#debra mccartt

[jkanelis]

McCartt no longer stands alone as one who defies natural law

McCartt no longer stands alone as one who defies natural law

I long have held up a former Amarillo mayor as the model for defying certain natural laws. How? By being everywhere at once.

That’s what former Mayor Debra McCartt managed to do during her time as the city’s chief elected official. McCartt, the city’s first female mayor, seemingly was able to attend multiple events simultaneously while representing City Hall, advocating for the city, rooting for…

View On WordPress

[jkanelis]

How is the State of the City?

Here’s an idea for the next mayor of Amarillo to ponder, although I don’t expect any immediate reaction to it.

The next mayor will take office shortly after the May 6 municipal election. So, how about crafting an annual State of the City speech?

I once pitched this notion during the time Debra McCartt served as mayor. She listened, more or less. McCartt responded by convening a session that was…

View On WordPress

[jkanelis]

Bully for red-light cameras!

I am so busted!

I got home from work this evening and found something on the dining room table I did not expect.

It was a report of traffic violation that I committed near downtown Amarillo.

I drove through an intersection where the city had deployed a red-light camera.

Snap! I was caught.

Hmmm.

But here’s the thing. As of today, I have no memory of getting caught. I didn’t blaze through the…

View On WordPress

[jkanelis]

Bring a woman back to City Council?

I’ve been thinking for the last little while about the gender makeup of Amarillo’s municipal governing panel during the 21 years I’ve lived here.

We arrived in Amarillo in 1995 and the then-City Commission had a woman serving with four men, the late Dianne Bosch.

As I look back during the two decades here, I seem to recall that almost during that entire time the commission comprised at least one…

View On WordPress

[jkanelis]

Will the City Council operate the same?

I wish I had been at City Hall this week to watch the swearing in of the new Amarillo City Council.

Then I could have seen up close how the new council is going to conduct its meetings.

Two new members took office Tuesday: Elisha Demerson in Place 1 and Randy Burkett in Place 3. The Place 4 seat will be filled by either Mark Nair or Steve Rogers, who are competing in a June 13 runoff.

Why the…

View On WordPress

[jkanelis]

New judge, old judge bury the hatchet

New judge, old judge bury the hatchet

Potter County Judge-elect Nancy Tanner has just posted some pictures on Facebook showing her yukking it up with the man she’s succeeding, Arthur Ware.

Why is that worth this brief comment?

Tanner served as Ware’s administrative assistant for two decades. Then in 2013 she announced publicly that she was thinking of running for county judge. Ware had been disabled seriously by a stroke in 2010 and…

View On WordPress

[jkanelis]

Hoping for a smooth handoff

Hoping for a smooth handoff

Political traditions often consist of unwritten rules of decorum and courtesy.

One of them involves the transition from one elected official to another in a particular office. Let’s take, just for kicks, the Potter County judge’s office.

Will courtesy be the rule of the day when Nancy Tanner takes over at the end of the year from her former boss, Arthur Ware?

Tanner — who served as Ware’s…

View On WordPress