Tom Scherlen
Challenger for Amarillo City Council, Place 3
Scherlen/Photo by Campaign
Question: What is your age?
Answer: 68
Q: How long have you lived in Amarillo?
A: I have lived here since 1972
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I graduated from Borger High School in 1970. I went to Frank Phillips College for 2 years, then moved on to West Texas State University for 2 years. I was majoring in Business Administration with a minor in marketing. I did not graduate due to an illness in the family.
Q: What is your occupation?
A: I am retired. Previously I was in the hydraulic business where I started in the warehouse and worked my way up to CEO. I was employed by Austin Hose for 38.5 years.
Q: If you are a business owner, please list the business or businesses that you own.
A: N/A
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: I served on the Board of Westview Christian Church; then I served on the Board of Washington Avenue Christian Church where I served as Chairman. I was the board Chairman of Troop 99. I currently serve on the Board of the 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle.
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: Website scherlen.com, Facebook Tom Scherlen
Q: Why did you decide to run for this office in 2021?
A: I made the decision to run in the fall of 2020. I had been paying attention to the City of Amarillo politics. As I was watching I decided from a business stand point a lot of their decisions do not make a lot of business sense. I was able to see that there were ways to save money in a lot of different departments. I felt like it was time for some new ideas and different ways of thinking. It is always better to bring new ideas to the table; if you do not change, you begin to get stagnated. As a business man the City needs to be run like a business, because that is what it actually is. The City is in business of taking care of its residents. The City needs to be held responsible to the tax-paying citizens and their needs. I also felt like in the last few years the City Council had been avoiding the citizens of Amarillo. I pledge as a Council member I will make myself available to the citizens. My slogan is "what can I do for you".
Q: If elected, what will be your top three priorities in office?
A: 1) I want to listen to our citizens and see what their needs and wants are, and bring them to the Council.
2) I would like to see the City become fiscally responsible; we cannot continue the tax and spend we currently have.
3) The people voted in 2016 to fix their streets and this project has not been completed as of yet; the citizens deserve what they voted for!
4) I would like to see what we could do to help small businesses in Amariilo. They have been decimated during Covid through no fault of their own. A lot of these business were shut down by the City.
Q: What is your opinion on taxpayer-funded lobbying? Please explain.
A: I am against taxpayer-funded lobbying. I believe the City Council should do their own lobbying. Who knows Amarillo's needs better than it's own citizens? As a businessman, I made plenty of flights to other cities, set up meetings and was busy all day. This should be geared into the way the City operates its business.
Q: Do you support moving municipal elections to November of even-numbered years? Please explain.
A: Yes I believe they should! This way you will get a better turn out of the electorate during the national election time. May elections have noticeably had lower voter turnouts.
Q: Do you support single-member districts for City Council representation? Please explain.
A: Yes, I completely support single member districts. This way every area of town would be represented and their particular needs would be brought to the Council.
Q: In what cases would you support efforts to raise property taxes? Please explain.
A: Property taxes have been used to take advantage of the citizens. It appears they go up every year even when the economy is going down. I would like to look into how that value is figured. We have got to protect our citizens from this abuse. I would not support a tax increase unless there was absolute proof the property value actually increased; we all know values do go down and we need someone to hold their feet to the fire. I am one of these people - you have to prove it to me.
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 opposed it completely. In fact, I worked hard for the Save Amarillo PAC.
Q: What is an issue you believe has gone overlooked in your race and how will you address it if elected?
A: I believe the Council has cut the citizens out of being able to address the Council with their needs. I will work to have a time where the citizens can address the full Council while in session. They should be able to speak on any issue and not just agenda items. I believe they forgot who elected them. We should be a government by the people for the people.
Q: Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position?
A: I am a retired businessman and have the time to devote to the job. I believe this is a full-time job and the people deserve a full-time Council member. I have new ideas with a new approach. I have years of running a large successful company and bringing money back to Amarillo. If it makes sense do It!