Editorial: Promises Made, Promises Broken

Amarillo Civic Center renovation artist’s rendering/Photo by City of Amarillo

By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

Do you remember when taxpayers were promised that private funds would pay for the ballpark in 2015? I remember it. Do you remember who made those claims? I do. Did we ever see that private money show up to pay for the debt service on the arena? I haven’t.

I bring up these points because I believe they have become increasingly relevant for the upcoming November 2020 Amarillo municipal bond election. A new committee has formed to support Proposition A, which would fund the bulk of the $319 million project for downtown facilities, including several which were shot down by voters in 2016. The committee, Build Amarillo PAC, lists Amarillo EDC board member Laura Street as its treasurer and has already begun its campaign to spin the unprecedented debt issue as good for Amarillo in the middle of a bad economy.

Taking a look at this campaign, it is worth pointing out that the statements Build Amarillo PAC is making are not entirely true. Under the organization’s list of events Amarillo has supposedly missed out on due to having our current facility, they list two bands which actually have planned events in Amarillo in the last 12 months. Rock band Styx was set to play the Amarillo Civic Center before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Meanwhile, MercyMe, which is listed as a band Amarillo supposedly missed, has a concert planned in Amarillo next year at the current Amarillo Civic Center facility.

However, I think the messaging of the campaign, while both misleading and amateur, can be decided by voters on November 3. What I want to discuss in this article has to deal more specifically with past promises made by the very same individuals who are now trying to sell us on Proposition A.

In 2015, Street spoke at a meeting of the Amarillo City Council, alongside Bill Gilliland, and claimed that the duo had already raised $3 million to pay for the ballpark, which had a $32 million projected price tag, at the time. According to one local news outlet, Street said at the time that the fundraising showed dedication by members of the community to make the ballpark happen.

“There are a group of leaders, business people in our community who care enough about this project, the catalyst project, to see that it go forward in some way and what we fear the most is that it's going to be stopped now,” Street told KAMR-TV at the time.

Now, here we are in 2020. The check from the private donors never came in the mail. Instead, what Amarillo voters got is a big debt problem funded by a revenue stream which was not even adequate this year to pay for the debt service on the facility.

However, this is not the first time Street has been involved in a project which burned the taxpayers of Amarillo. Before its start of construction in 2003, the taxpayers of Amarillo had to cut a $1.8 million check to finish out the project to build the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. According to Panhandle PBS, Street headed up the fundraising drive, which needed a boost from tax dollars to get completed.

I think all of this is worth noting considering what Street and Build Amarillo PAC are asking Amarillo voters to sign on to support. They are asking us to pay for a $275 million bond, which might be a municipal record for Amarillo. They are telling us it is for the Civic Center, but in reality, it is funding several facility projects which voters already turned down in 2016. They are telling us it is for the Civic Center, but in reality, taxpayers will really be paying for a new city hall.

We are also being asked to trust Build Amarillo PAC on their numbers and prices. The truth is, we have not seen hard, binding numbers on any of the costs actually included in the project.

Amarillo voters are being asked to trust Build Amarillo PAC, led by the same people who have burned the taxpayers of Amarillo before. It’s like the old saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Don’t get fooled again.

Vote against Proposition A and demand accountability for broken promises. Amarillo taxpayers are not a piggy bank or a “money tree.” We are at the top of the organizational structure of Amarillo’s municipal government. It’s time we step up, and start acting like it.