Former Councilmen Defend City Manager as Termination Potential Looms

Eddy Sauer (left) and Howard Smith (right) speak in defense of City Manager Jared Miller/Photos by Noah Dawson

A key focus of Tuesday's regular meeting of Amarillo City Council was the employment of City Manager Jared Miller.

As the meeting began, Mayor Cole Stanley announced an executive session begun earlier in the day would resume at 5:30 pm on Wednesday. The closed-door session, which began at 1:00 pm, is focused on the employment of City Manager Jared Miller.

Miller was hired as City Manager shortly before Ginger Nelson was first elected as mayor in 2017. During Nelson's tenure, Miller acted as a key part of her administration, earning Miller the ire of many of Nelson's critics. Earlier this year, shortly before Nelson left office, Miller's employment contract was renegotiated to make it more difficult to fire him. (Under the Amarillo City Charter, the only two positions the council has the power to hire our fire are the city manager and municipal court judge.) This move in particular was met with widespread criticism. Then-councilman Stanley was the sole vote against the new contract. The four newly elected members of the council also expressed various levels of criticism during the process.

Under the new contract, at least 4 of 5 members of the council are needed to fire Miller without cause. A simple majority of 3 of 5 members may vote to fire Miller with cause, though the causes Miller may be fired for are limited and enumerated in the new contract.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, former Amarillo City Councilmen Eddy Sauer and Howard Smith, who left office after not seeking reelection earlier this year, spoke against firing Miller. In his comments, Sauer pointed to Miller's record overseeing AEDC projects. (Sauer then admitted that those projects were done by the AEDC, which is a legally separate entity not overseen by the City Manager.) Smith, during his comments, discussed a rumor that the council is looking to revert Miller's contract to the one in place before the renegotiation. He also argued that, if Miller were fired, other high-ranking employees may leave.

Not everyone who spoke supported Miller, however. Resident Jill Humphry presented the council with statistics comparing the live release rate at the Amarillo and Lubbock animal shelters. According to Humphry, Amarillo’s live release rate has been much lower than Lubbock’s. In some months brought up by Humphry, Amarillo euthanized nearly half of the animals brought into the shelter, while Lubbock had a live release rate of over 90%. Humphry appeared to lay blame on Miller. “Under Mr. Miller’s leadership, AMW has not been a priority, never was been a priority.”