OUR VIEW: Richard Morton deserves thanks from Odessa

Yahoo

5 days ago

May 27—To say things were not good when Richard Morton stepped into former Odessa City Manager John Beckmeyer's shoes on Dec. 2 is a massive understatement.
Deputy City Manager Agapito Bernal was being investigated by an outside law firm, Equipment Service Director Chris Adams had just been fired after questions arose about his spending habits and Parks and Recreation Director Max Reyes was on paid leave after being charged with official oppression and indecent assault.
Cyber attackers had just struck, impacting the ability of every city department to function.
Morale amongst city employees was in the crapper. Hundreds of years of institutional knowledge had walked out the door in the last two years thanks to an unemployed mayor who spent his days micromanaging at City Hall and berating staff at city council meetings.
And then we had the issues Odessans care most about — trash, water lines and the wastewater treatment plant. Oh, and let's not forget the city had yet to figure out how to pay for the new sports complex without having bond ratings.
Richard Morton was the right guy for the job of interim city manager at the right time.
Not only did he have a reputation for being able to right flailing ships. He was intimately familiar with Odessa having worked for the city for 19 years, including 15 years as city manager.
Now nearly six months later, Morton is saying goodbye and David Vela, Sweetwater's former city manager, is stepping in.
Bernal, Adams and Reyes are long gone. We have enough trash trucks to resume twice-a-week service once more drivers are hired, we've recovered from the cyberattack, water lines are being repaired and replaced and designs are being drawn for the Bob Derrington Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Morton, the city council and their financial advisors have also figured out a way to pay for the new $130 million sports complex, too.
During a recent interview Morton said he is happy with where the city is now, but declined to take any credit for it.
"Anything I've done council deserves credit for ... I mean, take the mayor's first 100 Days and add a few things to it, and we're there. So like I said, it's, really, council should get credit for any positive changes," Morton said.
Pushed a little bit harder, Morton conceded he did have some impact on City Hall.
"I think with my entrance and being a known factor, I believe I had a calming impact on the organization and I think that was good. The culture and the organization was not the best," Morton said. "I think there was a lot of individuals looking out for themselves rather than being part of the team and that's a culture change that I can't change overnight, but I think we're started in the right direction."
Morton said during his time with the city he has stressed over and over again they are in the customer service business.
"We exist to serve the citizens and the businesses in town and while the customer is not always right, they're always important and they need to be treated as such," Morton said. "Does that mean we're going to be perfect? No, we're still going to make mistakes and when we make mistakes, we get them corrected and we own up to them."
Re-read that last sentence.
"We own up to them."
When was the last time you heard those words from anyone at City Hall?
Yes, Mr. Morton. You will most definitely be missed.
Still, while Morton's modesty is a breath of fresh air, we think his contributions to the city's well-being go far, far beyond being a nice, professional guy.
For Pete's sake, we've all been under the impression Odessa has been in the middle of a five-alarm fire for the past couple of years with no money in the kitty for water line breaks and with the Derrington Plant ready to fail at any moment.
Morton found a whopping $500 million laying around!
He found enough money to back fill positions the old council had gutted, $90 million for the sports complex, money to build a new north side water tower, a little extra money to put toward the $2 billion we need in new water and sewer pipes and at least $16 million for the Derrington Plant.
While not nearly enough to meet all of the city's needs, we think you'd agree, it certainly isn't some small sum.
Asked how on earth this money could have gone unnoticed, Morton said, "I just don't think the right questions were asked."
Gee, do you think the fact most of the city's financial department fled during former Mayor Javier Joven's regime had anything to do with that?
During our interview with Morton, we also learned some bad news. Bad news we think can also directly be linked to Joven's regime and the exodus of the finance department.
Remember the raises council members Denise Swanner, Mark Matta and Joven insisted on giving to first responders using ARPA money? The raises the smart people in the room wondered about sustaining once the COVID money went away?
Well, Morton said that in order to sustain those raises and to help out other city employees, the city council will be asked to adopt the max tax rate this year, which will probably mean a two cent tax increase.
He'll also be asking for a solid waste increase, but said water rates will likely remain the same.
The loss of the ARPA funds, Morton said, created a $5 million hole in the budget.
None of that is great news, but doesn't it make you wonder what sort of shape we'd be in by 2028 had Joven, Swanner, Matta been re-elected? Especially since we're pretty sure Beckmeyer, who had zero municipal management experience, would still be in place.
So to get back to the point, we're thrilled we've had Morton over the last six months. He found the $500 million and under his watch, the 2023 and 2024 audits are finally getting closer to completion. He predicts the '23 audit will go to the council June 10 and the '24 audit will be completed sometime before November.
He's also been thinking about Odessa and it's well-being long after he hits the road.
For example, he's going to suggest the city council ask voters to make changes to the Odessa Development Corporation — changes that would allow the city more access to their share of sales tax revenue.
He's already spent some time with Vela getting him up to speed and Assistant City Manager Aaron Smith will be able to help him out, too, as he's been involved in most of the major projects, too, Morton said.
"Ultimately, the city manager's job is to develop the budget with his team, the finance people and the department heads and then present that budget to the council," Morton said. "It's the council's responsibility to change or alter that in any way that they think as a group. David is very aware of that and I think his management style is very similar to mine and he's been very successful where he's been."
Fingers crossed.