Odessa’s deputy parks and recreation director, who was suspended for five days without pay for urinating in public during a February conference in Frisco, has been fired for allegedly not following the city’s policies regarding contracts.
According to records obtained by the Odessa American under the Texas Public of Information Act, Matthew Christman was fired July 28.
The record states the Odessa Family YMCA sent an invoice to the city for $257,700 on June 1 for an amended contract and Christman asked his boss, Max Reyes, for approval to submit the invoice for payment.
The records allege that on June 27, Christman approved the payment authorization without gaining Reyes’ approval or verifying the legitimacy of the billed amounts. On July 25, the city’s legal department discovered the amended contract had not been executed and Christman had ordered an unauthorized payment to the YMCA, the report stated.
“Given his knowledge and prior demonstration of public sector financial requirements, Mr. Christman’s failure to verify the legitimacy of a significant expenditure prior to authorizing its issue equates to a degree of misconduct that is willful and unlikely to be corrected through disciplinary measures,” the report stated.
Under the portion marked “Employee’s comments” the word “Refused” is written.
According to internal emails obtained by the OA back in March, then Parks and Recreation Director Steve Patton, Christman, Recreation Superintendent Edward Moreno, Parks Superintendent Randall Anderson and Special Events Coordinator Meagan Hinson went to the Texas Recreation and Park Society Institute and Expo, which was held in Frisco Feb. 28-March 3.
Shortly after they returned, Patton launched an investigation into Christman’s behavior at the event.
Hinson and Anderson claimed that after a work-related dinner March 1, they and Christman walked back to their hotel, but along the way Christman stepped off the trial and stopped to urinate on a tree after having had too much to drink.
According to an email, Christman initially told a Human Resources staff member and Patton he didn’t remember much of the conversation on the walk to the hotel. However, he did admit to urinating by a tree when asked if he had done so and “he did not think anything about it at the time.”
Christman said he made sure he was out of view behind a tree, but acknowledged that in addition to Hinson and Anderson, another couple was walking nearby.
According to the report, Patton also expressed his doubts that Christman attended many of the conference sessions.
Patton recommended Christman be given a five-day suspension for “disregarding public trust” as defined by city rules and that punishment was, indeed, imposed. However, Patton was himself handed a five-day suspension notice for “allowing” Christman to drink at a work-related dinner and be over-served.
One week later, Patton, who had been with the city for more than 32 years, retired unexpectedly. At the time, he declined to discuss rumors swirling about a personnel issue leading to his retirement.
“They have a future ahead of them. When you put something in the newspaper it stays forever, it ruins their career,” Patton said.
Patton said he was retiring because he wanted to. He said he hadn’t had a vacation in years and it was time for him to to spend time with family.
“I just thought the timing was good for me to retire. We’ve got things happening, we’ve got good staff in place,” Patton said.
Human Resource Director Charles Hurst and Interim City Manager Agapito Bernal wrote Patton a letter announcing the suspension.
“It is clear that you and your staff believed the dinner to be a work-related event. Your role in allowing Mr. Christman to consume alcohol and to be over-served cannot be overlooked. I expect directors to give clear instructions to their staff members and to provide behavioral correction as needed while those employees are serving in an official capacity. You failed to perform either of those duties. In order to reinforce your accountability for this episode of misconduct, I am suspending you for five days without pay. Please coordinate your absence with Mr. Christman’s,” the memo stated.
The memo also noted that if a third party had seen Christman urinating, “a different recommendation would have been in order.”
The OA didn’t learn of the public urination allegations and suspensions until several days after Patton’s retirement.
Christman started with the city in April 2022. He spent five years as a recreation coordinator in Marana, Arizona, and two years as a recreation superintendent in Columbia, South Carolina.
