Council fills the AEDC board seat vacated by Alex Fairly; first nomination fails 2-0 with three abstentions
Alex Fairly resigned as AEDC board chair on July 15, 2025. At a special meeting, Mayor Cole Stanley nominated a bank executive, seconded by Tim Reid. That motion failed 2-0, with Don Tipps, David Prescott and Les Simpson abstaining. The council then appointed Brian Bruckner, a former AEDC board member, 5-0.[1][2][3][4]
Mayor Stanley moved and Tim Reid seconded a nomination for the vacancy. It 'failed with a 2:0 vote', with Stanley and Reid voting aye and Don Tipps, David Prescott and Les Simpson abstaining. Simpson then moved, and Tipps seconded, to appoint Brian Bruckner, which passed 5-0.[1]
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Alex Fairly resigned as AEDC board chairman on July 15, 2025. ABC 7 reported that Stanley and Reid had nominated a bank executive, and that Simpson, Tipps and Prescott nominated Bruckner, president of Bruckner's Truck Sales and a former AEDC board member. NewsChannel 10 reported that Bruckner had served six years on the board, including two executive-director searches.[2][4][3]
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ABC 7 Amarillo (reporting): ABC 7 reported that Fairly, whom Stanley had nominated, was 'Stanley's largest campaign donor.' No fetched source states why Fairly resigned or why three council members abstained on the first nomination.[2]
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Mayor Cole Stanley's campaign finance reports list contributions from "Alex Fairly (Deal-On)" of $50,000 (30-day pre-election report, period ending March 24, 2025) and $100,000 dated April 12, 2025 (8-day pre-election report, as amended), $150,000 in all. Those two reports list $187,452 in total contributions, and no other contribution in them exceeds $10,000. His January 2025 and July 2025 reports list $52,750 and $18,950 in total contributions. On April 22, 2025 Stanley moved Fairly's appointment to the AEDC board.
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