Jesse Christesson, the West Odessa resident who filed a challenge to Sheila Black’s candidacy for the ECUD Board of Directors says his challenge submitted last month has not been satisfactorily addressed and he is taking further action. “I want to help the ECUD customers and taxpayers ensure that we are getting fair and legal representation […]
Posted inLocal
West Odessa Resident Challenges Candidate’s Eligibility For ECUD Position
With Monday, August 22, being the last day to file to run for certain local public offices including two positions on the Ector County Utility District Board of Directors (ECUD) current directors, Will Kappauf and Troy Walker filed to run for to re-election to their unpaid board seats. In addition, another candidate, Sheila Black, also […]
Posted inLocal
Odessa City Council to See Major Changes with Upcoming Election
With the closing of the filing period for Odessa City Council candidates on Monday, candidates for two different districts are guaranteed to replace their outgoing city council incumbents, having entered their races unopposed, leaving only one contested race on the ballot in November. Outgoing District 4 Councilman Tom Sprawls will be succeeded by Greg Connell, […]
Posted inLocal
Newest ECUD Board Members Push for Increased Transparency
Since its formation in 1976 the Ector County Utility District (ECUD) has worked to supply drinking water to West Odessa residents. Originally founded by well-known West Odessa residents in Ocotillo Park like M.O. Boring, ECUD has grown into a system servicing thousands of residents and in 1997 ECUD applied for and became a Municipal Utility […]
Posted inLocal
Ector County Commissioner’s Vote to Allocate $20 Million in ARPA Funds Lacked Transparency?
On Wednesday, Ector County Commissioners entered their last day of a three-day meeting working to craft the annual budget for all elected offices and departments, and it was during this process the commissioners suddenly distributed roughly $20 million in federal aid funds – a move that is being questioned for a lack of transparency and […]
Posted inLocal
Councilman Thompson: “I Was Trying to Shame Them”
Emails and text messages between Odessa City Council-members published on social media appear to reveal a series of instances in which three elected officials where chastised and criticized by District 2 Councilman Steve Thompson for asking questions. The communications, published by the Odessa Accountability Project (OAP) which is a watchdog organization headed by businesswoman Jamie […]
Posted inState
15 Local Texas Pensions Are Less Than 50% Funded, Total $2.9 Billion in Unfunded Liabilities
Over a dozen local public pension funds in Texas have accounted for less than half of what they’ve promised pensioners, according to data from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The 15 pensions have nearly $3 billion in unfunded liabilities — money promised but not currently accounted for in their current budget forecasts. The largest share of […]
Posted inLocal
Grassroots Group Holds First Meeting to Discuss ECISD Reforms ?
Residents from across Ector County came together Tuesday evening for a first-of-its-kind meeting to discuss how best to go about assessing the needs of the Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) with a hopeful goal of presenting their eventual findings to the school board. Two Odessa business owners, Jeff Russell and Jamie Tisdale were inspired […]
Posted inLocal
Tribune panel discusses higher education enrollment in Odessa?
Citing a significant drop statewide in student enrollment in higher education institutions, Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith led off a paneled discussion Thursday at Odessa College sharing how three West Texas education leaders were selected not because their respective institutions reflect the statewide decline, but rather because their institutions are seeing increases in student populations […]
Posted inLocal
Headline’s Opinion: ECISD Has a Golden Opportunity to Rebuild Trust
The ECISD Board of Trustees recently announced the process of filling the District 7 seat vacated by Nelson Minyard with his resignation in January. The process began on a positive note as the Trustees outlined the process to fill the empty seat by publicly announcing the selection process via local news and social media outlets […]