Amarillo Matters is back for some reason.
On Friday, the group announced that it would be endorsing the five incumbents running for the Amarillo City Council in the May 4th elections. Amarillo Matters, you might recall is a special interest group funded mostly by downtown investors and establishment donors, which claims that it supports Amarillo and the local community while spending a tiny fraction of its budget in Amarillo. Additionally, the group also seems to think of itself as a major force in Amarillo, but relies on innuendo, false information, and mudslinging, and a very small group of donors to win elections.
So, based on the record of the current City Council, it seems like Amarillo Matters fits like a glove with the politicians. None of the incumbents seem to care about the concerns of local voters, and neither does Amarillo Matters. Several of the incumbents seem more interested in rubbing shoulders than taking care of business, just like Amarillo Matters.
While Amarillo Matters is really just a laughable group, make no mistake, they will spend a boatload of cash in these contests. They will lie about candidates again. They will smear candidates again. And they will hope that their dirty tactics work again.
We need to make sure they don’t.
This May, research the candidates and Amarillo Matters. Find out about this group and the special interests they support. Find out about the dirty tactics they use to promote their candidates.
And, in the end, please vote against Amarillo Matters and their candidates.
Amarillo does matter, but Amarillo Matters’ spending habits show they don’t seem to feel the same way. Please show this group Amarillo can’t be bought by their flashy and dirty tactics.
Our city is counting on you. Reject the special interests and their sleazy politics. Reject Amarillo Matters.
-Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief
