Amarillo will not have the earliest meeting time in the state, after all.
Beginning next week, the Amarillo City Council has still agreed to change its meeting time, but has dropped the recommendation for a 7am meeting time. The original push for a 7am meeting time was spearheaded by Mayor Ginger Nelson and city manager Jared Miller, although concerns raised by other Councilmembers encouraged the Council to drop the 7am time.
Councilman Eddy Sauer, an Amarillo dentist, was one of the Councilmembers who expressed his concerns about holding 7am meetings. While Sauer did not directly address public comments about changing the time, the dentist did say a 7am meeting time would not be "sustainable" for him to be able to continue to run his medical practice.
"I cannot do long-term early meetings," Sauer said. "I can't sustain that long-term."
Councilwoman Freda Powell discussed the meetings, saying that she believes that while she has other commitments, she would like to remain flexible for meetings.
"I am flexible," Powell said. "The meetings are important to me."
Mayor Ginger Nelson also addressed the change, saying that she would support going with a different time, due to business concerns raised by Councilmembers.
"That would leave us with some business opportunities," Nelson said.
In the end, Councilmembers agreed to hold public hearings at 7am, public comment sessions at noon and the Council's regular meeting at 1pm. The noon time change will allow Councilmembers to allocate twenty public speaking spots now.
However, following comments by resident James Schenck, Councilmembers refused to address when a work session will be held for future meetings.
