The May 3rd election resulted in a runoff between mayoral candidates Jimmy Chaney, receiving 38.17% of the votes, and Mike Borger, receiving 44.55% of the votes.
Both candidates share their thoughts on the general election, key takeaways from the candidate forum, their own campaign, and their plans moving forward until the final election.
One concern that Jimmy and Mike share regarding the recent election is the turnout, with less than 1,700 Pampa residents exercising their right to vote.
“I do want to thank everyone that came out to vote, but I have to admit-only about 1,600 people out of our whole town is just really disappointing,” Jimmy said. “We have to do a better job at getting people out there and that’s something I’m really going to focus on right now.”
“You have to get out and be heard, and although you may feel like you’re only one vote, that one vote does matter. Encourage your family and friends to go vote because you really can make a difference.”
Mike said, “There were a little less than 10% who came out and that’s definitely low. But we saw that pattern repeated all over the state of Texas and I think it’s because people are just a little election-weary after last fall.”
“I just want to celebrate the ones who did come out and especially for the runoff that we will have here. I do know the last time there was a city runoff election, only 452 people voted. Half of that number would win it and that’s a very small number for the size of Pampa. I just hope the people who cared enough to vote the first time will see it through and vote again in the runoff.”
The candidate forum in April shone a light on what the main issues and concerns are on the minds of many of Pampa’s residents, and both Jimmy and Mike took those issues to heart, pledging to continue listening to the community they hope to serve.
However, it’s not uncommon for many people to overestimate the role of a mayor, perhaps not realizing just how limited the reach of a mayor truly is. Through their own campaigning and speaking to city personnel, both candidates are fully aware that first and foremost, presence is key.
“My understanding is you’re basically on the city commission and you lead the meetings, but the most important thing is being out in public-you are the face of the city,” Jimmy said. “You’re going to be meeting with the new businesses coming in and welcoming new people. You have to keep the public happy and satisfied and you do that by just being out there and letting them know they have someone who is listening to them.”
“As mayor, you bring the community and the city together and create a positive environment. You set the tone of the city in a lot of ways.”
“I think it’s vital to our community and vital to our growth that our community feels like they are being supported. I want them to feel like they can trust who’s in charge and that person isn’t just going to say yes to everything and act like everything is great when it’s not. I’m willing to stand up and do what’s right and I’m absolutely willing to hear what the public wants. As a mayor or any type of leader, you’re supposed to listen to your constituents. I want to make sure that people know they always have the opportunity to come to me and voice their opinions and know they’re actually being heard. It’s vital for having a peaceful community and a place where people are happy to be. I just want people to love Pampa again.”
Mike said, “The things that were brought up in the forum are exactly the things we’ve been talking about. I did come away with the consensus that ‘here are the things that everyone wants to see happen’, and so we’re going to continue to do our best to work on those things.”
“The mayor is just one of the five commissioners and as mayor, I just have one vote. I can’t do an executive order, I can’t hire or fire anyone, I can’t close or start a city service on my own. The thing a mayor does that is important, especially for us now, is that he represents the city by being present and being the face of the city. He does sign any obligations that the city has and he is the person that is on the paper which is also important, but more than anything else just representing Pampa to the world. I feel like I can do that and I want to do that and I think I’ve been prepared to do just that and represent Pampa very well.”
With less than a month before the final election, both candidates would like to remind voters and the community as a whole what their vision is for Pampa.
“I’m going to stick to my vision of prosperity through transparency and focus on continuing to be transparent,” Jimmy said. “Of course I want to stick to the original plan of growth through the city, and what it’s going to take for growth is getting this town cleaned up and creating a place that people want to live in and are excited to live in. I think a lot of what it boils down to is a mindset for people to be on board and to be happy to be here and proud of Pampa again.”
“I’m an out-of-the-box thinker, I’m a visionary, and I have good ideas that I want to share and to explore new things for Pampa instead of the same things we’ve always had, and I think that’s what it’s going to take to create some change-something different, something fresh, something new.”
Jimmy also mentioned his desire to create a better means of informing the public about what the city is doing and what decisions are being made and why they are being made. Understanding that not everyone can make it to a city commission meeting and navigating through the city’s website to get to the agenda minutes and recorded meetings is difficult for some people, he wants to create a more user-friendly system to get the information out there, as well as encouraging citizens to reach out and ask any questions they may have.
“What we have now is transparent in a way, but it’s not exactly user-friendly and some of that is hard to navigate, so it goes back to me wanting to get the word out to the public and keeping them informed as best as possible.”
“There are a lot of new people in town and I think a lot of them want to plug in, but just don’t really know how, and I’ve also learned there are actually a lot of younger people that want to get involved. There’s a shift happening and we need to figure out how to get those people involved and become a part of our community.”
“Something I absolutely plan to do as mayor is go to other cities who have grown and meet their leaders and spend some time there and learn what they have done, what worked and didn’t work because there’s nothing wrong with looking at other places and learning from them.”
“I want to spend my time and resources doing that because I think fresh ideas will be vital to our community. That’s what we do with our own business-we look outside of ourselves. Sometimes you have to get out of your own way and be willing to try new things.”
“My commitment is to just always follow God’s will for our city and understand the people, be committed to the people, and be involved with the community. We are heavily invested in this town, we love Pampa and we care about Pampa. We just want this place to be successful no matter what happens.”
Mike said, “I just want to continue doing what we’ve been doing and going out into the community and talking to people about our vision for Pampa and staying on the positive road.”
“We have some big possibilities right now that will really make a generational change in Pampa, and so we need to have some unity and have people pulling in the same direction, and we have the opportunity to see those things through for our children and our grandchildren.”
“If you cared enough to vote the first time, then you should really make this a priority because it’s so much more important this time.”
More information about the runoff election and early voting dates and times will be provided as soon as details are made available by the City of Pampa.
