Odessa City Council will reconsider firing city manager, attorney

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An Ector County district decide rescinded a restraining order he issued earlier this week in opposition to the city of Odessa, permitting the City Council to as soon as once more take into account terminating its prime two staff who have been first fired in December.

The ruling got here down two weeks after Gaven Norris, an area attorney, filed a lawsuit in opposition to the city, alleging that Mayor Javier Joven violated his rights throughout a December council assembly. During the assembly, the mayor refused to offer Norris and different neighborhood members an opportunity to talk earlier than the council ousted the 2 staff, City Manager Michael Marrero and City Attorney Natasha Brooks.

The decide first dominated {that a} short-term injunction was wanted as a result of “immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage” can be accomplished earlier than court docket proceedings may happen. In a reversal on Wednesday, he rescinded that order and canceled a Jan. 10 listening to to determine whether or not the injunction must be prolonged.

According to the agenda for a council assembly Jan. 9, the City Council plans to once more take into account firing Brooks and Marrero. Also included on the agenda is a chance for members of the general public to deal with the council earlier than it takes a vote.

“There aren’t very many cases that are black and white because the law isn’t black and white, but this one is as close to black and white as you can get,” Norris stated previous to the decide’s reversal.

Odessa city spokesperson Victor Wade didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark in regards to the city’s response to the lawsuit or the decide’s order. In a December statement following the City Council assembly, Joven defended the council’s actions with out explaining why the 2 staff had been terminated.

According to City Council member Steven Thompson, considered one of two members who voted in opposition to the terminations, the 2 interim staff the City Council employed to exchange Marrero and Brooks didn’t report back to work on Wednesday, the day after the court docket’s ruling.

Neither of the 2 terminated staff may instantly be reached for remark.

Norris stated that if the city didn’t comply with the court docket’s order to reinstate the 2 staff, he would file a movement to carry the city in contempt of court docket.

The council’s resolution to terminate the 2 staff final month was met with criticism from Odessa residents who stated celebration politics had gotten in the best way of fine authorities.

City council positions are sometimes nonpartisan, however lately, celebration politics have seeped into down-ballot races, together with for city council and college board positions. In Odessa, the mayor and 4 of the City Council members have been backed by the Ector County Republican Party.

“Party affiliation never used to be a consideration as long as you had the interests of the city of heart,” stated Gene Collins, president of the Odessa department of the NAACP. “The city is in total disarray right now.”

Norris stated this lawsuit is the primary of a number of he intends to file in opposition to the city of Odessa primarily based on actions taken by Joven and his voting bloc. He stated he intends to file two or three extra lawsuits inside the subsequent a number of weeks. He didn’t specify these causes of motion.

During a council work session this week, members mentioned a funds modification that will acceptable funds to a consulting firm that will assist the city recruit a brand new city supervisor and help with the transition in management.

During a heated dialogue, Thompson, the council member who voted in opposition to firing the city staff, accused the mayor of signing an “illegal contract” for the marketing consultant with out participating in a proper bidding course of. Joven defended himself, saying that no cash had been exchanged but.

And Thompson stated Joven was making an attempt to alter the council’s type of authorities from a weak-mayor system, by which the city is basically run by the city supervisor, to a strong-mayor system.

“He’s got the votes on the council, but I don’t think the public will go for that,” Thompson stated. “We’ve got a serious issue.”