03/01/2024
This is a really good summary of what our current city council has done for Odessa. Please take just a couple of minutes to read this and then remember these things when you head to the polls! Today is the last day of early voting! Election Day is Tuesday March 5th! Please take a few minutes out of your day and PLEASE go vote!!
All of the Odessa American drama about Mayor Joven and a "false police report" is the dumbest waste of time and resources that I have seen in a very long time.
Mayor Javier Joven should be shot or hung from a tree for asking the police to check on a co-worker who's stalker was parked in front of her house at 6am? This is a, he said she said situation. Coday say's he was not there and the complaintant say's he was.
It is a known fact and there is a paper trail of reports about Matt Coday stocking and intimidating Councilwoman Denise Swanner, Tisha Crow and a few others for more than six months. He and Ronnie Lewis have bullied them, lied about them and made fun of them non stop with little regard for their feelings or that of their children, and families or how it would affect them.
Mayor Joven did not file a police report and he did not lie about anything. He asked that an officer go to the area and assess the situation.
It is not a crime to report suspicious activity which is what he did. Ironically this is in Ronnie Lewis' neighborhood and there is little to no doubt that Matt Coday was in the neighborhood the morning of the report. Joven is guilty of not using his words properly when he mispoke and said in and out of houses instead of in and out of driveways and nothing more.
It is pretty ironic that Coday could not be reached until he had enough time to get to Andrews and create an alibi and he also had his recorder handy and ready to go so that he could record incoming conversations. This was set up to play out as it did. There is no end to what this bunch will do to regain power.
Here is a quote from a letter that Tim Edgmon, one of the wealthy elite, wrote that was printed in the Odessa American a week or so ago.
Edgmon said, "thanks to Donna Kelm for stepping up there will be enough momentum next November to get Joven, Councilmember Denise Swanner and Councilmember Mark Matta off the city council."
"We need to get at least two of those three and we can take over the council and undo everything that they've done."
"Undo everything that they've done?" Let's look again at a few things that they have done.
Current council has been in majority for just over a year and have worked tirelessly on their accomplishments as well as bringing back the National Day of Prayer, which had been suspended by previous leadership. Take a look at the following list which is just a fraction of what they have done.
1. Cut out the frivolous spending and returned your tax dollars to the appropriate places vs the pockets of those who are trying to regain their leadership roles.
2. Gave our first responders raises and stopped the retention, making Odessa safer for you and your family.
3. Deposited the $3 million dollars that was in the city managers office when he was fired. What his intentions were with it we will never know but it was deposited to the City's bank account.
4. Overhauled municipal court and made it more efficient and people friendly for the public it serves.
5. Are bringing a state of the art sports complex to Odessa for the kids to be able to have tournaments here. The previous leadership built the Marriot with your tax dollars while current council is building a fully funded multi-million dollar sports complex with just $900,000 worth of tax dollars. The only reason this money was applied there was because the arts department wanted to use it to build a wedding venue at the water treatment plant. This council felt it wiser spent at the sports complex.
6. Worked for more than six months with a group of individuals including John Bushman to bring a Bass Pro Shop to town, spurring new grown ant are currently in talks with some other big name facilities.
7. Tripled the annual budget for roads.
8. Ordered new trash trucks which will be here and working soon. Previous council did zero maintenence on the trucks causing them to fail completely and unfortunately more than a dozen failed within weeks of each other.
9. Brought new leadership to the parks department. The new department head saved just over $900,000 for tax-payers when he cut some of the pet projects that previous leadership had in place.
10. In the process of getting better insurance for the city's employees.
11. Pulled the plug on nearly $10 million dollars worth of frivolous pet projects, diverting the money back to the city to be re-allocated for roads and the city's basic needs.
12. Restructure all city departments and set them on zero based budgets making them more efficient and cutting wasteful spending.
13. Shut down all game rooms within the city limits. Current leadership is still trying to account for more than $700,000 worth of missing revenue that was paid to the city by the game rooms.
14. Created committees, sought government funding and are addressing the opioid and human trafficking crisis. Previous leadership did nothing.
15. Helped bring an in-house tire and parts shop to the city rather than outsourcing these duties, potentially saving the city millions.
