By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

Oh, what a difference four months can make.

I seem to recall just a few months ago, we heard a lot of talk about how desperately the City of Amarillo wanted Proposition A to pass so they could retain events at the Amarillo Civic Center. The Amarillo City Council, Amarillo Matters, Build Amarillo PAC, and their supporters held the taxpayers hostage, claiming events would leave if Amarillo voters didn’t buy into their fear campaign and take on a 39 percent tax increase.

Well, Proposition A went down and the world kept turning. The Amarillo Civic Center is still standing and more events are scheduled there as we speak.

However, we did get some interesting news this week. The Amarillo Bulls hockey team is leaving our city after 11 seasons at the Civic Center. You might be wondering if the team’s departure is a result of the failure of Proposition A. Not only was it not the result of Proposition A, but the team is now pointing the finger at the very same people who held taxpayers hostage just a few months ago — the City of Amarillo.

In a statement on Friday, the team said it chose to depart Amarillo after failing to reach a long-term agreement with the City of Amarillo to stay in the Panhandle.

“The Bulls organization worked hard to avoid this outcome,” the team’s statement read. “In order to operate a sustainable business, we sought from the City of Amarillo a long-term commitment with reasonable terms to let us play out of the Amarillo Civic Center and continue to manage the ice for community events and recreation. However, we were unable to secure a partnership with the city to keep the Bulls in Amarillo. Nonetheless, we thank the City for all it has done for Bulls hockey over the years.”

I, for one, am disappointed to the Bulls leave our community and I wish them well in their endeavors in the Hawkeye State. But, beyond that, I wonder where city leaders’ concerns about events leaving our community went after Proposition A. If the Bulls’ statement is any indication, it looks like those concerns disappeared as soon as the ballot boxes were put away on November 4th.

Notice in the Bulls’ statement that the team did not point to the defeat of Proposition A or even the Civic Center facility as their reason for leaving our city. Instead, they said that they were unable to reach an agreement with the City of Amarillo.

This means that when push came to shove and the City of Amarillo had a chance to save a relationship with a tenant that produced multiple events at the Civic Center every year, they dropped the ball. And, not only did they drop the ball, but they dropped the ball just months after wrapping up a campaign based upon fear, holding taxpayers hostage so they could get their way.

I remember that if the mean old taxpayers led by Save Amarillo PAC, Alex Fairly, Randy Burkett, and others wouldn’t mortgage their children and grandchildren’s future by Proposition A, then the Civic Center would lose all kinds of events. There were threats that this was now or never. Washed up journalists were put in social media ads demanding that we pass Proposition A to save the Civic Center. After all, if Proposition A went down, then all the events we would lose would be at the hands of the voters, right?

Did you see the Bulls blaming Save Amarillo PAC or Alex Fairly?

Nope.

When the time came to save an event themselves, the City of Amarillo dropped the ball. They let the Bulls go, even after lecturing us about the dire consequences of the failure of Proposition A several months ago. But, the Bulls leaving Amarillo isn’t a result of the defeat of Proposition A; it’s a result of City Hall hypocrites who don’t care about the actual issues in this community and instead used Proposition A to hold the taxpayers in this city hostage.

Could it be that the City of Amarillo, Mayor Ginger Nelson, Build Amarillo PAC, and Amarillo Matters misled and used you to try and get their way?

Voters defeated the Amarillo Matters tax increase push in November, and the City of Amarillo still is making no efforts to save events at the Civic Center. Just imagine what they would be doing had we handed them $319 million on November 3. I’m sure events would still be leaving Amarillo, but, hey, at least we would have something shiny, right?

Don’t let the bureaucratic hypocrites get away with their schemes. Vote against Ginger Nelson and her Amarillo Matters PAC City Council on May 1.