THE BEGINNING…

In March of 1927, the Ector County Commissioners Court approved a petition signed by 43 voters asking that an election be called to incorporate the City of Odessa. The election was held April 5, 1927. There were 79 votes for incorporation, none against. The City of Odessa was officially incorporated April 18, 1927.


An election was held April 30th to elect city officials. S.R. McKinney was elected mayor, Eli J. Jones, city marshal. Aldermen selected were E.V. Graham, John T. Cross, Henry Pegues, W.E. Carter, and R.W. McNeill. The officials were sworn in on May 3, 1927, and the first Council meeting was held May 13, 1927.

In its first year of incorporated existence, Odessa’s City Council passed ordinances to:

• Prescribe fire limits

• Forbid pool halls on the ground floor of structures

• Change the name of Grant Avenue to Main Street and then back to Grant Avenue one month later after citizen complaints deluged council members

• Establish traffic regulations for all vehicles

• Prohibit vehicles from driving across fire hoses

• Provide for a sanitation code, including public health standards, sanitary inspectors and cleaning of premises

• Prohibit animals, fowl and livestock from running loose

• Provide for the licensing of dogs

• Provide for a fire marshal

• Provide for the regulation of jewelry auctions

• Provide regulations for sewer and plumbing maintenance, and a plumbing inspector

While the Council passed many ordinances, those listed above are some of the more interesting ones.

September 18, 1927, the first bond election was held for $157,000 and passed 28-0. The city paid six percent on its first sale of bonds. The last bond election was held in July 1981 for the Police Courts Building in the amount of $6,000,000. It passed by 7,153 votes for and 1,208 against. These were 15-year bonds. The bonds were sold at an average interest rate of 11.4 percent in July 1982.

AND NOW…

Today, Larry Melton serves as the mayor and Richard Morton is the city manager. The City Council members are Bill Cleaver, Dr. James Goates, Royce Bodiford, Brandon Tate, and Berta Calzada.

By December 2001, the City Council passed 48 ordinances. Some of the ordinances passed include:

Establishing mandatory closing hours of 2 a.m. for dance and pool halls
Appointing Larry Melton to the position of mayor after the death of Mayor Bill Hext
Establishing a smoking ordinance for public businesses
Renaming of Colorado Avenue to Billy Hext Road
Providing for the extension of water and waste water services outside the city limits
The last certificates of obligations were issued in April 2001 for two new aquatic facilities in the amount of $2,550,000. These certificates were for 20 years and were sold at an average interest rate of 5.30 percent.