Why a conservative Texas mayor defied his friends and put the brakes on an abortion “travel ban”

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AMARILLO — Mayor Cole Stanley was congratulating wrestler Tino Valentino for profitable the inaugural Route 66 championship in entrance of the group on the Texas Route 66 Competition in Amarillo when Angel Camacho, “the Puerto Rican Juggernaut” charged the stage.

Valentino had simply overwhelmed Camacho, however the juggernaut was not able to admit defeat.

After a spherical of trash-talking, Camacho struck Valentino from behind. Whereas two cowboys pushed Camacho to the again of the stage, Mayor Stanley bent over to verify on his metropolis’s prized wrestler.

A lady screamed for Stanley to look out.

The loud thud from a metal chair clashing in opposition to Stanley’s again rang by means of the venue. Stanley crumpled on the stage in entrance of everybody.

It’s totally attainable that there was an Amarillo resident or two within the crowd who quietly rejoiced to see Stanley topple over. In his temporary tenure as mayor of the Panhandle capital, Stanley has managed to upset and shock a complete vary of constituents. Most notably, Stanley has been on the heart of the citywide debate over a proposed abortion “travel ban” that might prohibit using streets and highways in Amarillo to acquire an abortion in a state the place the process is authorized.

Proponents of the ordinance anticipated Stanley, a Republican, together with the remainder of the council to rubber stamp the proposal like so many different metropolis leaders throughout Texas did. Opponents don’t suppose he’s finished sufficient to squash the matter, which shall be up for a citywide vote in November.

Again on the pageant, Stanley, who’s in athletic form from his years working at building websites earlier than stepping into politics, obtained again on his toes. He would go on to referee a rematch between Valentino and Camacho, very similar to he has refereed the controversy over the anti-abortion ordinance.

Stanley, 46, stated he believes legislating something associated to abortion is above his grade.

“That’s just not my job,” he stated in an interview with The Texas Tribune.

Texas lawmakers have already made abortion unlawful in virtually all situations. Numerous stories counsel greater than 35,000 ladies have left the state to get an abortion, a undeniable fact that fuels the anti-abortion activists who pushed the ordinances in lots of rural cities and counties final yr.

Amarillo, a metropolis of 202,000 folks, is a gateway to New Mexico and Colorado, two of the closest states that enable abortion and have seen an inflow of Texas ladies at their clinics. The town’s proximity made it a key goal for the grassroots anti-abortion motion, which started specializing in these bans and different methods to restrict abortion entry in 2023, simply as Stanley was elected mayor.

“I don’t think that was the kind of decision he thought he would be making when he was running for mayor,” stated Harper Metcalf, co-founder of the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance.

Stanley — a conservative chief who ran on religion, household and freedom — rejected the ordinance after proponents signaled they had been unwilling to compromise. Stanley was ready to undertake a neighborhood coverage that mirrored state legislation and outlined Amarillo as a “sanctuary city” for the unborn however didn’t embrace the journey provisions.

Residents had been stunned. For his half, Stanley dealt with the difficulty the identical approach he has many different points which have crossed his desk. He retains his even-tempered demeanor throughout conferences. He routinely checks if anybody else desires to deal with the council in public remark classes — no matter if it’s late within the night they usually didn’t join. Via this, the council has heard from ladies’s rights advocates, anti-abortion activists, medical doctors, attorneys, and each involved citizen in between.

Stanley acknowledges that some voters would possibly consider he’s deserted his conservative values. He insists he hasn’t — a mayor has to consider your entire metropolis, not simply his personal coverage preferences.

“This has been a good test of if I can stay true to myself, and care more about others than I do myself,” Stanley stated. “So far so good, but I’ve taken a few friendly arrows in the back along the way.”

An early take a look at 

A kind of arrows struck Stanley earlier than he was even elected, in a take a look at that had the general public questioning about his allegiance lengthy earlier than the abortion ordinance.

Stanley was accused of violating metropolis council member insurance policies for receiving a $40,000 donation to his marketing campaign from Alex Pretty, a neighborhood businessman who Texas conservatives have tried to court docket as a brand new megadonor.

Pretty gained a lawsuit in opposition to Amarillo after the council voted to make use of $260 million in tax and income notes for a undertaking voters beforehand rejected. The town was additionally ordered to pay Pretty’s legal professional charges, and the town appealed the ruling. On the marketing campaign path, Stanley stated he would drop the attraction if he was elected.

The donation got here in just a few days later. Stanley defended himself at a testy council assembly, saying dropping it was the suitable factor to do and the donation was going to be on his subsequent finance report. He went on to win the mayoral race with 75% of simply over 21,000 votes two weeks later.

It was one of many first classes Stanley stated ready him for the criticism he would face because the mayor. And it was an ironic one, given how Stanley didn’t have political aspirations or a want to sit down in an workplace or lengthy conferences. The truth is, he began a building enterprise to keep away from it.

“I never wanted to do the same thing eight hours every day,” Stanley stated.

Within the late 2010s, Stanley started to look at what he referred to as a shift in constructing guidelines. They grew to become much less about security and extra about compliance with vitality effectivity requirements. A self-proclaimed complainer, Stanley let his opinions be identified.

Somebody prompt he run for workplace. Stanley gained his first at-large council seat representing Amarillo in 2021, then ran for mayor in 2023.

