The Ginger Nelson Council Is Officially Over: Craft & Simpson Sworn In

Josh Craft (left) and Les Simpson (right) sworn in/Photos by Noah Dawson

In 2017, Amarillo elected a new mayor and council. In the six years since, under Ginger Nelson’s leadership, Amarillo City Hall has been mired in controversy. On the afternoon of July 5th, 2023, the final member of the Ginger Nelson council elected in 2017, Howard Smith, officially left office.

Smith’s term in office officially ended after Les Simpson, the June 24th Place 4 runoff election winner, was sworn in. (Josh Craft, who won the Place 1 runoff, was also sworn in. Craft filled the vacancy left after Stanley, who had previously served in the role, was elected as Mayor.) While Ginger Nelson, Freda Powell, and Eddy Sauer left the council as the winners of the May 6th election were sworn in, Howard Smith remained as Place 4 went to a runoff. (Elaine Hays, who was elected to Place 1 in 2017, did not seek reelection in 2021 after unsuccessfully running for Congress. Cole Stanley succeeded Hays in 2021 after winning a tight three-way race for the spot.)

With the Nelson council gone, several changes have already been made to how meetings operate. Notably, the Public Address system has been replaced with a Public Comment system, which allows citizens to speak on items not on the agenda. Additionally, during regular meetings, those who had not signed up ahead of the meeting are able to speak after those who had signed up have finished. The city manager and city attorney have been removed from the central raised portion of the dias during council meetings and the velvet ropes which previously partitioned the dias from the audience have been removed. The time of the meeting has also been changed from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

While those changes were all made after Stanley took office in May, one other change was made during the special meeting to swear in Craft and Simpson. While the mayor would previously dismiss meetings of the council after business had concluded, the council will now vote to adjourn at the end of meetings.

While those changes have been made, some aspects of the Nelson council remain. The new City Hall project is still underway, oral arguments were recently held in the Civic Center lawsuit appeal, the plastic trash cart program was recently expanded, and Jared Miller remains as city manager.

There are also some links between the Nelson council and the current council. While Mayor Cole Stanley often found himself at odds with Nelson, he did serve on the council with her during the final two years of her term. Additionally, while the swearing-in of Les Simpson officially ended the Nelson council, he was publisher of the Amarillo Globe-News in 2017 when the paper endorsed Nelson during her first run for office. While he has since sought to distance himself from Nelson, he did note during a forum held by The Amarillo Pioneer that he did not regret the endorsement.

The most important opportunity for the new council to have an impact on the city is still yet to come. Beginning July 17th, the new council will begin the process of shaping the city budget. In response to recent flooding, drainage is anticipated to be a major focus of the budgeting process.

Before the budget workshops begin, the council is set to have their first full regular meeting next Tuesday, June 11th.