Well, that got your attention

Well that got your attention

As Amarillo moved toward Tuesday’s City Council meeting, we expected fireworks. After all, two of the new councilors got our attention calling for the resignation of City Manager Jarrett Atkinson and dismissal of the board of the Amarillo Economic Development Corp.

Today’s meeting started with pulling those two items off the agenda, moving consideration of Atkinson’s status back to his normal personnel evaluation cycle. And, no decision on the AEDC board will occur until after another joint meeting between the City Council and AEDC.

So after all the name-calling, we learn that the two new councilors are capable of compromise. Just as many mistook the seemly precipitous action for “knee-jerk,” don’t mistake the compromise of lack of resolve. There is more than meets the eye.

Trust me on this.

Call the investigation and stop the name-calling

Some of my friends are rallying to the defense of the entrenched crew at city hall, calling two of the

new councilors, Mark Nair and Randy Burkett, members of the “knee jerk party.” Mayor Paul Harpole is on the attack, going as far as calling Burkett a liar. There is more to this whole issue and I add this information to the blog to let people know.

I covered City Hall for steadily from 2007-2013. I watched Harpole in action. A now-former city councilor one complained to me about how Harpole treated her and others and tried to even bully her and others. When I ran the Indy full-time during the 2013 campaign, former employees from the old Ford dealership contacted us to complain about Harpole’s temper.

Throughout the downtown development, I personally saw Harpole in action. He treated people who disagreed with him and the City Council with open disdain and on several occasions with discourtesy that went well past rudeness.

And let me tell you something else about this city government people are so staunchly defending. When one of the big upheavals went on at the airport, someone from the city gave me the full personnel file of one of the airport managers under scrutiny. The file contained tons of really, really negative stuff and it was given to me to bolster the city management’s position — and that was when Atkinson was the assistant city manager over the airport. Whoever at the city got the file to me did something illegal (it even had the SSN and other clearly confidential stuff) and did it clearly for the benefit of management.

My sources in a position to KNOW tell me that Vicki and the top management KNEW from Burkett well ahead of time he was going to ask for her resignation, as he ultimately did. So, it wasn’t a surprise. While I share some people’s concerns about Burkett and I don’t know what really happened, I am not going to out-of-hand accept the city’s version as if it was pure as the driven snow. The city people can play hardball with a smile on their faces. That means the letter can be back-dated and I have no reason to believe otherwise.

And, add to this, many of you all sneered when the city used the term “resignation” about McGee and Barlow from Animal Control, saying it really wasn’t. Why take the other position now. I am tired of this naïveté.

The three new councilors are doing what they promised and what the people wanted. Period.

If we want to remove all the doubt, let’s have an investigation using Sec. 19 of the Amarillo Municipal Code.

Time to start the investigation

In early August 2014, a couple of folks met to explore the idea of launching a slate for the now-recent municipal elections. The slate would carry the name “Reform Amarillo.”

We never got that off the ground, but I played with some planks for a platform focused on downtown development. I thought these ideas would resonate with the voters who wanted to reject the insider dealings and the Wallace Bajjali-Downtown Amarillo Inc. plans. Since then, of course events overlook this platform. But, still, are the key elements:

• As soon as possible terminate the contract for Wallace Bajjali as master developer. This provision should be offered to the public with as much fanfare as possible, emphasizing that Wallace Bajjali failed to meet several deadlines and benchmarks; and, point out the City Council’s extension of those were poor public policy. This should also freeze development of the ballpark, convention center hotel and parking garage.

• As soon as possible defund and dismantle Downtown Amarillo, Inc. The only funding for DAI that would remain are the amounts needed to dismantle the corporation. Any contracts in place with consultants would be terminated or bought out. The new City Council will seize all DAI records, including cell phone records and texts, for possible turning over to investigating authorities.

• As soon as possible defund and dismantle the Amarillo Local Government Corp. The only funding for the LGC that should remain in the budget is the amounts needed to dismantle the corporation. Any contracts in place with consultants would be terminated or bought out. The new City Council will seize all LGC records, including cell phone records and texts for possible turning over to investigating authorities.

• Undertake a legal and forensic review of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone to determine if it should remain a viable entity or if it can and should be dissolved.

• As soon as possible, instruct the city staff to develop Requests for Proposals to redevelop and/or renovate the Civic Center with an emphasis on attracting and accommodating larger and “better” national shows and conventions. The criteria in the RFP would place greater weight on local businesses being involved with the studies, designs and construction of the Civic Center.

• Restart the downtown redevelopment process, possibly using Center City as the facilitator. As part of this effort, review for likely revision both the area under the downtown development rules, the rules themselves and the specific design standards.

• Conduct a forensic/management audit of the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. Conduct a management audit and review of the city staff. Promise to freeze taxes until the management audit and review are complete.

The new City Council can do this. The City Council has the power under Section 19 of Amarillo’s Municipal Code, to “investigate the financial transaction of any office or department of the City government, and the acts and conduct of any officer or employee. In conducting such investigation, the Council may compel the attendance or witnesses, the production of books and papers, and other evidence, and for that purpose may issue subpoenas or attachments which shall be signed by the Mayor; which may be served and executed by any officer authorized by law to serve subpoenas or other process, or any peace officer of the City.”

Sec. 19 is a powerful tool in the City Council’s arsenal. Under this provision, an investigation might provide answers to some very serious questions. An investigation under this provision in the Code would have serious consequences for those who might lie their way through such a probe. Can you say perjury?

Given the suspicions surrounding downtown development, much less city management, the City Council should move to do this as soon as possible, either with a new city attorney or with a contract attorney retained directly by the council. And, to those status quo people now attacking the new councilors, I say this: What do you think the message will be if you oppose such an investigation?

If not the new council, who? If not now, when?