“I really didn’t ever want to be the mayor,” Stanley stated. “Even when I was running, I didn’t think this is what I should do. But if you’re going to complain, you should be willing to help.”

Since he was elected, there have been occasions when donors and non-donors alike have had points with sure stances he’s taken. His job isn’t to care concerning the optics, he stated, however to consider all of Amarillo’s residents — whether or not they share the identical views as him, or contributed to his marketing campaign.

“I don’t know why anyone would come down here and take all the insults, get themselves into all the arguments if you’re just working for somebody else,” Stanley stated. “Shoot, it don’t pay enough.”

He admits the criticism is greater than he anticipated. For essentially the most half, nevertheless, Stanley says he can take it and be taught from it, particularly when it stems from a choice that was his doing. For example, the council handed an ordinance final yr that might topic therapeutic massage parlors to shock inspections — an effort to crack down on human trafficking.

It was a fast determination with out a lot public enter — a unique strategy than the cautious one Stanley sometimes takes. Stanley stated it resulted in a Sunday afternoon assembly with offended therapeutic massage therapists. They later repealed the coverage. Stanley stated it was good intentions however unhealthy execution.

“I can say that’s my fault, I did this to myself,” Stanley stated.

“Jurisdictional overreach”

After months of debate and a resident petition, Stanley and the Amarillo Metropolis Council permitted poll language permitting voters to have the ultimate say on the abortion “travel ban” — a uncommon occasion for Texas voters to weigh in on one of the crucial impassioned points in American politics.

Then, one other subject got here up. The Amarillo Financial Improvement Company, a personal nonprofit separate from the town, was accused of misappropriating $750,000 in an unauthorized fee to The Vary, Amarillo’s world meals hub. The verify was $650,000 greater than initially approved.

The town acts as a financial institution to the nonprofit. And the council additionally approves its price range. The nonprofit’s leaders stated they’re allowed to maneuver cash inside line objects so long as they keep within the price range.

The council is reviewing the transaction, and for essentially the most half, Stanley has dealt with it the identical public, methodical approach he does. At a press convention in mid-September, Stanley stated the fee didn’t contain felony exercise however did breach procurement pointers.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that all financial transactions comply with legal and procedural standards,” Stanley stated.

Stanley tries to work at his precise job just a few occasions per week, however being the mayor is usually a full-time, unpaid job by itself, given the gravity of the position.

He’s spent much more time at Metropolis Corridor because the anti-abortion ordinance was launched. The council has been inundated with emails, calls and letters from either side. Council duties really feel heavier than a typical 40 hours at his job, he stated.

“On construction sites, I don’t have a nine-hour meeting where I’m engaged with different sides trying to get the upper hand in a debate,” Stanley stated.

There’s been no scarcity of influential folks weighing in from outdoors the town limits too.

Twenty state lawmakers voiced early help for it by means of a letter, and different municipal leaders have written letters to the council too. In the meantime, Texas Legal professional Basic Ken Paxton sued the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies this month to attempt to block a federal rule that protects the medical information of girls from felony investigation if she has an abortion in a state the place it’s authorized.

Nationwide ladies’s teams, together with the Ladies’s March, have come out in opposition to it. And U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat in Congress, stumped in opposition to it with the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance.

From the start of the controversy, Stanley has been brazenly conflicted. He has stated he personally opposes abortions and calls himself “pro-life.” Nevertheless, he has been particularly important over the position the Metropolis Council ought to play. He believes in small authorities, and says this ordinance goes in opposition to that precept.

“It’s as big government as they come, in terms of jurisdictional overreach,” Stanley stated.

Steve Austin, a spokesperson for the Sanctuary Metropolis for the Unborn Initiating Committee, stated they’ve had a irritating and disappointing expertise working with Stanley and the council, other than member Don Tipps. Tipps needed the council to help the ordinance.

“We love Mayor Cole Stanley and the rest of the City Council, but they just really let us down,” Austin stated in an emailed assertion to the Tribune.

A lot greater than anticipated

The so-called journey ban, which initially flipped the town the other way up a yr in the past, is now weeks away from being determined by voters. Even after rejecting it, the council has nonetheless mentioned the ordinance. The one distinction is now, they’ve needed to work out the best way to match an 18-page ordinance on an election poll so voters might be knowledgeable.

Metcalf, with the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance, stated it will be higher if the town wasn’t spending time, cash and vitality on the poll proposition. Nevertheless, she does suppose placing it on the poll was the very best the council, and Stanley, might do.

“He was put in a position where he had a difficult choice to make,” Metcalf stated.

Austin, with the sanctuary metropolis committee, stated they don’t perceive why the council rejected it. He prompt a marketing campaign by native and nationwide organizations could have performed a job. Regardless, he says their mission is not to persuade the mayor or the council, however to tell Amarillo voters.

Trying again on the primary yr of his time period, Stanley says it was a lot greater than he anticipated. He’s happy with how their management dealt with the sanctuary metropolis debate, regardless of their inexperience as a council.

“We held long meetings with two sides that couldn’t get along at Jimmy John’s in the same lunch line for five minutes,” Stanley stated. “Yet, they were able to come in here and respect each other.”

As November comes nearer, Stanley is concentrated on being a frontrunner for the town. He declined to share how he’ll vote on the proposition as a resident, in order to not sway the vote come what may.