Houston mayor addresses banquet

Even though he’s a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison, Houston Mayor Bill White largely stayed away from politics in his address Thursday evening to the Odessa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet.

White told the gathering of the importance Hispanics will have in the country’s future.

“Our nation was infused with a new spirit of vitality because of our Hispanic community,” he said. “You’re part of the history of this country, which will lead to better days to come.”

White addressed the Hispanic chamber’s efforts in getting high school dropouts back in class.

“When you bring back one student who stays the course the rest of their life, their entire lifetime of earnings are double, and for those who graduate from a four-year college, the numbers double again,” he said. “I applaud the chamber for putting its money where its mouth is.”

The speech drew a standing ovation from the audience of more than 300, including Republicans like State Rep. Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa.

Before the speech, White, who had a fund-raiser in the area earlier in the day, discussed his campaign for Senate. He said Houston has added more jobs since he became mayor in 2004 than 16 states combined, while cutting property taxes and producing budget surpluses.

“These are skills we need in DC now,” he said. “I just want to work to do what is right for Texas and not for one wing of one party.”

White said his experience meets the needs of the Permian Basin. He will stress the importance of natural-gas production, energy efficiency and finding petroleum domestically.

“I’ll be the only person in the U.S. Senate to have built an energy company,” said White, who founded oil and gas developer Frontera Resources and is a former deputy energy secretary. “Energy is important for our state and important for our growth.”

White, who was twice re-elected with 90 and 86 percent of the vote, will likely face several other candidates in a special election early next year. Among those planning to run are Republican Texas Railroad Commissioners Michael Williams and Elizabeth Ames Jones, Democrat John Sharp and Republican Florence Shapiro.

Though a Democrat hasn’t won statewide office since 1994, White said it’s time for a new chapter.

“We’ve built a statewide organization and have broad-based support,” he said. “The race is starting well. People are hearing what we’ve done in Houston.”

Manny Puga, Hispanic chamber chief executive officer, said there is a simple reason people like White and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who addressed the chamber two years ago while running for President, stop to speak at its banquet.

“Everybody wants the Hispanic vote nowadays,” he said. “You know how that is.”

Puga said the Hispanic chamber has continued to grow its membership in the past year, increasing by 40 percent, which is on top of a 100-percent membership increase in 2008.

“We’re doing very well,” he said.

Odessa businessman Raymond Chavez, a supporter of both the Hispanic chamber and Odessa Chamber of Commerce, said it’s important for the Hispanic chamber to continue its mission of developing a skilled workforce.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Hispanic, black, white — we’ve just got to move,” he said.

The Hispanic chamber also took time for what it plans to be the first in a tradition of honoring former mayors, this time paying tribute to Jim Reese, who was Odessa mayor from 1968 to 1974.

“I want to congratulate what all of you do, and the contribution you are making to get more people involved here in Odessa,” Reese said.