By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

We are rapidly approaching the May general election, which will see local voters decide who will be in charge of our city councils and school boards for the next few years. And in the lead-up to the election, I have already seen a number of candidates promising change — on social issues.

Now, look, I understand that social issues are important and they do contribute a lot to the foundations of political ideologies. But, we needn’t forget that we are also electing people who will be in charge of spending money and setting tax rates, too.

I’ve seen the playbook work out before where voters get angry and upset about social issues and elect someone who says the right things on those issues, only to find out that they really aren’t aligned with voters on taxes and spending. It happens again and again. Still, no matter what, voters always get most upset about social issues without even considering the issue that will affect them most — how elected officials spend money and raise taxes.

I recently saw a list being circulated of great questions to ask candidates running for local offices this year. Would you believe that not a single question dealt with taxes, bond elections, debt, or excessive spending? Instead, they all mostly focused on social issues. And that kind of focus ends up being detrimental to taxpayers and their bottom lines.

For example, in 2021, Amarillo voters were just starting to get angry about critical race theory. A few candidates tapped into that and got elected. No, they haven’t taken any votes on CRT, but they have certainly taken votes on issues that affect your wallet. And, needless to say, your taxes keep on going up. But don’t worry, I’m sure those politicians care about your financial issues, too.

The truth is that while social issues are often the easiest issues to consider, and the issues that are almost always going to get the most dramatic response from voters, they rarely end up being the most important issues once people get into office. Instead, nearly every meeting, your elected officials on school boards, city councils, and college boards, alike will be faced with consent agenda with millions of dollars in spending to be considered and periodic debt issuances throughout the year. And voters should place a lot more emphasis on how the candidates feel about those decisions than they feel about issues that they likely will never actually have to make a decision on.

Think back for a minute to the past few election cycles. Candidates like Ginger Nelson and Eddy Sauer did a great job of letting people know what churches they attended and how much they cared about spirituality in the community. I have no doubt that either of them are devout Christians who attend church every Sunday. Socially, I agree with them on their religious preferences. But, at the same time, they both just voted to approve $4.1 million in spending this past Tuesday and also both voted to approve multi-million dollar debt issuances without voter approval over the past two years. As a voter, I care a lot more about those issues and votes than I do about where they go to church. But, perhaps I’m in the minority.

My point is that how your candidates and elected officials feel about true pocketbook issues is a lot more important than how they feel about the issues that seem like a big deal at election time, but usually end up not really having much impact on their jobs anyway. And I really want to caution voters not to get tunnel vision this election cycle in Amarillo and lose sight of the issues that really matter.

Yes, there are social issues that matter. But, in the grand scheme of things, your elected officials are going to be taking a lot more votes on fiscal issues and financial matters than they will on social issues. And when I say a lot, I do really mean a lot. Don’t lose sight of this fact when you’re considering candidates this year just because one candidate says the right thing on a few social issues that matter to you. After all, you might agree with a person’s position on social issues, but that doesn’t mean they won’t also jack up your taxes. And, trust me, when you’re paying your property tax bill next year, you’ll be thinking a lot more about taxes and spending than you will about where your city councilmembers and school board trustees go to church.