By Noah Dawson
They're back at it again. Amarillo Matters, the PAC that supported the incumbent council members last election, has published their voter guide, and it's about as disingenuous as possible this year. While putting out glowing over views of the incumbents, they have downplayed the significant positive impacts many of the challengers have had on our city, and in some cases seem to be misrepresenting the views of some challengers.
Two notable examples, though they are by no means the only examples, include Kip Billups and Brad Torch. With Mr. Billups, they said “his angry protests and interruptions at City Hall have been more divisive than solution-driven.” He's made it very clear what solutions he wants to bring to city hall, the same positions now on his platform. With Mr. Torch, they said he “reversed his position” regarding the baseball stadium after he had “attacked” it. According to a Facebook post by Mr. Torch, he believes the stadium “is still a horrible deal.”
Meanwhile, the endorsements of the incumbents ring hollow. In their endorsement of Eddy Sauer, they say the following:
“A graduate of our public schools and West Texas A&M, Dr. Sauer strongly supports education.”
Now, while I'm sure Dr. Sauer does indeed support education, there are a couple odd things about the statement from Amarillo Matters. First off, supporting education is one of the easiest positions to take. Second, they imply that Dr. Sauer attending local school gives him extra credibility in education, as if he was the only candidate that had gone to school.
It's for these and many other reasons that I cannot recommend Amarillo Matters.
Provided by Noah Dawson