By James Dodson
A significant amount of my career with the Odessa Police Department not only involved overseeing the enforcement of criminal activity in the City of Odessa, but also the care and supervision of employees and equipment entrusted to me as a police commander by my superiors and our citizens. I know what sound supervision, management and leadership looks like and can readily identify unethical and incompetent supervision, management and leadership.
The following two incidents and their dispositions are concerning to me and should be to all citizens, in as much as they demonstrate why I am conflicted with current city management. I believe the dispositions of the following documented incidents clearly show what happens when unqualified and partisan co-conspirators join together to maintain their grip on power and fail to do the fair and right thing.
1. Personnel incident involving City Council member Mark Matta.
John Beckmeyer was hired by a 5-2 vote of the Odessa City Council to fulfill Mayor Joven, Council members Matta and Swanner campaign promise to change the organizational culture of the City of Odessa by ensuring high ethical standards of conduct, accountability, transparency and to dissolve the “good ole boy” system. The following personnel incidents will demonstrate just how successful their implementation of these desired high values has met their promise to change the organizational culture.
On July 5, 2024, Odessa City Councilmember Mark Matta, issued a public apology to the citizens of Odessa and his family for “inappropriate text messages” that he exchanged with a married woman who was not his wife. He also publicly apologized to the affected husband.
He stated that he was a Christian and asked for forgiveness. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I too forgave Councilmember Matta. It took much courage to make that public admission with his wife standing by his side. I pray that he and his family are able to restore their relationship.
While Councilmember Matta is forgiven, forgiveness does not exempt one from consequences. What Council member Matta purposely failed to disclose, was that the married woman that he was exchanging the “inappropriate text messages” with was the wife of a City of Odessa employee. A subordinate to his position in the organizational structure of the City of Odessa.
This conduct within itself is enough to render him totally unfit to serve in the capacity of an Odessa City Council member and he should have resigned.
Matta has now compromised himself and placed the City of Odessa in a tremendous position of the potential for legal liability. His actions had the potential to cause a conflict of interest, as well as great turmoil, disruption and even violence in the workplace. I can only imagine how uncomfortable this sensitive situation had to be for the supervisors responsible for dealing with this unfortunate situation and how it had to have a negative effect on the workplace.
The first time that the truth of this matter was revealed to the citizens of Odessa, was not by our city officials, but by Odessa business owner, former Odessa Development Corporation (ODC) vice president and Odessa Headlines publisher, Jeff Russell.
I want to state that I don’t know Jeff Russell, nor have I ever met him. I only know of him by his political reputation, presence and activity in the community and most of the time I have found myself in total disagreement with him. With that said, I have not been a supporter of his.
I know that some may call into question his truthfulness and intent/motive in the information that he posted. However, I have a strong tendency to lean towards the belief of what he alleges is in fact true. Not true because I want it to be true, but I believe, with some investigative follow-up, that much of what he alleges could be corroborated. His intent and motive is very clear. At one time, he was a very important and trusted member of the Beckmeyer inner circle which includes Joven, Matta and Swanner and others. For whatever reasons, he is now an outsider and may feel that he was done wrong and may feel compelled to disclose some of the group’s talk and or trade secrets.
On August 28, 2024, he posted on” Odessa Headlines” and purchased a two page ad in the Thrifty Nickel titled, “City Manager ‘s Political Power Play.”
Russell related that after the very heated 2024 Republican Primary election, he was invited by Teresa Beckmeyer to two private meetings at the Beckmeyer home. According to Russell, during the first meeting, those attending included John Beckmeyer, Teresa Beckmeyer and Bubba Saulsbury (via Zoom). The purpose was to discuss the Odessa City Council and mayoral races where everyone was briefed on a campaign strategy that was crafted by controversial political consultant, Matt Armstrong. The focus of the meeting was to re-elect Joven, Matta and Swanner. Another point of discussion according to Russell, was the situation that Council member Matta was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a City of Odessa employee’s wife. Russell stated the Beckmeyers felt that Matta should either go public about the situation or resign.
Jeff Russell related that he felt much of the motivation for the meeting was to re-elect the incumbents Joven, Council Matta and Swanner in order to protect John Beckmeyer’s job as city manager. Jeff Russell also related that the information Beckmeyer discussed appeared to have come from the affected employee’s department head because it was serious, and the employee was very upset.
I believe that John Beckmeyer’s conduct, if true, as alleged by Jeff Russell, is a direct violation of the City of Odessa’s personnel policies and has the potential to expose the city to justifiable civil liability. Would top management tolerate a lower-level employee divulging sensitive personnel information with a third-party person who had absolutely no official capacity to know? Absolutely not!
