Mitchell hoping to win a District 1 Council seat

Aug. 16 — Eddie Mitchell, owner of Ed and Tom’s Bar-B-Que, has filed for the District 1 seat on the City Council, saying he hopes to help make changes in what he calls the city’s southern gateway.

Mitchell said he’s loud and passionate and loves Odessa — especially the south side of the city. He says the district needs a lot of changes, including a makeover.

“We need to change the gateway,” Mitchell said. “If you’re going to improve downtown, you have to make our presentation much better, which is the south side.”

Mitchell said he is for all of Odessa, but if elected, he will represent the south side of Odessa better than incumbent Mark Matta. “I haven’t seen Mark Matta here since he was elected,” Mitchell said.

In 2020, Mitchell ran against Matta, Michael Shelton and Tiki Davis. Shelton and Matta went to a round and Matta won. In city races, winners must get 50% of the vote plus one.

Mitchell is happy for a second shot at the seat and bemoans what he called Matta’s lackluster representation.

Matta is in his first term and replaced incumbent Shelton, who was appointed by the City Council after former Councilman Malcolm Hamilton abruptly resigned in early 2019.

Mitchell has lived in District 1 for about 30 years and said the area has a number of issues, including infrastructure. He said recent water outages in Odessa due to faulty pipes and valves should have been dealt with long ago. He said previous councils share some of that blame, but added that the current council, including Matta, are too concerned with other issues and are ignoring the city’s roads and water issues. Mitchell found the lack of action on water shameful after Odessans were without water for several days in 2022 and again this year after a water main/valve failure.

Matta and other members of the current council have only recently taken action on water issues because there are elections and most are running for their seats, he said. Early voting begins in October. Election day is November 5.

Mayor Javier Joven is challenged by Odessa lawyer Cal Hendrick. General Counsel Denise Swanner is being challenged by Craig Stoker, executive director of Meals on Wheels in Odessa.

District 2 Councilman Steve Thompson is so far the only candidate in his district. Prospective candidates have until August 19 to apply.

Mitchell said the occupiers are challenged because everyday people in Odessa are fed up with ignored issues like water and roads and trash pickup.

He said that garbage collection problems related to the lack of trucks caused Odesan unnecessary inconvenience. Current officials have blamed months of erratic garbage service in some areas on parts not being available for faulty trucks and new trucks not being ordered in time to replace the ones going out of service. Mitchell doesn’t accept that explanation and said too many times over the past four years, this board has blamed previous administrations for poor results.

He pointed to recent news that the city’s bond ratings were pulled by Moody’s and Standard & Poors because both companies cited “insufficient or inadequate information” to support the city’s previous A+ rating.

Mitchell joined candidates Hendrick and Stoker in expressing alarm after the ratings were pulled because the city of Odessa had not completed its 2022 and 2023 audits. “I don’t care what they (Matta) say … it’s big thing to lose that credit rating,” he said.

He said the loss of staff through resignations, retirements and layoffs likely led to many of these problems.

He has a number of supporters who agree with him about Matta’s lack of attention to the South Side, Mitchell said.

He also expressed his disgust at Matta’s recent press release and video in which the incumbent apologized to his wife and Odessans for what he called “inappropriate behavior.” In the show and video, Matta confessed to texting a woman who was not his wife.

Matta’s statement, in part, reads:

“I am here today to sincerely apologize and take full responsibility for the inappropriate text messages I sent to a woman other than my wife.

First of all I apologize to my wife as I have let you down. I also apologize to my family, constituents, colleagues and community for the pain and disappointment I have caused.

My actions were a gross lack of judgment and I take full responsibility. I understand the impact it has had on those who trusted me and supported me, and I humbly ask for your forgiveness.”

Mitchell said he didn’t mind Matta having his wife by his side in the video. “I don’t like that… and I don’t like that he did that.”

He is aware of speculation that the woman Matta was texting was the wife of a city employee. Asked if Matta should have resigned if that had been the case, Mitchell said Matta should have resigned and should not seek re-election.

Mitchell said this and many other things over the past four years have been distractions from the work that needs to be done in Odessa.

He says city council seats are nonpartisan and it shouldn’t matter who is Democrat or Republican. “It’s what we can do to make Odessa better as a team,” he added.

Odessa is falling into a hole because of poor leadership, and he wants to change that, Mitchell said. He cites the recent lawsuits and also that the city lost its credit rating as two factors that prompted him to run again.

“They were elected four years ago, but what have they done?” he asked.

“I haven’t seen Mark Matta in the south side since he took office. This is your district. The south side is your district and we have problems…you have to care about all of Odessa when you’re on the council, but sure you have to care about your own district and I don’t see that.”

He says the “gateway” has not been maintained and is not as welcoming as it should be to travelers along Interstate 20. “Most cities attract people and we just don’t,” he said . “The south side should bring people who travel and give them a chance to get a hotel room and have a good meal… it’s not welcoming and it’s a shame… if they don’t stop in Odessa, no Don’t get any of those tax dollars…just look at what Midland has done. Attracts visitors.

He blames the current council for a lack of action, including scrapping many plans to beautify downtown. “As a business owner on the south side, I have a problem with that,” he said.

He is also unhappy that the city disbanded the Odessa Town Center, which reformed as a local nonprofit.

And he criticizes the city spending money on out-of-town consultants to put on annual events like the Firecracker Fandango and the Holiday Parade “with people who don’t even live here.”

“Why?” he asked. “Why spend that money on those people in Dallas or San Antonio instead of here?”

He said he didn’t attend this year’s Fandango and said others didn’t attend as well because of changes made by those running the event.

Mitchell was born in Odessa but grew up in Midland. He returned to Odessa and raised his two children here with his wife, Tometra. They will be grandparents in September.

Mitchell also traveled the country as a driver for All Aboard America! tour and charter buses before starting at Champion Chemicals, where he worked for about seven years as a frac supervisor. He later drove school buses for a year while opening his restaurant in 2016. Being a business owner and someone who still prepares in the kitchen and serves food, he meets a lot of people, learns about them. He said he also learned how to budget.

He said he is a member of Mackey Chapel Church in Odessa. Mitchell’s BBQ is located at 317 E. Murphy St.

Mitchell will hold a campaign launch event from 6-8pm on August 22nd at the Odessa Marriott.

More on the 2024 election:

— October 7 is the last day to register to vote.

— Early voting begins on October 21 and ends on November 1.

— November 5 is election day.