Photo by City of Amarillo
By Noah Dawson
Out of the three municipal propositions on the ballot this November, Prop B might have the potential to do the most long-term harm to our city’s government. The proposition would double the term lengths of the mayor and city council, while also staggering the new four-year terms. There is plenty to be worried about regarding the fact that many of the specifics are not yet clear, including the fact that we are not yet sure if the term extensions would be retroactive. Today, though I wanted to focus on another aspect, and that is the disingenuous reasoning behind the idea.
The arguments for the prop can be found on page 12 of the agenda for the August 11th City Council meeting. Let’s break them down. The first real argument made is that “a councilmember spends the first year learning governmental organization, programs, laws, and procedures. Currently this leaves only a single year of informed service, and then that term of office is over.” In my time covering local politics, I have met several people who have shown up on a weekly basis, watching city council meetings and learning how their local government operates. Moreover, our particular city government structure perfectly mirrors the typical corporate structure, with the council and mayor sitting in place of the board and chair respectively, the city manager sitting in place of the CEO, and the people of the city sitting in place of the shareholders. Thus, anybody with business experience or at least business knowledge should find the transition easy, at least from an organizational perspective. Overall, this argument reeks of a condescension towards the public. And, if a person who is indeed wholly unqualified to serve does get elected, and if they were somehow unable to learn how government works until a year in, they can run for reelection.
The second argument, from the document, is “the possibility that an entirely new Counsel and Mayor can be elected in one election cycle, due to the lack of staggered terms.” Again, this is condescending to Amarillo Voters. The top of our city’s organizational structure remains the people of Amarillo. If we choose to do a clean sweep of the council at the ballot box, that is our prerogative. Further, to reference another line from the document echoing this argument, “the potential for loss of all council knowledge of issues in a single election,” the fact council members are in no way barred from seeking the advice of former council members must be remembered.
Brushing aside these disingenuous and condescending arguments, we find what Prop B really is:
A power grab. Amarillo deserves better.