Disingenuous Local Political Ads

Let me start this post by saying I really like Amarillo. I have lived here for several years now and I hope to be able to stay here for many more years. But that does not mean it is perfect, and one of the areas that could be improved is the type of city government.

The city is run by a mayor and four city commissioners -- all of whom are elected at-large. That may have been fine when the city was small, but Amarillo now boasts a population of nearly 200,000. Although the city has many different areas and many different kinds of people, the at-large commissioner system has resulted in all the commissioners coming from the same white affluent part of town. This means that part of town has a lot of representation  while other parts of the city have no representation at all.

In the city election that will take place in a few days (May 14th), there is a measure on the ballot that would have the city commissioners elected from single-member districts. This would prevent all the commissioners from living in the same part of town, and would give residents in other parts of town a voice on the city commission. This is a good thing, and the federal courts have mandated single-member districts in many other large Texas cities.

But I have noticed that the affluent powers-that-be here in Amarillo have been running some TV ads opposing single-member districts. One of these ads says that single member districts would divide the city. I guess a person could look at it that way if they lived in the affluent part of the city. It would mean they would have to give up some of their representation so people in other parts of the city could have some representation. I don't see that as dividing the city though -- it's just spreading the political power to more parts of the city.

Another of these ads makes it sound like it would take some power from the voters. It points out that now a voter can vote for all four commissioners, but if single-member districts were instituted then a voter could vote for only one commissioner (the one representing their own district). I have to wonder just what good it does a voter to vote for four commissioners if none of them live in their part of town. Wouldn't it be better to vote for a single commissioner who lives near you and will have the best interests of your community as his main interest? I know I would prefer to vote for one person who lives in my district than four rich people who do not.

But perhaps the stupidest of these ads is the one featuring our current mayor. She tries to scare voters by telling them that single-member districts would be "more expensive" and could lead to "doubling property taxes". That's an outrageous lie! Why would electing commissioners from single-member districts cost even a penny more that electing at-large commissioners? Like most lying politicians she doesn't say why it would be more expensive -- she just tosses out the lie, knowing that many voters will be scared by it and then vote against single-member districts.

I can understand why the affluent powers-that-be are spending money to run these disingenuous TV ads. They've never had to share power with folks in other parts of the city, and they don't want to start doing it now. And they are willing to lie and scare voters so they can keep all the power in their hands.

It is time for Amarillo to realize it has outgrown the at-large city commissioner system. It is time to spread the political power throughout the city. Almost all the large cities in Texas (and many cities smaller than Amarillo) have now established single-member districts -- because it is fairer and gives all citizens a voice in city government. Amarillo needs to join them.