Our beloved Amarillo is in crisis. Amarillo is a great city, and right now, this great city is going through some growing pains. It’s been a rough year with all the drama that has fallen upon our city. It seems like a battle between City Hall and the citizens. The latest crisis is the outrageous utility bills residents are receiving. For example, a single woman received an $800 bill claiming she used 54,000 gallons of water in one month. The city’s answer is to call a plumber and have your home checked for leaks.
In the last year, here’s what we’ve seen in Amarillo that has caused a lot of unrest.
- Fermi is building a data center (Project Matador)
- Closure of two city pools
- The killing of prairie dogs in John Stiff Park
- Utility Bills doubling or tripling after the new software and meter installation
What do all these things have in common?
Here is the problem: every single one of these was decided for the citizens of Amarillo. The residents didn’t have a say, but many are dealing with the fallout.
Project Matador: A Billion-Dollar Data Center and Amarillo’s Water Supply
Project Matador will be one of the largest data centers in the country, and it is in our backyard. This project was approved before any Amarilloan had a say. It is still causing daily uproar.
The Amarillo City Pools Are on Life Support
The city pools received a reprieve after a voice of the people, Craig Gualtiere, fought to have the city take another look. According to one of his Facebook posts from January, Gualtiere went before the city council with a plan. After meeting with Councilman Reid about a proposal before the meeting, Gualtiere spoke with the council. After presenting the proposal, the city council voted 5-0 to re-examine the closures…