By Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett
To say that the past several years have been tumultuous for the citizens of Ector County and Odessa would surely be an understatement. We’ve had a once in a century pandemic, once in a century freeze, we’ve seen our lifeblood commodities of oil and gas go into the negatives, and we have seen a President step into the White House with an agenda putting crosshairs on our fundamental way of life in the Permian Basin.
I am proud to say that not only are those days behind us (other than the adversarial relationship with our federal government), but some amazing days, months, and years are clearly ahead.
Employment in Ector County Skyrocketing
The pandemic, unfriendly federal policy, supply chain and unimaginable inflation have hit us hard in Ector County. Our unemployment rate skyrocketed to 16% in April of 2020, with our nation and state rates at 13% and 11.8% respectively.
However, as the saying goes, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”
This has never been more evident than the recent report out of the Texas Workforce Commission showing that not only has our unemployment rate dropped to below the state and national average, the Odessa Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is second in terms of Employment growth this past year only behind our neighbors to the east in Midland. Our employment climbed 7% this past year while the next closest behind us was the Dallas-FW-Arlington MSA at 5.7%.
Our community is not only rebounding from these difficult times, but accelerating in an unprecedented positive direction! This is a testament to you, the citizens of Ector County, and your work ethic, family values, and belief in a better future.
Teamwork Among Entities Underway
In addition to these great 2023 economic numbers, this year is going to bring in some tremendous positive changes in terms of cooperation and teamwork between Ector County and many of our community partners.
The first of these is the open dialogue with the City of Odessa and their City Council. We hosted a joint meeting alongside the Odessa Development Corporation in February that saw healthy discussion about some of our interlocal agreements. These agreements are contracts between the two entities outlining the cooperation and funding allocations. While this was just the first of many to come, I hope the citizens of Ector County and the City of Odessa are filled with hope that we will continue these dialogues with a solution-oriented mindset as we tackle our communities most pressing issues.
Additionally, we have been opening up dialogues that have not taken place in many years in the realms of Healthcare, Juvenile Justice, Emergency Management, Education, Broadband Access, and many more.
I have tasked the department heads and elected officials within Ector County to devise 5-year strategic plans for their offices. My intent is to create a county-wide strategic plan to then sync with our partner entities in our community so that we work in lock-step with one another.
The citizens of our community expect this type of cooperation and strategic planning and I am confident they will see it take place. We have some tremendous leaders in our community with positive visions for their respective entities. Additionally, I have full confidence in our Commissioners in Ector County and their respective visions for our community. Our goal is to unify and work as a team on behalf of all citizens in our great county to make our community the best place in this great state to live, work, and raise a family.
I ask that you, the citizens of Ector County, continue to participate in the public dialogue. We, as community leaders, are only as good as the feedback we receive from our great citizens. Criticism is always welcome, but I encourage you to focus your time and efforts on solutions- not problems. A solution-oriented approach to civic issues is how we take our community to the level we all desire!
God Bless Ector County!
Dustin Fawcett is county judge of Ector County.
