Commissioner celebrates retirement

Although Odessa is the first city in West Texas to be named a Go Texan Certified Retirement Community, the state's agriculture commissioner hopes it won't be the last.

"We have many, many more communities that have expressed interest," Todd Staples said Thursday at the Odessa Chamber of Commerce.

Staples stressed the importance of communities working together and sharing resources like healthcare as they have in East Texas, where 13 of the state's 19 certified communities are located.

"We're all competitive," Staples said. "But I think it's like golf courses. One golf course does OK. Several golf courses do even better."

A group of 72 volunteers spent 13 months putting together a four-inch thick notebook to the Texas Department of Agriculture. The application was made in April and approved July 7.

With retirees spending an average of $36,000 a year in their new communities and paying more than $3,000 in state and local taxes, luring them can be important. Staples said Texas now ranks second in the United States as a retirement destination.

"We passed up California and Arizona and look out Florida," he said.

The designation gives the Odessa Chamber of Commerce placing on the agriculture department's retirement website, which is expected to lead prospective retirees to information about the city.

Odessa Mayor Larry Melton praised Jim Rector, who chaired the committee responsible for promoting the retirement designation, as well as other volunteers.

"It is the volunteer segment of Odessa that separates us from other communities, and this is a sterling example of that fact," he said.