By Noah Dawson

In August of 2020, The Amarillo Pioneer obtained an email from Mayor Ginger Nelson to city manager Jared Miller inquiring about using COVID-19 relief funds on the civic center project. The Amarillo Pioneer published the document in a news story at the time.

In March of this year, Claudette Smith, a candidate for mayor, published the same documents on Facebook without crediting The Amarillo Pioneer.

While I applaud Claudette for reminding voters of this issue, this has been a constant occurrence.

Again and again, Claudette will “bring to light” information about incumbent members of Amarillo City Council and our local government. Much of the time, the information was published by The Amarillo Pioneer long before Claudette began talking about it.

Honestly, though, I don’t really care. The information needs to get out there. It is frustrating at times that Claudette pretends she’s the one doing the work to uncover the information she presents, but I can live with that.

What does make me upset is the fact that she does this while also disparaging The Amarillo Pioneer and its employees. Again and again, her boyfriend and biggest campaign donor, Mike Fisher, posts via his Facebook page “Amarillo By Mourning” attacking the very same people Claudette is sourcing her information from. Still though, it’s not the disparaging comments and posts that upset me.

No, what upsets me is the fact that she seems to believe that the bullying from her and her supporters will intimidate us into giving her a free pass if she somehow wins. I have a hard time believing her attacks against the incumbents are anything more than stunts to help advance her political career.

Well, I have news for Claudette. If you ever win an election, don’t expect us to avoid holding you accountable. If you actually care about this city, I suggest you stop slinging mud against anyone and everyone and start focusing on the issues you give lip service to. Maybe you’ll change some minds, but, with only a few days left until election day, you’ve probably burnt too many bridges. I for one already voted, and it wasn’t for you or Ginger.