As I posted right at the end of
the filing deadline Friday evening, every incumbent has at least one opponent and
some incumbents have drawn several opponents. Place 1 Councilor Ellen Robertson
Green and Place 2 Councilor Brian Eades have drawn one challenger each. Place 3
Councilor Lilia Escajeda has drawn four opponents. Place 4, open because of the
death of Jim Simms, has also drawn four opponents. Even the mayor, who won the
last election with 77 percent of the vote, has drawn an opponent.
The past two council races were a bit of a clown carnival,
with some candidates clearly not qualified. On the surface, this year’s crop of
challengers look more credible, although we have much to learn about those
aspirants. It is too soon to address the individual attributes of each
candidate, although we know what the incumbents have done and the City Council’s
abject failure in the downtown development debacle and Wallace Bajjali scandal,
in my mind, disqualify each of them. Not one of the incumbents have taken responsibility
for what has happened. Whether there is any redemption by any of them or city
staff remains to be seen.
The extent to which they align with these issues and actions that should determine
whether they deserve to take over governance of Amarillo:
· Wallace Bajjali Development Partners — As a result of master developer Wallace
Bajjali Development Partners self-destructing and disappearing into the vapor, the
city of Amarillo should consider seeking damages from Wallace Bajjali and a
return of any monies already paid to them.
·
Downtown Development — The City Council should immediately take several steps:
Ø
Immediately freeze development of the ballpark,
convention center hotel and parking garage;
Ø
Reboot the entire planning process with specific
attention to bringing the Herring Hotel back into play;
Ø
Instruct the city staff to develop Requests for
Proposals to redevelop and/or renovate the Civic Center with an emphasis on
attracting and accommodating larger and “better” national shows and
conventions. The criteria in the RFP would place greater weight on local
businesses being involved with the studies, designs and construction of the
Civic Center.
·
Downtown Amarillo Inc. — As soon as possible defund and dismantle Downtown
Amarillo, Inc. The only funding for DAI that would remain are the amounts
needed to dismantle the corporation. Any contracts in place with consultants
would be terminated or bought out. The new City Council should seize all DAI
records, including cell phone records and texts for possible turning over to
investigating authorities.
·
Amarillo Local Government Corp. — As
soon as possible defund and dismantle the Amarillo Local Government Corp. The
only funding for the LGC that should remain in the budget is the amounts needed
to dismantle the corporation. Any contracts in place with consultants would be
terminated or bought out. The new City Council will seize all LGC records,
including cell phone records and texts for possible turning over to
investigating authorities.
·
Undertake a legal and forensic review of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone to
determine if it should remain a viable entity or if it can and should be
dissolved.
·
Conduct a forensic/management audit of the Amarillo Economic Development Corp.
·
Conduct a management audit and review of the city staff.
·
Promise to freeze taxes until the management audit and review is complete.
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