ODC central issue of council race

As one former city councilman who served during the creation of the Odessa Development Corp. seeks a return to office, others who served with Javier Joven are speaking out.

Joven, who served as District 5 councilman when ODC was created in 1997, is running against District 4 incumbent Dean Combs in Saturday’s election.

At the time, Joven said he was uncomfortable with ODC’s board contracting with the Odessa Chamber of Commerce for economic development, which it voted to do in July 1998. Instead, he said the council needed to give a specific direction to the board until it reached the point it could make decisions on its own. He favored ODC contracting with an executive director that worked directly for it.

But now, Joven said ODC has made the decision to use the chamber, and that is the board’s choice. ODC approved an agreement to have economic development duties administered by the chamber, with council later approving the contract.

“The ODC is an autonomous board, and they contract economic development to be done by the greater chamber,” Joven said. “I live with it. I don’t have a problem with it. It’s existed since the inception.”

Kirk Edwards, who was a District 2 city councilman when the ODC was created, said ODC contracted with the Chamber of Commerce because the chamber had already been doing economic development with the city for 20 years.

“They had a great track record of success of taking on projects and doing them successfully,” said Edwards, president of MacLondon Royalty Co. and now chairman of the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Since the ODC’s inception, Edwards said Odessa’s economic development board has had been more successful than any community in the state, with the exception of Amarillo, as far as “bang for the buck” — results for what’s been spent. Edwards said Amarillo has only exceeded Odessa because it lured a Bell Helicopter Textron plant there, and Odessa may exceed Amarillo if the planned $1.73 billion coal gasification plant is successfully built by Summit in Penwell.

“It’s a shame that people running for office would try to politicize it when it’s worked so well, and that people try to make a name for themselves trying to bring down something that’s worked so well,” Edwards said of the ODC.

Since 1997, the ODC has helped create more than $685 million in capital investment and 2,500 jobs, while awarding more than $20 million in capital investment.

“I can’t be prouder of how we started it and how it’s done since,” Edwards said.

Mike Atkins, who served as Odessa mayor when the ODC was created, agreed that the chamber was the group best prepared to work with the ODC. He looks back at the decision as a positive.

“It would appear that ODC has had quite a bit of success, so it appears to be working,” he said.

Joven said he has supported the ODC and has since he voted for the creation of the entity, which is funded by a quarter-cent sales tax. He said he has no problem with ODC contracting with the Odessa Chamber, which ODC pays $661,120 for economic development this fiscal year, or the Odessa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which receives $110,524.

“Whether it be the chamber, the Hispanic chamber, the more people who are involved, the stronger it will make the city of Odessa,” he said.

While Joven said he supported the creation of ODC, he did vote against its first budget in 1998, which included the contract with the chamber, saying at the time he needed more information to make a qualified decision.

“How many people do I have to tell in the community: I’m not out to get the chamber, and I’m not out to fire anybody,” Joven said this week.

Still, Joven said he questions the numbers and would like to see how many potential jobs could have been lost as a result of some companies getting economic incentives while others were left out.

“It has been a benefit,” he said. “It’s obvious you’ve seen the benefits. But I think where we differ is the amount it’s benefited Ector County and the city of Odessa.”

Joven said he did not know of specific companies that have moved or left town because of competition from ODC-supported companies, but said it should be researched more.

“I’d like to see the data, how many jobs have been lost and left during the time since the quarter-cent sales tax was implemented by the voters,” he said.

But Combs said that the numbers speak for themselves.

“Did Family Dollar take jobs away from someone else here in the city?” Combs asked, referring to the Texas distribution center that ODC awarded $3.6 million in economic incentives in 2002. As of January, the Family Dollar facility employed 353 people.

While it’s the ODC board’s job to go over contracts, Joven said it’s important for council members to request the information before approving it. While he said he would work to find “middle ground,” Joven said companies would have to learn to deal with the tough economic times just as consumers do.

Combs said council currently does work off the recommendations of the ODC and its compliance committee.

“They’re the ones that are looking at the nuts and bolts of these things,” he said. “We may hear the recommendation, but we can probe into the deal as we desire.”

Raymond Chavez, chairman of the ODC compliance committee, said his group reviews potential projects for up to six months to make sure they comply with laws before making a recommendation to the ODC board. He said the City Council’s role is usually limited in reviewing projects because the compliance committee has already done most of the work.

“They’re not really going to take the time to analyze every detail,” he said of council members. “We have to analyze every detail before we approve the project.”

Chavez said the process has been working well.

“Right now, we’re doing great,” he said. “I have no complaints whatsoever of how the City Council does. We review the project as thoroughly as we can, as many times as we need to before recommending them to the ODC board.”

Ultimately, ODC is there to create jobs, Chavez said.

“That’s what ODC is all about,” he said. “It’s not about bringing a company to Odessa, it’s about bringing a company to Odessa that will hire employees.”

POLLING LOCATIONS
Here is a list of polling locations for the Odessa City Council and Ector County Independent School District trustee election on May 8. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Pct. Voting location Address
106 Sherwood Community Center East 49th & Everglade
110* Jordan Elementary 9400 Rainbow Drive
204 Burnet Elementary 3511 Maple
205,208 Life Challenge Church 4500 N. Grandview
301,311* Pease Elementary 1800 W. 22nd
302, 303 Bowie Junior High 500 W. 21st St.
304 A&B Austin Elementary 901 N. Lee
306, 307A&B Hood Junior High 600 E. 38th
309 & 312 Bonham Junior High 2201 E. 21st
401 & 412A&B Lamar Elementary 501 Lettie Lee Ave.
402, 403, 405 Salinas Community Building 600 W. Clements
404B Pleasant Farms Community Center 4455 W. Apple
406 Cameron Elementary 2400 W 8th St.

* Part of these precincts are inside the city limits and part of these precincts are outside the city limits. Only those living inside the city limits will be able to vote.