Representative Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) is responding to Mayor Ginger Nelson's rebuttal of a letter he wrote following the arrest of Kip Billups at an April 3rd Amarillo City Council, in an exclusive interview with the Amarillo Pioneer.
As we previously reported, Tinderholt, who serves as a State Representative in central Texas, penned a letter to Nelson last week after Nelson ordered the removal of resident Kip Billups during an April 3rd meeting of the Amarillo City Council. Billups clapped during the public comment portion of the meeting and was removed from the meeting on orders by Nelson. Billups was then arrested and charged with Disrupting a Meeting, according to Potter County Jail records. Tinderholt wrote Nelson to inform her that he believes that she violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by ordering the removal of Billups and that he serves on the committee responsible for overseeing the Act, which he will urge to investigate the City Council's conduct during meetings.
Nelson then lashed out over the weekend, attacking Tinderholt for not living in Amarillo and for being supported by Empower Texans. In a video posted to her social media sites, Nelson tied Tinderholt to Empower Texans and told residents that this was the same group which opposed Representative Four Price and Senator Kel Seliger's re-election bids earlier this year.
In an interview with the Pioneer on Monday morning, Tinderholt said that he had not intended for the letter to be a "publicity stunt," as it was described by Nelson, and instead said that he was concerned that Nelson's conduct would spread across the state.
"I saw her tell people to clap and then had someone arrested," Tinderholt said. "It was disturbing to me that someone [in elected office] would trample on the First Amendment."
Regarding Nelson's comment that she did not receive the letter before it was released to the media, Tinderholt called that claim "false." Tinderholt said that he sent Nelson a copy of the letter via email before he released the letter to the press. Nelson also received a mailed copy, according to Tinderholt.
Tinderholt also said that while he does not live in Amarillo, he believes that he was called to write the letter, as he works for all Texans, and not just Arlington residents.
"I'm not from Amarillo but just like Martin Luther King said, 'now is always the right time to do the right thing,'" Tinderholt said. "They get worse and worse and it spreads to other people's communities when you trample on someone's rights....I work for the people of Texas and Amarillo is part of Texas, too."
In addition, the Representative that he was not asked by Empower Texans to write the letter and chose to on his own accord.
"I'm an independent thinker," Tinderholt said. "When I saw it, I was beside myself. I felt compelled to write her. All I saw was what I saw in the video. But these people were not disrupting."
For more information about Representative Tinderholt, please visit www.tonytinderholt.com.
If you would like to see Tinderholt's letter, please look below.
Photos by Tinderholt Campaign; Nelson Campaign
