During the ABC 7 mayoral debate on Wednesday night, five of the six candidates for mayor made their positions known on the recent vote by the Amarillo City Council to renew and amend city manager Jared Miller’s contract, showing some differences of opinions by the candidates on the issue.
As we previously reported, the City Council voted 4-1 during a recent special meeting to renew Miller’s contract, along with approving a pay increase. One of the more controversial items stemming from Miller’s contract extension was a move taken by the City Council to further shield the city manager from termination, requiring a four-vote supermajority in order to terminate Miller.
The vote drew widespread outrage from citizens and candidates, alike, who argued that the current City Council — none of whom are seeking re-election to their seats — essentially tied the hands of the incoming City Council.
With this in mind, the issue was a hot topic during the debate, with some candidates supporting the extension and others opposing it. Here’s a look at how each candidate responded to the question.
Don Collins, retired CVS pharmacy manager and former Elkhart, Kansas city councilman
During the debate, Collins expressed some concern about the vote to extend Miller’s contract, but ultimately said that he believes Miller has some important experience with the City of Amarillo’s operations that could be beneficial for guiding the incoming City Council.
“My understanding is the city manager, he does what the City Council asks him to do,” Collins said. “I met with him, had a good conversation with him. We’re going to have a new City Council and a new mayor at that time. So, with having his experience there to kind of guide us.”
Collins went on to say that if Miller’s performance is not up to the standards of the new City Council, he could still be removed from his job — even at a hefty pricetag.
“And if he don’t meet up with what his contract says, the way I read it, he can be dismissed,” Collins said.
Sam Burnett, truck driver
Burnett expressed his opposition to Miller’s contract extension during the debate, saying that claims by the current elected officials that they should be the ones to make the decision on his future with the City of Amarillo due to their working relationship with him are misguided.
“I understand that the City Council we have now has the background with the city manager, but that could have been communicated to the new City Council,” Burnett said.
Burnett went on the say that the actions of the City Council put taxpayers on the hook for problems within city leadership, claiming that the current City Council approved the renewal despite not having held Miller accountable enough during his tenure.
“Now we’re at a point where we’re going to lose money even if we break ties with him, but the fact is, I don’t feel that we’ve held him accountable enough to his contract,” Burnett said.
Freda Powell, incumbent City Councilwoman and mortuary manager
Powell defended the City Council’s decision to renew Miller’s contract, arguing that the current City Council was the right group to make the decision on Miller’s employment future with the City of Amarillo.
“The city manager’s evaluation should be done by the current council because the city manager works at the will of the council,” Powell said. “And we’re the ones who have been giving him direction for his evaluation.”
The incumbent Councilwoman — who voted to extend Miller’s contract — also went on to say that the City Council made the decision to evaluate his job performance in an effort to keep politics out of the equation.
“His evaluation should be based on performance and not politics-related,” Powell said. “For a new council to come in and evaluate him and not have any background whatsoever, that is not right.”
Cole Stanley, incumbent City Councilman and construction company owner
Stanley, who cast the sole vote against renewing Miller’s contract, disagreed firmly with the decision of the current City Council, saying it makes things difficult for the new City Council coming into office.
“It does bind the hands of the future council that’s coming in,” Stanley said. “Unless both parties are agreeable to sit back down, then you’re at kind of a deadlock at that point.”
Stanley also went on to directly disagree with Powell’s statements about taking politics out of the city manager’s job evaluation, saying the City Council did make politics the key factor in their decision.
“It’s wrong on its face because it’s seeking to put politics over performance,” Stanley said.
The Councilman also went on to compare the city manager’s new contract to his own experience in business, saying that the city manager’s job needs to be treated with more urgency.
“I’m a small businessman and I am on a performance-based contract on every job that I do,” Stanley said. “And, so I do my job or I don’t get to keep my job and I don’t have any security beyond that. And that position needs to have that urgency in it where we — our number one job as City Council is to hold that man accountable.”
Jeff McGunegle, life/consciousness coach and educator
McGunegle also expressed disapproval with the City Council’s vote to extend Miller’s contract, going on to say that the current City Council ignored citizen concerns on the issue.
“What was interesting was that we had 12 citizens that showed up to speak, and no one was heard,” McGunegle said. “No one was heard. Not everybody that spoke was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do this.’”
McGunegle also went on to directly criticize Miller for accepting the renewed contract, saying that he had an opportunity to “really bring this city together” by turning down the new contract, but that he did not do so.
“He had the chance to become legendary, but we’re where we are,” McGunegle said.
Tonya Winston, truck driver
Winston, the sixth candidate in the race for mayor, did not participate in the debate.
Early voting in the race for mayor begins on Monday, April 24. Election Day is May 6.