The campaign treasurer for Councilmember Howard Smith has been appointed to one of the most influential City of Amarillo boards.
Dr. Paul Matney, who served as treasurer for Howard Smith's campaign for the City Council in 2017, has been appointed to serve on the Local Government Corporation board of directors. Matney was chosen in a unanimous decision by the City Council and Mayor Ginger Nelson reacted positively toward the selection of Matney.
"He's more than qualified," Nelson said during the appointment process. "He's a great candidate."
In addition to serving as Councilmember Smith's treasurer, Matney was the spokesperson for the campaign that supported the "For" vote on the downtown baseball stadium in 2015. Matney was an avid supporter of the baseball stadium and starred in a heavily funded television campaign by the VOTEFORAMARILLO campaign.
Also, during the 2017 City Council elections, Paul Matney was a donor to at least two of the current Council's campaigns. Matney oversaw Howard Smith's campaign at the time when the Smith campaign turned in a campaign finance report that violated the Texas Ethics Commission's ban on anonymous donations. The Smith campaign later donated the money to the Boy Scouts of America.
Matney was also a donor to the political action committee Amarillo Matters. Amarillo Matters spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the 2017 election to support Mayor Ginger Nelson and the four new Councilmembers.
Prior to his political involvement, Matney was president of Amarillo College. Matney served at Amarillo College until 2014, when he was succeeded by Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart.
In addition to the appointment of Matney, the City Council voted unanimously to appoint Michael Haning to the LGC. Haning was praised as being "young" and an "entrepreneur" by Councilmember Elaine Hays.
Matney and Haning will fill the spots vacated by Sunny Hodge-Campbell and Les Simpson on the LGC board.
Councilmembers also appointed Lloyd Brown to the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board of directors. Brown serves as president of Smart Chemical Services, according to his LinkedIn profile.
