Tom Scherlen now sits in the audience at Amarillo City Council meetings, no longer behind the dais where he made his mark as one of the city’s most vocal elected officials.
“I think I might be more effective now than when I was up there,” Scherlen said. “Because now I can say exactly what I want to say — and I still get three minutes at the mic.”
After losing his Place 3 seat in June, Scherlen is reflecting on his two-year term — one defined by confrontation, reform efforts, and a deep connection with the citizens who called him with problems, invited him into their neighborhoods, and urged him to keep asking the questions others wouldn’t.
‘I’d probably vote the same way’
Scherlen was frequently on the losing end of 4-1 or 3-2 council votes, but said he wore that isolation as a badge of honor…