By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief
Forget 2020. Let’s talk about 2021.
Next year, voters will once again vote to elect members to the Amarillo City Council, including picking the mayor for Amarillo. I know there are a ton of rumors swirling right now about who is running, who isn’t running, what the races could look like, and more. Plus, we also have the complication of a possible charter amendment election which could change the terms of the elected officials.
At this point, it is safe to say there are still plenty of unknowns about the 2021 municipal election in Amarillo. What is a given, however, is that there will be something for voters to vote on next May. And that fact, itself, speaks to one of the major problems in our local government today.
Instead of having voters vote on a Saturday in May of odd-numbered years, we should be having our elections in November of even-numbered years for municipal offices in Amarillo. At the same time voters are picking between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, they should be picking their City Council, as well. Changing the election dates would increase turnout and participation in these important elections.
Now, I know that at least one current incumbent on the Amarillo City Council, Eddy Sauer, totally misled voters regarding why they would oppose such a change during the last election, suggesting the change would require a primary election, saying, local elections are “supposed to be a completely blind type of an election.” That could not be further from the truth. State law requires local elections to be non-partisan regardless, so no additional primary elections would be necessary. And even with no primary, cities still hold municipal elections on this date all over the state. Especially now with the elimination of straight-ticket voting, there is no excuse for why these elections could not happen.
If our city leaders want a model of how these elections work, I would encourage them to watch the cities of Lubbock and El Paso this year. Both cities will be having their mayoral elections this year. My guess would be you will see a remarkable jump in turnout from the two cities’ previous mayoral contests.
There is really no good argument against changing the election dates. This change would increase voter turnout and participation, place a greater spotlight on these important contests, and require candidates to work harder to earn voter support. Instead of regularly having a turnout of 8-10% for a municipal election, imagine if that turnout regularly jumped to 30-60%. I think increasing turnout is something we should be seeking to do, not something we oppose.
Instead of putting an item on the ballot this year to increase their term lengths, the City Council should consider placing an item on the ballot to change our election dates. Increasing voter participation should not be a partisan issue; it’s simply the right thing to do.
Amarillo voters deserve uniform elections in November. This is the real charter change we need in Amarillo today.