One local political group is taking aim at residents they say "disrupted" the Amarillo City Council's regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.
On Tuesday night, Amarillo Matters released a statement taking aim at residents who were "disruptive" during the meeting on Tuesday. The group also said that those who were in attendance "[got] in the way of moving our city forward."
"There's a fine line between being productive, and disruptive," Amarillo Matters said in a statement released Tuesday night. "Several people showed up at city council tonight with the sole purpose of disrupting the meeting. We cannot let a handful of people get in the way of moving our city forward. This council ran on restoring civility, and we support their efforts to discourage the type of disruption and intimidation that we saw tonight."
The organization released the statement after resident Kip Billups was arrested after clapping in a City Council meeting. Billups was escorted out of the meeting after refusing to stand when asked by Mayor Ginger Nelson. Billups was taken from City Hall in handcuffs and was booked in the Potter County Jail on the charge of disrupting a meeting.
Amarillo Matters is a political action committee that was formed in 2016 to promote "pro-business" candidates in Amarillo elections. The group raised nearly $200,000 during their first election, the 2017 Amarillo municipal election, and spent heavily to support all five now-members of the Amarillo City Council. The group also was a major player in the 2018 Republican primary election in the Amarillo area, supporting Senator Kel Seliger and Representative Four Price for re-election. The group is also supporting John Smithee for re-election as State Representative in his November race against retired teacher Mike Purcell.
For more information about Amarillo Matters, please visit www.amarillomatters.com.
