A fundraiser has been launched to help pay legal fees in the ongoing legal battle over the downtown baseball park.
Amarillo resident Claudette Smith has launched a GoFundMe account to help pay some of the legal fees involved in an lawsuit that she says that she plans to file against the City of Amarillo. As we reported last week, Smith announced that she planned to seek an injunction in District Court to force the City of Amarillo to hold an election on particular aspects of the downtown baseball stadium project, primarily a 2013 land swap that took place using Amarillo Economic Development Corporation resources. The land swap allowed the City of Amarillo to obtain the property that was formerly home to Coca-Cola in Amarillo, which is the planned site of the downtown ballpark. Smith says that the swap was done illegally, as it required approval by voters under the Texas law governing economic development corporations.
In the GoFundMe, posted to the site on Monday morning, Smith states that she is seeking financial contributions, as a way to help her continue her planned legal battle against the City of Amarillo.
"I was a paralegal for several years, so at present time I am representing myself in the lawsuit regarding the Open Meetings Act violations and in the ballpark injunction suit," Smith states in the fundraiser information. "However, this is a large task for a single mom to take on the downtown mafia alone, at some point I will need to retain legal counsel, which can be very costly."
As of Monday afternoon, Smith's GoFundMe has tallied $415 in contributions. The goal on Smith's fundraiser is $10,000.