What saddens me, is that City Manager John Beckmeyer appears to have been more concerned about a hidden political agenda than he was a city employee who had to suffer a traumatic and emotional family incident at the hands of a member of the Odessa City Council, who is one of Beckmeyer’s superiors.
City Manager Beckmeyer’s first responsibility was to the City of Odessa and its employees, not City Councilmember Matta. John Beckmeyer, Mayor Joven, City Attorney Jones and the rest of the City Council (if they were aware of the compromising situation) should have encouraged him to resign or face removal procedures. That action would have ensured that the best interest of the City of Odessa, its employees and public trust was protected. Was this serious personnel incident investigated and the results of the personnel investigation placed in personnel files of the City of Odessa? If it was not, it should have been.
Matta did in fact come out and have a news conference rather than resign. Again Odessa, this is another example of the Political term “Propping up”. Council Member Matta was “propped up” rather than told TO RESIGN. Matta is still in a position to make what should be decisions in the best interest of our city, when he apparently cannot make them for himself.
2. Formal Personnel Complaint filed about the conduct of the City of Odessa Equipment Services Director, Chris Adams as reported by the Odessa American.
On Aug. 1, 2024, Ector County Commissioner of Precinct # 3, Don Stringer, sent City Manager John Beckmeyer and Assistant City Manager Agapito Bernal an email that alleged that Equipment Service Director Chris Adams was apparently residing in Lubbock, and was driving a City of Odessa owned vehicle (namely a Ford Explorer) to commute back and forth from Odessa to Lubbock, Texas. Commissioner Stringer made it very clear that he was requesting a ‘formal investigation’ into the matter. He further added that there is not room for malfeasance in our community. Commissioner Stringer closed his email saying, “I look forward to your reply after your investigation.”
The only reply that he received was from City Attorney Dan Jones that basically said that city management spoke with Director Adams and the matter was taken care of. Commissioner Stringer inquired if the incident was properly documented, and the reply was no. This complaint involving thousands of dollars of city taxpayers’ money appears to be simply handled verbally, with no documentation.
What is troubling is that a duly elected county official filed a formal personnel complaint with the City Manager that clearly purports that a city department head is committing a serious violation of city policy and possibly state law, specifically Theft of Service and/or Misappropriation of Government Funds, if pursued. I believe that the real issues here are City Manager Beckmeyer and or Assistant City Manager Bernal either authorized Director Adams to use the city vehicle for trips to and from Lubbock, or City Manager Beckmeyer lost his objectivity to the matter because of who the complainant was. Commissioner Stringer was an opponent to the former leadership of the Ector County Republican Party that played a role in the political hiring of an unqualified Beckmeyer as City Manager. I believe that City Manager Beckmeyer treated Commissioner Stringer as a political adversary, rather than appropriately addressing the real and factual personnel matter that the commissioner was reporting. Whichever it was, City Manager Beckmeyer clearly failed to do anything other than reward Director Adams with a vehicle allowance.
At the time of the personnel complaint, Equipment Services Director Adams had been employed for about one year. He was issued a city vehicle to drive that is governed by the city vehicle policy.
We know that Director Adams drove the city issued vehicle up until the time that Commissioner Stringer filed the formal personnel complaint. At some point Director Adams moved to Lubbock, Texas and was using the city vehicle and the city’s fuel to commute and back and forth
At this point and time, there are only two possibilities to consider for this conduct:
1. Did City Manager Beckmeyer and/or Assistant City Manager Bernal authorize Director Adams to reside in Lubbock, Texas and use the city’s vehicle and fuel to commute back and forth? If this was the case, they are in violation of city policy and possibly state law.
2. Did Director Adams take it upon himself to relocate to Lubbock, Texas and commute back and forth in a city owned vehicle, using city fuel, without the authorization of any of his superiors? If this was the case, this is a direct violation of city policy and possible state law.
Odessa, we will never really know because it appears that a formal personnel investigation was never conducted as Commissioner Stringer had requested in his email. I would like to think that top leadership did not approve Director Adams’ move to Lubbock, Texas or use of the vehicle, because if they did, it is a tremendous leadership stumble that is not without consequences. They would be allowing Director Adams to knowingly and intentionally violate city policy and possible state law. I have a serious concern here, because according to an open record request by the OA, he signed a second outside employment agreement that was approved by either Assistant City Manager Bernal or City Manager Beckmeyer. The troubling question is did they also approve the use of his city vehicle at the same time that was direct violation of the city vehicle policy
If it was determined that Director Adams acted on his own accord, he should have been placed on administrative leave and an immediate internal and possible criminal investigation conducted into his actions. Without a formal investigation being conducted, no one knows the actual duration and scope of the alleged abuse or monetary loss to the City of Odessa. A round trip from Odessa to Lubbock is approximately 278 miles. In a month, that equals approximately 5,560 miles, all at the expense of the citizens of Odessa, Texas.
