Amarillo voters are currently slated to head to the polls on May 2 to decide the fate of a bond election for the Amarillo Civic Center Complex and other downtown facilities. However, based on discussion at Tuesday’s Amarillo City Council meeting, that election may not happen on its scheduled date.

On Tuesday, Amarillo City Councilmembers discussed either postponing or canceling the May election due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The discussion was initiated after Gov. Greg Abbott announced his support for cities to postpone their May elections due to the outbreak.

According to assistant city manager Kevin Starbuck’s comments at the meeting, the May election looks almost certain for either a rescheduling or a cancelation.

“May 2nd is just not an option,” Starbuck said, mentioning that polling places have withdrawn from the election due to the outbreak.

City Councilman Howard Smith agreed with the idea of postponing the election to a later date, mentioning “a lot of people want the election [to be held] in November.”

“Things will change and we can’t tell today what that’s going to be,” Smith said.

Councilwoman Freda Powell also agreed with that sentiment, saying she would be in favor of moving the election to a new date.

“I would be in favor of postponing it,” Powell said.

Discussing their options, Council considered either postponing the election until November 2020 or canceling the election and reordering it for the May 2021 municipal election ballot.

According to Mayor Ginger Nelson’s comments in the meeting, Council is expected to make a final vote on moving the election or canceling the election during their meeting next week.