By Ryan Brown, Democratic nominee for Potter County Attorney

“Well you can’t lose what you ain’t got, you can’t spend what you ain’t never had.”- Muddy Waters

Our leaders in Amarillo and Potter County have been spending what they ain’t got for a while. Potter County is not a rapidly growing county and it is a poor county. Any taxpayer who is paying attention to what local leaders are doing is aware of the spending down town. This spending by the city is easy to see- a ballpark, new business spaces which remain empty, a new taxpayer subsidized hotel downtown.

What falls under the radar is the spending by the county and the lack of coordination between the city and Potter County. This lack of coordination is even more stunning when you consider the obvious - the funding pool is the same - us.

What is going on with Potter County?

The county built a parking garage you have likely never parked in, but has resulted in paid parking signs put up throughout downtown to try and encourage people to use the failed parking garage investment. These paid parking spaces require you to give personal information to a smart phone application, including your credit card and location information. Did anyone ask taxpayers and business owners downtown if they wanted this?

Our county leaders built a giant sheriff’s office on the outskirts of town, requiring countless peace officer hours wasted driving out of town every day to process arrests. Did anyone ask if this was necessary?

Our leaders are now using our money to build a big and expensive new courthouse to replace one built only a few decades ago. Did the county attorney look into suing the construction company that built the leaky, defective courthouse? No. Was there a serious look into whether we need this new court house? No. Could we have used the Santa Fe building instead? Probably.

The desire for our county leaders to build something new and to get their name on a plaque on the outside of a new building was too strong.

What will this courthouse cost? The statements that county officials make seem pretty consistent - $63 million dollars with $54 million of it funded with certificates of obligation. Taxpayers have heard this before though with the city’s ballpark. Funding for that project ballooned to $48 million from the $32 million approved by tax payers.

What is clear is that this and any surprise additions to this already huge total will be borne by already struggling tax payers.

The Times, They Are A-Changin’

Such heavy spending is the last thing we need in such uncertain times after an economic shutdown following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the historic crash in oil prices.

Before the outbreak and oil crash even happened, the county had borrowed at unprecedented levels- over $80 million dollars in the last two years. This debt was taken on through certificates of obligation with no taxpayer input.

Revenue was already shrinking even more than before with the state of Texas’ restrictions over the last few years on the ability of local governments to raise funds. This is reckless government.

Where does this leave us? We need look no further than the current pandemic crisis.

The city in their current state cannot handle the pandemic on its own. They have to rely on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for help. This is a pattern of negligent governing on behalf of our local government- from all the reckless spending to the bungled response to the ransomware attack last year.

Now is the time to exercise the force majeure clauses in the multiple contracts the county has saddled taxpayers with. We didn’t have the money before this crisis started, we really do not now. Our leaders are now spending what our children will never have.

What do we need to do?