By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

Well, Amarillo, it’s official. Amarillo’s tax-and-spend, establishment crony-rewarding, Chicago-style politics practitioner Ginger Nelson is seeking another term in office as mayor.

Good for her.

But now that the Mayor is in the race, the public’s attention should turn not to how she and her campaign will try and trick voters into forgetting the past four years. Instead, Amarillo voters should pay attention to just how awful her record has been over her past two terms and why she deserves a serious challenge this year.

From potential conflicts of interest, to lying to voters about certain policies she supported, to overseeing the largest crackdown on public engagement in Amarillo’s history, Nelson’s time in office has not been good for Amarillo. Additionally, factor in that any time voters try to pin her down on an issue, she uses sleight of hand to mislead voters and then moves on. This goes in line with the fact that the Mayor cannot accept responsibility for her own failures.

What about when Prop A failed? Ginger Nelson blamed it on misinformation.

What about when a citizen was arrested for clapping? Ginger Nelson pointed the finger at State Rep. Tony Tinderholt and Empower Texans for being too involved in Amarillo.

What about all of the tax increases? It’s just part of her past pledge to keep taxes low.

It seems clear that Ginger Nelson needs to go. But who should step up to replace her?

Nelson deserves a serious challenge from a candidate who is serious about the future of Amarillo and how to solve the problems we have at City Hall. Instead of personality politics or petty fights, the key challenger to Nelson must prove how they will actually put the citizens back in charge and kick the special interests out of the driver’s seat.

The 2019 playbook won’t work here. Facebook fights about another candidate’s appearance or how one candidate loves Amarillo more than the other won’t work this time. This year’s challengers need to get serious about how we can save Amarillo from the problems plaguing our City government, which have been perpetuated by Nelson and her disastrous policies.

Nelson needs to go, but Amarillo needs the right person to step up to the plate.

Filing for a spot on the ballot begins on January 13. Election Day is May 1. Let’s all make sure that Amarillo has the right challenger to fix the problems in our city this May.