By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

Yesterday, we published an editorial at The Amarillo Pioneer regarding Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson’s comments defending taxpayer-funded lobbying. While Nelson was rightfully criticized for her ridiculous comments as to why it is acceptable to send taxpayer dollars to cover the salaries of Austin lobbyists during a pandemic, I also noticed a few people discussing the context of her statement. And with this discussion in mind, I thought now would be a great time to remind Amarillo voters of Nelson’s past record as a flip-flopper.

When Nelson sought re-election in 2019, she told voters at a forum hosted by the Potter-Randall Democratic Club that she supported extending the terms of the Amarillo City Council by two years each. When voters angrily demanded answers from Nelson as to why she supported attempting to increase the length of her term, breaking with a precedent followed by every other Amarillo mayor of having two-year terms, she claimed that her words had been taken out of context. By attempting to distance herself from her own government-growing, self-serving agenda, she tried to abdicate responsibility for holding bad policies and asked her supporters to give her a free pass.

And guess what? They did.

Fast forward to 2020, and the Amarillo City Council voted to place an item on the ballot to extend their terms. Surely Mayor Ginger Nelson couldn’t be in support of extending her own terms, right? I mean, after all, she said she never called for such a thing and claimed her words in support of term extensions had been taken out of context in 2019.

Well, Nelson supported placing the item on the ballot and even appeared on television to try and justify her City Council’s attempts to amend the City Charter to provide for more time in office and less work.

Luckily, voters killed Proposition B and Nelson’s self-serving power grab, but she still got a free pass of lying to voters and flip-flopping on the issues in 2019.

And, if I were a betting man, I would put my money down to say she’s probably going to do it again in 2021.

Nelson has released her platform this year full of lots of promises of free stuff and low taxes. She is even claiming to support fixing Amarillo Animal Management & Welfare after neglecting the issues in this department for four years.

I’m sure G7, the pregnant dog that was euthanized while in labor during Nelson’s term, will love to hear that she now plans to do something in this department.

When it comes to Nelson’s promises, voters need to remember all of the times she let us down on her past promises. She has delivered on very few past campaign promises and now is making more promises that I’m sure she never intends to deliver on.

And, to add insult to injury, while Nelson won’t do anything on her past promises, she also won’t address the financial issues facing this city. After all, on the High Plains Pundit Podcast on Monday, she expressed support for continuing to hand our tax dollars to wealthy Austin lobbyists while local businesses close their doors for good and people lose their jobs. But hey, according to Nelson, hiring a lobbyist who isn’t even from our community with tax dollars paid in by residents who actually live and work in this community is no different than hiring a plumber to fix a toilet that won’t flush.

I wonder if after comparing our city to a toilet, Nelson will walk that statement back, as well. I wouldn’t put it past her.

The fact is Nelson is certain to avoid responsibility for her unfulfilled promises this year, while flip-flopping on the other issues that matter to this community.

She says she is for low taxes, but she has voted for four consecutive years of tax increases.

She said she would put “citizens before politics,” but then called her own constituents the “hyper-vocal minority” at a presentation in 2019.

She said she would “[cut] the red tape,” but then turned around and mandated a $2,000 fine on local businesses caught in violation of an ordinance her City Council created.

She said she would “stop the infighting,” but spent weeks after voters rejected her ballot propositions feuding with a local businessman who she deemed responsible for the failure of Proposition A.

Nelson has constantly lied and flip-flopped when Amarillo voters have demanded answers. And 2021 will certainly be no different.

This year, voters do not have to settle for more flip-flopping and lies from Mayor Nelson and her buddies at Amarillo Matters PAC. Local catering company owner Michael Hunt has already presented a vision for Amarillo that includes bringing fiscal responsibility to the forefront and dealing with the issues this community is facing.

As a local business owner, Hunt has dealt with the regulatory burdens facing local business owners and will have an actual idea of that changes that need to be made in this city. Unlike Nelson, Hunt is committed to facing issues like Animal Management & Welfare head-on during his first days in office, instead of kicking the can down the road and only speaking on the issue when it’s election time.

Hunt’s background and experience make him more than qualified to lead this city. And, perhaps best of all, Amarillo voters will have the opportunity to elect a true political outsider to lead this town. That is a much better prospect than electing someone who was on a major local board when one of the board’s real estate transactions drew the attention of federal authorities.

As you can see, Amarillo has the opportunity to elect someone qualified to lead this city this year. But in order to make the changes we need in this community, we first must be willing to take a stand and reject the flip-flopping of Amarillo Matters PAC and their crown jewel electoral acquisition — Ginger Nelson.

Nelson will certainly try to flip-flop again this year, whether it is on the taxpayer-funded lobbying, the numerous tax increases she has supported, or any of the past campaign promises she has left unfulfilled. But in all things this cycle, voters must be determined to hold their politicians accountable and demand answers for their bad policies and records. And Ginger Nelson is no exception.

So, please Amarillo, let’s get this done. Hold Ginger Nelson accountable for her false promises and flip-flopping by voting for change on May 1.