Don Tipps wants to use his experience in insurance to have tough conversations for city

As a candidate for council Place 2, Don Tipps, an Amarillo insurance agent, wants to bring his empathy and experience in making tough decisions to the Amarillo City Council.

Tipps, a West Texas A&M University graduate who has been in the insurance industry in the area for about 30 years, has owned his own agency since 2000. He had worked as an agent for six years before starting his own agency, with five licensed agents working for him. He also owns investment properties and runs Airbnbs in the city.

“I started paying attention to the city council and government about two years ago during the city shutdowns,” Tipps said.

He said much of what happened during the pandemic opened his eyes to how the city was being run. The closing of businesses and mask mandates that really hit the city, he said, really got him paying attention to the direction of how the city government is run.

Tipps also said that the Amarillo City Council’s decision on how to fund the city hall and renovations of the civic center, which he felt went around the voters, did not sit well with him.

“We sit back in Amarillo and think we live in a great place .. got a good ol' boy system everybody is good with, good family type values ... and that is just not the case anymore,” Tipps said. “I felt like I was called to get off the sidelines and contribute to the city somehow. Things are happening in the city that did not take place in the past.”

Tipps feels that citizens have gotten complacent within the city, which has caused an erosion of conservative family values. He sees the attack on these values, from school boards and curriculum to some of the events being held at the parks. Setting community standards and enforcing them, he thinks, is the key to having a safe family-friendly city.

With his experience in the insurance business, Tipps feels that it has prepared him to make tough decisions and communicate the reasoning behind these decisions to the citizens at large. He understands full well that every decision will not make everyone happy, but feels how it is communicated makes an enormous difference.

His dealing with the public in demanding situations that involved hard conversations, Tipps says, has groomed him for a meaningful role on the city council.

“I have got to be able to communicate with the public about what is going on with the issues at hand and the decisions being made,” Tipps said. “I bring that experience to the table. I have a natural gift for bringing opposing sides together to find out what common interests can be used to come to an agreement. Dissent and discussion are healthy to come to decisions that are better for all involved.”

Tipps stresses he is not a politician but a business guy, who has worked with all entities of the city. He feels his success in his business dealing with budget and managing employees are strengths that can be utilized for the city. Making the city cash positive in its endeavors so that it can take care of all its citizens is a focus for him.

The top priority for Tipps will be to make a motion to drop the appeal from the city on day one in regard to the civic center lawsuit, to start a new direction for the city, with no more money being spent on that litigation. He said there is no good outcome for the city or its taxpayers from continuing the process. The whole civic center funding plan and its actions in the lawsuit, Tipps feels, are not in the interest of the public trust.

“The first thing I want to do is drop the appeal and say we are not doing this; we are not pursuing this any longer. Enough money has been wasted on this thing; over half a million dollars that we spent on this lawsuit that could have gone elsewhere,” Tipps said. “It is time to stop the bleeding; we will not spend another dime on this appeal. To me, that is a priority to bring back the voters' trust.”

With the Texas legislature and attorney general looking at making changes to the system based on what happened in Amarillo, Tipps says that this shows the city’s decision was wrong in the civic center matter.

“I want to right the wrong; the city needs to stop paying taxpayer money on something the voters did not want in the first place,” Tipps added.

Regarding infrastructure issues in the city, Tipps says that a balance must be struck between growth and how to fix the current problems in the city, such as roads, aging water pipes and making sure that all hydrants in the city work and have the proper water pressure.

"If we start getting areas of town that are neglected and do not have proper working infrastructure, it creates a division with the city,” Tipps said. "This creates an us and them issue. We must fight hard against that in the city by listening to everybody. Our city as a whole has to be better, not just certain parts.”

Tipps said that one reason that newer areas of the city have better lighting is because the areas created before regulation did not have these standards set up from the start. He feels these areas need to be brought up to par so there is no disparity in such matters.

With rising crime in the city, Tipps states that looking at high-risk youth is something that can address many of the crime issues in the city.  With at-risk youth, Tipps says there must be education and activities that will make its greatest impact on those who are at the greatest risk of going down that path.

No matter what is done, Tipps says there must be a concerted effort in the budget to attract and retain talent among first responders in the city. He feels that this is among the most important funding that needs to be looked at by the council for the benefit of the city.

“If we do that, if we can up patrols and do the things that we need to do to maintain a show of authority through Amarillo, I think this will suppress the crime situation,” Tipps said.

With his effort in doing the work now to learn about becoming a council member and being informed from the start, Tipps says that he has been trying to come in well-informed. He said that he has been meeting with city departments to understand their budget and infrastructure issues better to know more about the city’s everyday business.

“I do not know of any way to speed that learning curve up rather than jumping into this with open eyes,” Tipps said. "If you are not doing the work now, you are not doing your job, especially with the city budget talks coming up in August. We have to shorten the learning curve to benefit the city.”

Regarding the idea of the city possibly going to single-member districts, Tipps says that they create division and infighting based on his analysis of cities that went that direction. In that system, he feels that you have a council with members all seeking to get individual goals done rather than ones done for the greater good of the city. He encourages voters to study those running for office to see how and whose interests they have represented in their platforms.

“It sounds good on the surface to get representation from different areas giving equality to all areas, but if we look at other places that have done it, it just hasn’t gone well,” Tipps said.

Asked if a lack of minority representation on the council could be an issue, Tipps says that any candidate you put on council better not see color or ethnicity as an issue in their decisions and represent all the population.

“I do not see that as an issue, but I do not see race and it has zero bearing to me on any decision I will make,” Tipps said.

He also said that due to population growth, the city council needs to look at a possible expansion of the city council.

“I would like to think the person with the best qualifications and character are the ones that the voters choose to represent them,” Tipps said. “Ultimately, people need to get to know their candidates to know what they are voting for.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Candidate Don Tipps taps years in insurance to address city issues