Mark Lee Dickson (left foreground) and Jana May (right foreground) watch as Amarillo City Secretary Stephanie Coggins (center) signs confirming receipt of the petition signatures/Photo by Noah Dawson
A group of Amarillo citizens turned in a petition today in support of a proposed ordinance to implement various abortion-related restrictions in the city.
According to the committee, the petition garnered over 10,000 signatures. Of those signatures, the committee has claimed to have verified over 7,000. The City Secretary will now be tasked with verifying the paperwork and signatures of the submission. The City Secretary “shall be allowed a period of twenty-one (21) calendar days in which to verify that the required number of valid signatures is contained on each petition before such officer must submit all papers pertaining to such Ordinance or resolution and its proposed initiation or reference to the Council at its next regular meeting,” according to the Amarillo City Charter.
The petition will also likely be deeply scrutinized for format by the city ahead of moving forward. In 2022, the city rejected a petition seeking to repeal tax notes the city had sought to use to renovate the civic center.
In addition to technical requirements, the petition must have been signed by at least 5% of registered voters in the city, which equates to roughly 5,500 signatures. If the council does not approve the proposal, the initiating committee reserves the right to have the item placed on the ballot. This would set the stage for the item to be decided during this year’s November election.
While the proposal has met resistance from many on the left, many local conservatives have also expressed skepticism towards the proposal. Perhaps most vocally, Councilman Place 3 Tom Schereln has stated that he feels the city should simply respect the Texas Heartbeat Act and not implement further ordinances. Michael Ford, the campaign treasurer for Mayor Cole Stanley, has also expressed concerns, questioning the constitutionality of the proposal’s aim to prevent abortion-related travel out of state. A key area of controversy has also been the private enforcement mechanism, where individuals, rather than the city, would bring legal action against those in violation of the ordinance, rather than the city.
Notably, some of the most vocal voices in support of placing the item on the ballot have come from the left. Nathan Smith, a resident and regular speaker at Amarillo City Council meetings who often criticizes the religious right, has expressed his support for putting the issue in the hands of voters. “I’m here once again to call for the public to be allowed to vote on Mark Lee Dickson’s sanctuary city proposal.” Mark Lee Dickson has largely been seen as the public face of the effort but stressed today that the process was begun by Amarillo resident Jana May. Dickson himself had previously expressed opposition to using the petition and referendum route, though pushback from the council led him to support the move.