16. Updated outdated policies and canceled frivolous contracts.
17. Established a free diabetes clinic for those in need.
18. Worked with county leadership on healing a fractured relationship with the county and unanimously negotiated an inter local agreement with Ector County on sales tax, clearing the path for future growth. The city and county now work together rather than against one another for the betterment of the people.
19. Eliminated unnecessary internal positions saving the city nearly half a million dollars per year.
20. Appointed responsible board members to Odessa Development Corporation who helped broker the deal with Bass Pro Shop. Previous leadership brokered the deal with Nacero, giving them $2 million dollars worth of tax dollars even though they were not compliant and had not moved any dirt on site. Current leadership told them not to even ask for any money.
21. Separated the co-mingling of funds for better accountability and to prevent fraud, such as the missing $700,000 worth of game room money and the $3 million dollars that was in the city managers office.
22. Allocated one million dollars towards a facility that will assist our community with mental health issues, once again, for the people.
23. Instigated an internal audit of all city departments, still ongoing. They expect to find millions more in misappropriated funds.
24. Participated in successfully orchestrating a deal for Odessa, to host the Special Olympics Texas Fall Classic. Are you seeing a pattern here, "for the people?"
25. Successfully won the FRIVOLOUS lawsuit against the city by the Odessa American who tried and tried but to no avail.
26. Are still working on a deal with Diamondback Recycling Center to benefit citizens wishing to recycle.
I could list page after page of accomplishments. Our current leadership is doing the right thing. They are working for you, the citizens of Odessa. They cut off the money flow to a select wealthy few who have hired Ronnie Lewis and his buddies to raise hell and make so much noise they hope you will become frustrated and unseat current leadership and as Edgmon stated, "undo everything."
Our previous leadership had personal agendas that served themselves and their friends. The city did not fall apart overnight, the roads did not crumble overnight, the trash trucks did not wear out overnight. Previous leadership neglected these things for many years and our current leadership is righting their wrongs as quickly as they can.
Ronnie Lewis did not vote for more than 18 years and came back to life when our current council won their seats. He was hired to make noise and lie. He does not have your best interests at heart.
Just before current council took office hundreds of files and records were deleted, in an effort to hide fraud and wrongdoing. I am currently trying to find where more than $50 million dollars worth of tax dollars that was supposed to go to parks went. I was told all of the records are gone. There are no records of how this money was spent.
Do not let the noise from the other side get so loud you miss this. Ronnie Lewis and his people will lie, cheat and steal to unseat current leadership in an effort to put the wealthy elite back in power.
The noise and ugliness is not coming from both sides. Be still and pay attention and you will only hear the craziness coming from one side and it is where the wealthy elite who lost their money train live.
The Odessa American is a failing paper and unfortunately has nothing to lose. They have embarassed themselves and lost all credibilty in their efforts to unseat current council.
Pat Canty of the Odessa American is one of the elite whose been cut off and Laura Dennis, whose been at the OA for nearly 40 years, has applied for a job with the Midland Reporter telegram. They are nothing more than entertainment at this point and should be seen as such.
Previous leadership bought their loyalty with a multi-million dollar payoff through the purchase of the old site downtown and that is when all truth and fairness within the paper ceased to exist. They were paid millions for their dilapidated building while places like Martha's cafe got $70,000 to vacate.
$50 million dollar Marriotts, $80,000 Christmas trees, $15 million dollar theatre, $9 millon dollar parking garage for a return of $1 per year for 30 years. This is the kind of leadership seaking to regain power. The elite are voting for this so the everyday people need to get out and vote to keep current leadership. This has little to do with county precinct chairs and alot to do with millions of your dollars.
Pick up a Thrifty Nickel, find the full page ad of Ector County Republican Party backed candidates, tear off the bottom stub, take it with you and for the love of Odessa and your tax payer dollars go to the polls and vote for everyone on that list. Do not let them undo the good that has been done.
In an effort to confuse voters the "wealthy elite" copied the format created by the Republican party and listed their candidates in place of the backed candidates. Make sure to vote from the list in the Thrifty Nickel if you want Christian Conservative leadership and accountability with your tax dollars.
