Opinion

An Independent Attitude

City shows disdain for openness, public

In last week's Independent Attitude, I described — as best as I could with the information I had at the time — the deal in which the city of Amarillo slipped through a plan to buy the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. After The Amarillo Independent went to press last week, I sent a letter to Mayor Debra McCartt and Commissioners Madison Scott, Brian J. Eades, Ronald Boyd and Jim Simms. Here is the text of the letter:

Publisher George Schwarz

As I indicated after Tuesday's Commission meeting, I would like to follow up our brief discussion. When I discussed the composition of the Downtown Amarillo, Inc. Board with you, I believe I used the word "concerned" with respect to the appointment to that body of Les Simpson, publisher of the Amarillo Globe-News.

In retrospect, the word "concerned" is too gentle. Frankly, I have a problem with his appointment for the reasons I outlined to you. But, because I'm distributing this letter to the entire Commission, I think it fair to review some of my points with you and to expand on them.

As I said, placing Simpson on the board gives the Globe-News an inside track to the deliberations of the board. When you said he would see the ethical line between serving on the board and using it to his newspaper's advantage, I laughed and indicated quite bluntly that I didn't think Simpson would see any ethical constraints.

One cure for this would be to execute a confidentiality clause with him, requiring that he not convey any information to other members of the Globe-News staff, either within the newsroom to provide an edge in stories, or the marketing staff to give his newspaper a head start on sales. But that would fly in the face of the objections several people raised at Tuesday's meeting and the concerns raised in The Amarillo Independent's July 17 issue — that the city of Amarillo and its new corporation should be open. As I also noted, the swiftness of this entire process and with the purchase of the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts raises serious questions about the openness of the process.

The sad irony here is that the Commission favors a media outlet that was, but is no longer, the hometown newspaper. Morris Communications, based in Augusta, Ga., owns the Globe-News and has no real stake in the city because it has only its own corporate interests at heart. The Amarillo Independent, on the other hand, is locally owned and supported. Despite the Independent's sometimes contrarian views, as the hometown newspaper, we have the community's best interests at heart. The fact that some may disagree on our stance on local matters, such as how open city government may be, should not impugn our motives nor discount that reasonable people may passionately disagree on how things should be done.

I believe the way the Commission can extricate itself from a tenuous political position would be to take the following actions:

• Expand the Downtown Amarillo, Inc. board to 13 members, adding another seat for a representative from The Amarillo Independent and one more media outlet and two members of the public — and I mean the real public, not insiders. I can provide nominations. Alternatively, retain the nine-member board but replace Simpson with someone not associated with or having any ties to any of Amarillo's media outlets.
• Restructure the Downtown Amarillo, Inc. Charter and By-Laws to parallel the way the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. works. Given that Downtown Amarillo, Inc. is a de facto creature of the city, funded by city money, acting at the behest of the city and unable to implement any action without city approval, the meetings and records should be open; they should fall fully under the Open Meetings and Public Information Acts in this state.
• The Commission's action Tuesday to buy the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts left out one other issue which no one has dared articulate — perhaps in fear of the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The facility's name should be changed to The Amarillo Center for the Performing Arts. The rationale is really quite simple. The contribution Morris Communications made to the facility is now eclipsed by the contributions the city and its taxpayers have made. The $2.2 million in cash doesn't account for the value of the land the city gave for the facility; and, given major changes in the "deal," the name doesn't take into account the generosity of Amarilloans who contributed. I recognize some kind of contractual provision might have given Morris Communications naming rights. But the Commission has already changed the contract twice. A third modification should be no impediment.

I look forward to your responses.

As we prepare our newspaper for the press Wednesday morning, only Madison Scott has tried to contact me.

George Schwarz: Editor and publisher of the Amarillo Independent. george@amarilloindy.com

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Posted: July 24, 2008