By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

“Open Spaces. Endless Opportunities.”

That is the phrase the City of Amarillo adopted several years ago as the City government’s new slogan. It evokes thoughts of the western movies with heroes like John Wayne riding off into the sunset, with the knowledge that the spaces around our heroes on the prairie are wide open. It also evokes thoughts of the days gone by, when pioneers made their way to the Panhandle by wagon or train to seek new opportunities in this dry, flat country that we call home.

Amarillo is a remarkable place, full of remarkable people. We also have a remarkable history. Take a stroll downtown to see the Herring Hotel or the Liberty Theater, two historic buildings that still hold promise. There are many diamonds in the rough in Amarillo that can continue to grow into something great.

Endless opportunities? Hypothetically, yes.

The slogan “Open Spaces. Endless Opportunities” does accurately describe the Amarillo community as a whole in many ways. In this case, our City government got something right.

However, there is another phrase used by our City government that I believe is even more interesting to consider.

“Use democracy to govern the City efficiently and effectively to accomplish the City’s mission.”

This phrase is much less prominent and remains lesser known to the general public. This phrase is the mission statement used by the Amarillo City Council, appearing on every agenda posted for the governing body. Don’t believe me? See it for yourself on the latest agenda posted here.

It appears this phrase arrived during the current City Council’s tenure, as the mission statement does not appear on agendas for the 2015-2017 City Council led by Mayor Paul Harpole. It is ironic to think that the City Council which is largely responsible for one of the largest public engagement crackdowns in Amarillo’s history is guided by a mission statement about promoting democracy.

Looking at Merriam-Webster, democracy has two related definitions. First, “government by the people”, and second, “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.”

As I said a moment ago, how ironic.

When this City Council took office in 2017, they began a crackdown on public engagement that led to citizens being arrested in meetings, broadcast cameras being disabled in City Council Chambers during public comment, City Council members totally skipping public comment in some cases, citizens being limited to speaking on specific issues, and more. Essentially, five people telling the other 195,000 what they can and cannot say, while censoring opinions they disagree with. Very democratic, am I right?

Beyond that, consider that just this year, Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson’s shameless push to extend the City Council’s terms in office was put to a vote, just a year after she claimed that she had never called for such a change, despite video evidence. Luckily, voters defeated that measure. But, I still have to wonder, with free elections being a key component of the definition of democracy, is trying to circumvent elections by extending your term in office in line with promoting democracy? I wouldn’t imagine that to be the case.

How about refusing to accept that voters could disagree with one of your ideas? Nelson has refused to accept that voters defeated Proposition A on November 3 for reasons based on taxes and trust, blaming everyone but herself. Much of her anger has been directed toward billboards and Amarillo businessman Alex Fairly for opposing the bond. She has criticized the campaign against Proposition A as being too negative, while hammering voters for being uninformed and voting based on facts from billboards. Is undermining the will and intelligence of voters in line with promoting democracy?

Since 2017, the crackdown has been happening. From violating state law by telling citizens they could not record with their cell phones in meetings, to having citizens arrested in meetings for clapping for comments unfavorable to the City Council, to refusing to record or broadcast public comments, there has been a steady barrage of attacks by our elected officials against the public’s ability to be a part of the process, while hiding under a cloak of “using democracy.”

Face it: your ability to be involved in your local government is all but gone, thanks to constant attacks on free speech by Nelson, city manager Jared Miller, and the Amarillo City Council.

I paint this gloomy picture on Thanksgiving for a reason. Beginning in January, candidates will begin filing to run for mayor and seats on the Amarillo City Council. It costs $100 to run for office, or a candidate may collect 100 signatures from qualified voters to gain entry to the ballot. Mayor Ginger Nelson, and Councilmembers Elaine Hays, Freda Powell, Eddy Sauer, and Howard Smith will all be up for re-election after four years of remaining complacent with skyrocketing taxes and debt and the crackdown on the public’s ability to be engaged.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that voters got together on November 3 and defeated Proposition B, which would have extended the terms of the City Council by two years each. Thanks to Amarillo voters protecting their rights, we once again have the opportunity to vote on all five City Council seats at one time without any tomfoolery about who is up for re-election with staggered terms and possible retroactive term extensions.

I am thankful Amarillo voters protected their ability to be engaged by defeating Prop B. Now, it’s time for Amarillo residents to band together and end the onslaught on public engagement by taking back our City Council.

If you are reading this and are concerned about the future of our city, now is your time to act. Sign up to run for office and do your part to put a stop to this joke of a government at City Hall. If voters are going to be told they are seeing democracy used at City Hall, then we ought to have a City Council that will listen to the people instead of coming to City Hall each week with a unanimous 5-0 vote already planned and ready to go.

I’m thankful for the voters who defeated Propositions A and B, but we still have work to be done. Come on, Amarillo. Don’t give up now. Let’s get the job done and elect a new City Council this May. Democracy is depending on you.