During the first regular meeting of Amarillo City Council including the June 24th runoff winners, the council made several appointments, though one councilmember was left out.

Councilman Place 1 Josh Craft came out of the meeting with the most appointments. Craft was placed on the Parks Advisory Board (for a one year term), the Beautification and Public Arts Advisory Board (for a term ending on December 31st), and was named as Mayor Pro Tempore (for a six month term).

Councilman Place 3 Tom Scherlen was placed on the Convention and Visitors Bureau for a term extending through 2024, while Councilman Place 2 Don Tipps and Mayor Cole Stanley were placed on the Council Audit Committee for terms extending through 2025.

Several of these appointments were made to replace members of the council from before this year’s elections. Stanley and Tipps replaced vacancies left by Freda Powell and Ginger Nelson, while Craft is replacing Eddy Sauer on the Beautification and Public Arts Advisory Board.

The council was also set to make two appointments to the First Responders Excellence and Innovation Fund Board, though the council chose to table those appointments. The board may be on the chopping block, as many (including some councilmembers) have criticized the board for being ineffective. “My preference would be to dissolve” the board, said Stanley during the meeting.

Councilman Les Simpson was the only member of the council who was not appointed to anything during the meeting. Simpson himself did not volunteer for any of the boards. Aside from voting, Simpson’s only input during the board appointments was inquiring as to how often the boards meet.