of opportunity to speak up and speak out.

We can debate the merits of what’s been proposed. Let’s do so without leveling accusations of underhandedness.

They are falsehoods intended to spread fear.

 

local news

What if Atkinson goes?

atkinson

Let’s play a little game of “What if …?”

Are you ready? Here goes.

What if Amarillo City Manager Jarrett Atkinson decides — against the expressed wishes of one of the city councilmen to whom he reports — that he doesn’t want to resign?

What if, then, the City Council decides to terminate the city manager?

What if the city then launches a national search to find a new chief executive for the city administration? Lord knows they aren’t going to look inward for that one, given that they want “change” at City Hall. Nor should they. The job is a big one and it requires someone with considerable skill and — as seen in recent weeks — someone with a rhino hide.

What if the council dangles a job posting out there, offers to pay the next city manager a lot of money and it gets responses from dozens of qualified candidates?

What if, then, the city manager applicants one by one start looking at the city’s recent history? They note that the council fired the city manager who was up to his eyeballs in planning a downtown revitalization project. They also take note that one of the councilmen who wanted Atkinson to quit had barely taken his oath of office before spouting off.

Then they wonder, do I really want to go work in that environment, for that body of council members who were so quick to dismiss an experienced public servant?

What if the process drags on for months as the city keeps combing the country for the right person who’s willing to come to Amarillo, Texas — which, while it’s a nice city with nice people, isn’t exactly paradise?

Finally, what if the city manager selection process drags on so long that all the hard work that’s gone into redeveloping downtown Amarillo gets flushed down the toilet?

Therein lies the potential predicament that awaits these City Hall change agents.

Good luck, gentlemen.

business news, local news

A put up job? So what?

The thought did occur to me when I read about some young Amarillo residents speaking on behalf of downtown development efforts: did someone put them up to this?

A friend of mine wondered the same thing, he said so publicly, and then encouraged me — after I posted a positive-sounding blog essay about the kids’ testimony — to “stop being so naïve.”

Then the thought occurred to me: so what if they were?

The young people told the Amarillo City Council that the city should proceed with efforts to remake downtown. They spoke in support of the multipurpose event venue, of efforts to reshape Polk Street, of designs to bring more entertainment downtown, adding to the district pizzazz factor.

The more pertinent question might be: do they believe what they’re saying?

I don’t recall anyone asking them if they actually believe in the $100-plus million project and the hotel-motel tax funding mechanism built into it.

I’ll continue to give them — and this project — the benefit of the doubt. I like the concept that’s been laid out and I think it has the potential of being an enormous success over the long term.

If these young people didn’t actually want downtown Amarillo to prosper, no amount of cajoling or coercion is going to persuade them to put such views on the record.

Why not, then, just accept the young men and women at their word?

Unless someone can prove beyond a doubt that something nefarious went on — such as money changing hands — I’ll believe the young people meant what they said.

local news

Status quo gets thumped at Amarillo City Hall

Change is a-comin’ to Amarillo City Hall.

Mayor Paul Harpole was re-elected tonight, but by a narrower margin to which he’d been accustomed.

Elisha Demerson defeated incumbent Ellen Green in the race for City Council’s Place 1. This result disappoints me. I’ve said it before, but Green was my “favorite” council member. She spoke candidly, bluntly and truthfully on a whole array of key issues.

Brian Eades will return to his Place 2 council seat. Good call there.

Randy Burkett won election to Place 3, defeating incumbent Lilia Escajeda and several others, while avoiding a runoff. More on him in a moment.

Mark Nair and Steve Rogers appear headed for a runoff in Place 4, the seat vacated by incumbent Ron Boyd, who was appointed to the council upon the death of Jim Simms; Boyd chose not to seek election.

I’ve had to ask myself during this campaign: What in the world is so wrong with the city that got folks seemingly so angry? The city appears to be in good financial shape. Its infrastructure is under renovation at many levels: street repair, utility line installation and repair, highway construction.

I’m one who believes in the concept that’s been presented for the city’s downtown revitalization. That concept is moving forward, although perhaps more slowly than some of us would like. The demise of Wallace Bajjali, the former master downtown developer, doesn’t appear to have put the city in a huge financial bind.

And yet …

Change is on its way.

***

Which brings me to perhaps the most stunning development of tonight’s election: Burkett’s thumping of the field that included an incumbent who, as near as I could tell, didn’t do anything to offend anyone.

It was revealed late in the campaign that Burkett had put some commentary on his personal Facebook page that some folks found offensive. I’m one of them who took serious issue with some of the political bitterness that Burkett expressed. Some of it seemed to border on racist content. He denied any racist intent and said he’s not a racist.

I also heard a couple of his TV spots in which he uttered two clichés: It’s time for a change and it’s time to run city government “like a business.”

What the bleep does it mean to run a government “like a business”?

Successful businesses are run by chief executive officers who make command decisions. Yes, they might consult with employees, but then again, they might not. They are responsible for the success of a business and take the hickey when things go badly.

A number of residents out here who think the city should put some key decisions to a vote. Is that how you run a business, by asking employees to vote on every big decision you make?

Burkett called for change. It looks as though we’re about to get it with three non-incumbents set to take office.

To what end, and for what purpose, remains a mystery.