ODC shakeup not necessary

Recent discord over who should serve on the Odessa Development Corp. board has created a lot of talk, but the substance of the situation is what matters.

The newest member of the Odessa City Council, Benjamin Velasquez, wanted to name Art Leal to the board, but was denied the appointment by a 3-2 vote.

Leal initially took the defeat personally, and suggested that Mayor Larry Melton cast the tie-breaking vote against his appointment because Leal had run against the mayor in the last election. He backed off that contention somewhat the next day.

Leal also is on record as saying that there should be more Hispanic representation on local government boards and agencies. And you can't really argue against that point given the percentage of Hispanic residents vs. the number of Hispanics serving in positions of influence.

But the ODC issue at hand shouldn't be about personalities, politics or race.

The fact of the matter is that the position Leal coveted belongs to a current ODC board member, Jim Breaux. And Breaux, for the record, was appointed to an unexpired term by Councilman Mike Sanchez. Sanchez died in March and Velasquez took over Sanchez' unexpired term. 

Breaux, a longtime business owner, has diligently served for the past year. There was no reason that he should be removed in favor of Leal, other than Velasquez says he wants his own appointee because "I want to have somebody there I like and feel comfortable with."

Well, that's an argument that could be advanced by just about any United States president who would like to be surrounded by Supreme Court justices that share his political leanings. But it doesn't work that way. Presidents have to wait for vacancies before they get to make appointments to the high court.

If Velasquez serves on the council long enough, he'll get to make his share of appointments to various boards and agencies that fill important duties in key areas.

In fact, if Leal shows the proper patience, he very well could end up on the ODC board or perhaps serving in another vital capacity. But he's not making the best case by playing political angles.

Leal also complains that there is not enough "churn" on the ODC board. But the agency, which is in charge of making decisions, sometimes involving high finance, involving economic development, begs for people with longtime business experience. And Breaux, who is the least tenured of all the ODC board members, definitely fits that qualification.

There's no reason to change the makeup of the ODC board until a current member's term expires or somebody chooses to resign.