Cole Stanley
Candidate for Amarillo City Council, Place 1 (Open Seat)
Stanley/Photo by Campaign
Question: What is your age?
Answer: 42
Q: How long have you lived in Amarillo?
A: 42 years and counting
Q: What is your educational background?
A: Randall high school graduate
Still enrolled at Hard Knox University and currently working on my masters
Q: What is your occupation?
A: Construction
Q: If you are a business owner, please list the business or businesses that you own.
A: Cole Stanley Builders LTD
Cole Stanley Homes and remodelers LP
Texas Lionshare
Brahma Steel Builders
Q: Please list any civic boards or commissions (non-profit, government, union, political, etc.) on which you have served as a board member or equivalent.
A: Arbor Christian academy board member
Arrow child and family board member
Arrow health solutions board member
12 strong mentor program
Volunteer chaplain at Clements unit TDCJ
Q: If your campaign has any online campaign resources where voters can learn more about you, such as social media accounts or a website, please list them below.
A: Colestanleyforamarillo.com Cole Stanley for Amarillo place one Facebook Instagram
Q: Why did you decide to run for this office in 2021?
A: I’m uniquely and highly qualified to serve in this position. I have 21 years of navigating city processes and I know first hand how we can improve these systems. I experience and have to pay for the waste that the city costs small business owners, builders, developers with unnecessary rules and regs. I’d like to go to work for all of us improving the way the city is run and maximize the efficiency of every department. My Experience and business background will be a strong asset to our council if elected.
Q: If elected, what will be your top three priorities in office?
A: Deregulation and creating a culture of customer service
Pro growth and small business development
Homelessness and transitional housing
Q: What is your opinion on taxpayer-funded lobbying? Please explain.
A: I believe that if our elected officials are doing their job there should never be a need for one municipality to lobby another. Amarillo should have a strong voice in Austin without lobbyist. However, if the system is broken and requires taxpayer funds through lobbyist then every citizen should see a transparent accounting of where the money went. We should be very cautious with this practice.
Q: Do you support moving municipal elections to November of even-numbered years? Please explain.
A: Yes
By moving local elections to November we could increase the voter turnout. If it was on a Tuesday and not a Saturday more voters are inclined to cast a ballot. There is also more attention paid to local issues during state and national elections.
Q: Do you support single-member districts for City Council representation? Please explain.
A: I’m not opposed to it but I think we should be careful how these districts are zoned to insure there is a benefit and each district is fairly represented.
Q: In what cases would you support efforts to raise property taxes? Please explain.
A: I want to grow our tax base by increasing housing and commercial business development. Thereby raising appraisal values and total revenues for the city. I want to keep our tax rate low or even reduce it if we can cut wasteful spending by deregulating unnecessary controls.
Q: In the 2020 general election, did you support or oppose Proposition A ($275 million Amarillo Civic Center and downtown projects bond)? Please explain.
A: I voted against it. The proposed plan included new admin offices and future buildings at a premium cost which prevented us from having a opportunity to assess the value of the actual civic center. There are better options available to us at a lesser, more affordable cost to the taxpayer.
Q: What is an issue you believe has gone overlooked in your race and how will you address it if elected?
A: Homelessness. We have lost most of our beds in our shelters due to covid. While we have a good program, “coming home”, as well as other programs such as faith city ministries we do not have transitional housing. We need a simple shelter that is safe warm and feeds this population while offering stepping stones to move people towards being ready to receive a home. We can do a better job of helping those who can help themselves but lack the tools needed to qualify for coming home.
Q: Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position?
A: I’ll go to work. I’m not afraid to be my own man on the council. To ask the difficult questions of “why”. I will invest my time energy and resources in identifying how these departments and policies can be improved and strengthened. I am the candidate that can put the city officials to work for the citizens rather than having department heads that tell the council what the city needs. I am a leader and I believe that I can lead all of us in the best direction for the future of Amarillo.