Did he use the city’s time for his back and forth commute to Lubbock? How much money has this cost the citizens of Odessa? Well, I am not sure because no one has ever told us and I am not sure they even know, because the personnel complaint was apparently not investigated or documented as a serious personnel incident as it should have been. A formal complaint becomes a formal government document. It appears that Director Adams just got a “slap on the wrist” from City Manager John Beckmeyer and instead of being disciplined or terminated was rewarded with a vehicle allowance and allowed to continue to reside in Lubbock, Texas.
Another area that really concerns me is that Director Adams now has the City of Odessa engaged in a lawsuit that involves a former tire vendor.
The conduct of Director Adams is not what one would expect from a member of the City of Odessa’s executive management team. If Director Adams’ actions were not approved by city management, then City Manager Beckmeyer had a failed leadership opportunity, because this type of policy violation/possible criminal violation should have been dealt with very seriously, most likely resulting in disciplinary action or termination. That disciplinary action or termination would have sent a very strong message to all employees that misconduct will not be tolerated and just how important high standards of integrity, ethics and following established policies are. This was the missed leadership opportunity that clearly shows how inept and unqualified City Manager Beckmeyer is or how he believes he is above doing the “right thing.” The proper disciplinary action or termination would have served as a building block of commitment to high standards of ethics, transparency, accountability and dissolving the “good ole boy” system, which is much easier if you are not one of the good ole boys.
All City Manager Beckmeyer has really appeared to have accomplished with his handling of this incident involving Director Adams is to set a terrible disciplinary precedent that is going to have an adverse effect on the City of Odessa’s ability to carry out sound and fair disciplinary action, when required. When employees are suspended or terminated for serious incidents of misconduct and hire attorneys, the question that will be hard to overcome is, “why is my client not being treated with the same grace and mercy that Director Adams was?”
Director Adams’ annual salary is in the neighborhood of approximately $100,000 annually and he resides in Lubbock, Texas, which is approximately 139 miles from Odessa. If the city were to experience a serious situation such as a natural disaster, (and I pray that we don’t) his recall time to duty is a good 2 hours plus, depending on conditions. The City of Odessa is investing a very good salary and benefit package in Director Adams to oversee our Equipment Services, with a budget of about $31,513,384.00. For whatever reason(s), he has chosen to now reside in Lubbock, Texas, where he is also selling real estate. I believe that it would be a hard sell to convince a reasonable and prudent person that he is able to separate/balance the two and that his Lubbock business does not overflow into the hours that he should be working for Odessa.
Two things should be demanded of City Manager Beckmeyer to answer:
1. Did city management approve his city vehicle to be driven to and from Lubbock, Texas? If yes, why and how can you justify it?
2. If the vehicle use was not approved by city management why has the formal personnel complaint not been properly investigated to determine exactly what the facts are, the loss to taxpayers and made a formal disciplinary record. To leave these two questions unaddressed is greatly lacking in a culture that demands high ethical standards, shows absolutely no transparency and is absent from any accountability.
Since it appears City Manager John Beckmeyer dealt with the misuse of the city vehicle by rewarding Director Adams with a vehicle allowance, the citizenry should demand that he immediately instruct Director Adams to either move back to Odessa and take care of what the City of Odessa has hired him to do or resign and continue his real estate business in Lubbock, Texas. But, he is not going to do be able to both while being employed with the City of Odessa.
These serious personnel incidents are glowing examples of city management’s own failure to hold themselves to higher ethical standards, transparency and accountability and dissolve the “good old boy” system. However, they have signed everyone else up for the wonderful TGAA inter-local agreement to ensure that we maintain all of these standards. None of this makes any sense and totally violates the principles of fundamentally sound leadership, but clearly shows their ineptness, lack of qualifications, favoritism and failure to do the right thing. They are what they say needs to be changed in the city of Odessa.
Commander James (Jim) Dodson retired in 1999 from the Odessa Police Department. He is a fourth-generation Texas police officer with 27 years with the OPD. In June of 2006, he was awarded the Texas Police Association “Wallace Beasley Award” for outstanding contribution to law enforcement training and education.
