Steve Trafton/Photo by Campaign
Logos by Trafton Campaign and Amarillo Matters PAC
By Thomas Warren, Editor-in-Chief
There are several key social issues that are on the minds of local voters right now. A handful of candidates running for local school board seats have been playing to those issues, with great results among local voters. However, Amarilloans would do well to remember that there’s a lot more that matters to these school board elections than just a few issues that are hot-button in 2023.
I have been seeing great interest among local voters in issues dealing with the Amplify curriculum controversies and inappropriate materials in schools. While those are important issues, voters seem to have forgotten that this time last year, we were fighting a $286 million bond put forward by Amarillo ISD — the largest bond election in the district’s history and one that could easily be risen from the dead by a new school board determined to raise our taxes. And the worst thing we could do is elect school board trustees who would resurrect these zombie bonds, just because they say the right things at election time about a few hot-button issues.
A candidate I want to individually pick on for just a second is Steve Trafton, who is listed as a member of the Amarillo Matters PAC board of directors. This PAC has been responsible for giving us city councilmembers and college trustees who have pushed massive bond issues in Amarillo election cycles. In fact, Amarillo Matters’ elected officials have put more than $360 million in bonds on the ballot since 2019. And that’s not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that Amarillo Matters-backed elected officials have passed — or tried to pass — without voter approval.
Now, turning back to Trafton for a moment, I have heard many local conservatives say they are voting for him because he is a conservative. In fact, Trafton has even gotten the backing of some local groups purporting to represent conservative ideals. And while I have no doubt that Trafton is a great guy, and he does have the right ideas on a few key social issues, there are a lot of questions surrounding his ability to be fiscally responsible, thanks solely to his affiliation with Amarillo Matters PAC.
My major worry about voting for Steve Trafton is that a vote for Trafton is a vote for higher taxes — or, even worse, a vote to guarantee another bond election in a few years.
It seems an incredibly risky game to vote for someone who has been directing the operations of a pro-tax increase PAC to lead a local school district, just because they say the right things about social issues. When we call ourselves conservatives, it should mean something. And if we allow ourselves to be taken in whatever direction the wind blows, then our ideological identity gets cheapened.
Boiling this down to its essence: we are either conservative on taxes, or we aren’t. If we are, then we shouldn’t vote for Steve Trafton. If we aren’t, then by all means, vote for Trafton. But don’t complain if — or, rather, when — he votes to raise your taxes or to place another bond on the ballot. You will have gotten what you voted for.
Wrapping this up, I do agree that social issues are important, but so are taxes and spending. And we would be foolish to accidentally vote to raise our taxes by electing someone who has been a leading figure in getting tax-raising politicians elected to local office after having fought so hard to prevent AISD from raising our taxes in 2022.
Trafton’s associations with Amarillo Matters have shown us where he really stands on the day-to-day issues that an entity like AISD will be facing — and let’s just say he’s not a friend of the taxpayers. And if you need any more proof, just remember that Trafton’s yard sign is in gun-grabbing, tax-raising Mayor Ginger Nelson’s front yard — and I don’t think it’s because she likes his position on Amplify.