Amarillo needs stability in leadership while COVID-19 brings instability to our city. I want to continue my conservative fiscal management of city expenses so Amarillo can cover the costs of responding to COVID-19. “I am pleased with the speed that Amarillo opened its vaccination clinic, which Governor Abbott praised as a “great model” for other cities.

During my time as Mayor, I have built relationships and garnered respect with leaders from across the state. These relationships benefit our City in numerous ways such as securing the Texas Tech Vet School or helping Amarillo swiftly gain access to much-needed resources in the City’s response to COVID-19.

With a focus on creating more jobs and economic growth, I played an instrumental role in bringing the Texas Tech Vet School to Amarillo. The Vet School will create 150 jobs and over $95 million in annual economic impact for the City.

Continuing my focus on long-term growth and sustainability, I spent my time in office fine-tuning budget items to keep Amarillo’s tax rate one of the lowest in the state. During COVID-19, early 2020 budget decisions kept Amarillo from increased taxes and financial strain.

While some cities in Texas have defunded police departments, I continued my strong support of Amarillo’s first responders with emphasis on funding whatever is needed to do their jobs.

During my term, I increased funding for street and road improvements. Under my leadership, the City continues to plan for future growth while maintaining roads in all Amarillo neighborhoods.

Pushing for change and improvement, I led efforts to hire interim director and consultant, Rob Sherwin. There is more work to do in this area and we need leadership to stay focused on increasing the momentum we have started.  A new surgery building opens in January which will improve spay and neuter services. A new daily report card continues to improve communication and transparency about shelter operations.

Under my leadership, Amarillo began the implementation of several Neighborhood Redevelopment Plans, including the North Heights, Barrio, and San Jacinto Neighborhoods. Through implementing these plans, the City partners with neighbors who live in each neighborhood to enhance the quality of life of the neighborhood and build communication between neighbors and the City.

I’ve asked city staff to put together a proposal that would give every citizen in Amarillo basic access to a city-wide high-speed network at no charge. With this quality of life benefit, businesses can recruit employees to Amarillo, and students all over the city can have equal access to high-speed internet. With this network, we could recruit people to live in Amarillo but work (remotely) anywhere.

We are making true progress on improving our animal shelter. There is more work to do in this area and we need leadership to stay focused on increasing the momentum we have started.

The Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine was a tremendous win for our city. However, we are just getting started on making the most of the opportunities it will bring. We need established relationships with leaders across the state and the nation to recruit pharmaceutical manufacturing and medical research businesses and jobs to our city. I’ve spent the last three years developing many such relationships and want to use this influence to bring these jobs and businesses to Amarillo.

I want to continue improving customer service at City Hall and making it easier for businesses and entrepreneurs to do business here.

I will continue to focus on reducing crime and making sure our neighborhoods are safe. I will always support our police, and I will continue looking for ways to provide them with additional funding and manpower as they work to keep our community safe.

While I know the construction has been an inconvenience, the street improvements were badly needed and will benefit us in the future. We must continue with long term planning and commitment to our streets, roads and infrastructure.