“I don’t want to engage in a discussion here in any kind of a kangaroo court,” said Councilman and mayoral candidate Cole Stanley as Mayor Nelson probed him on allegations regarding campaign contributions.
Stanley later left the meeting, with the crowded audience giving him a standing ovation. The drama centered around discussion item 5B regarding “conduct by a City Councilmember as a potential violation of City of Amarillo Governance and Ends Policies.” While there was no confirmation about which councilmember was at the center of the allegations ahead of the meeting, members of the public did correctly guess they were pointed at Stanley, with every speaker during public address noting their support for the councilman turned mayoral candidate.
During the meeting, Nelson stated an allegation (while claiming to quote an unnamed member of the public) that Cole Stanley, who received a donation of $40,000 from businessman Alex Fairly, took the donation in exchange for dropping the city’s appeal of a lawsuit won by Fairly last year. (Mayor Nelson further noted that the donation might be the “largest donation in the history of Amarillo local elections.” The Amarillo Pioneer investigated this and found that the issue is more complicated.)
In Fairly’s lawsuit, Judge William Sowder ruled the city violated numerous state laws when the council attempted to authorize $260.5 million in tax anticipation notes to fund renovations to the Amarillo Civic Center Complex. Sowder ruled the notes “invalid and void,” and further ordered the city to pay Fairly just over $450,000 in attorney’s fees. Stanley, who cast the sole vote against the proposal on the council, was not represented by the city’s legal team, requiring him to hire attorney Len Walker.
Part of the allegations stemmed from an answer given by Stanley during a debate held on April 18th, where Stanley said that he “would drop the lawsuit on the appeal with Mr. Fairly” and further noted that he “would pay his fees.”
Nelson seemed to imply an accusation that Stanley violated a portion of the city’s code of ethics for council members against accepting “any gift that would reasonably influence the member in their official duties.” However, the code of ethics also notes that “the prohibition shall not apply to a lawful campaign contribution.” Stanley also noted during the meeting that the awarding of Fairly’s legal fees was something Judge Sowder ordered. Stanley also noted that he went out of his way to follow the city’s policies when answering the question, noting that he opened his answer during the debate by stating that he did not have any comment to give as a council member, but that he did as a candidate. The code of conduct for council members states that members of the council may “present their individual opinion on an issue outside of City meetings if they explicitly state they do not represent the City Council or the City.”
Stanley sought to table the item, with Councilman Howard Smith seconding the motion. The motion to table failed, however, with only Smith and Stanley voting in favor. Shortly after the vote to table the item, Nelson called for a recess so that the audience, many of whom had been making remarks in support of Stanley during the discussion, could “calm down.” Following the recess, audience members continued to voice their support for Stanley.
Tensions at one point came to a head, with Nelson listing various donations made by Fairly, including to candidates other than Stanley. In particular, Nelson mentioned City Council Place 3 candidate Tom Scherlen. Scherlen replied to Nelson’s comments. which many in the audience took as an accusation. “We live in a free society, I can get donations from anybody. I’m not paying back Mr. Fairly,” said Scherlen. “If you’re accusing me of that, I’m going to see y’all in court.” Nelson pushed back, claiming she did not make that accusation, though many in the crowd shouted that they took her comments as an accusation.
Later in the discussion, former Mayor of Amarillo Trent Sisemore appeared. “I’m asking, mayor, would you be willing to allow him to rise and speak?” Nelson did not respond to the request, culminating in Stanley exiting the meeting in protest and the crowd shouting for Nelson to allow Sisemore to speak. After Stanley’s exit, both Councilman Howard Smith and Councilwoman Freda Powell declined to participate in making a request to move forward with any action against Stanley.
While Nelson listed accusations against Stanley, several allegations were also made against Nelson by both the public and Stanley. During public comment. Stanley’s campaign treasurer Michael Ford alleged that the notice of the meeting did “not provide sufficient notice.” He recommended that the mayor not take advice from the city attorney, stating that “he just had his butt handed to him in court,” referencing the city’s loss in the lawsuit brought by Fairly. Ford also accused Nelson of committing various ethical violations, claiming she lied about issues including the nature of a previous city manager’s departure and engaged in illegal rolling quorums.
Stanley’s attorney Len Walker echoed these comments, calling the proceedings a “total open meetings act violation.” Several members of the public were seen expressing their support of Stanley to Walker as Walker left the meeting, with some calling the proceedings a “political witch hunt” ahead of the May 6th election.