Steve Patton, the City of Odessa’s Parks and Recreation director, unexpectedly retired Monday, effective immediately. Patton had been with the city more than 32 years.
Patton, 63, was the driving force behind growing the Starbright Village holiday display that draws thousands every holiday season. Over the last three decades the lighted display has grown each year. Patton also oversaw changing multiple city pools from just pools to aquatic centers and the recently completed re-do of Floyd Gwin Park. In addition, he was at the helm when the city took over the public golf course.
“I just thought the timing was good for me to retire. We’ve got things happening, we’ve got good staff in place. I miss my family. We had a couple of recent family reunions that I missed because of work events,” Patton said. “I’ve occupied so much of my time with work, with thinking about it and the timing was just good for me to make that decision.”
While the rumors swirling about his departure being somewhat tied to a personnel matter within his department are not false, Patton said ultimately he left the city because he wanted to.
“I want to respectfully know that I did something positive for Odessa . I’ve spent 32 years of my life trying to make a positive difference in Odessa and especially for the children of this community. I hope I established something that is like the premier of a series and somebody else can pick up the ball now and continue the episodes of making the parks and recreation department and the quality of life better for Odessa. That’s what I want to leave on.”
In terms of legacy, Patton said he is especially proud of the family aquatic centers at Woodson and Sherwood parks, both of which have served as models for other communities.
Starbright Village is also a highlight because of the incredible attendance and the many, many “smiling faces” they see every year, Patton said.
The acquatic centers, Starbright Village and the city’s other programs, “have made such a positive difference in the quality of life for everybody that attends,” he said.
Patton said he received two job offers Tuesday, but is looking forward to relaxing a bit.
“I’ve not had a vacation since 1995 and I’ve not missed a day of work since 1995. The amount of hours and dedication that I put into Odessa has taken its toll on me. I’ve got to do something, make some changes in my life for the positive. I’m not young anymore,” Patton said.
At least 17 city employees have retired since November, including Assistant City Manager Cindy Muncy, Odessa Fire Chief John Alvarez, OFR Assistant Chiefs Rodd Huber and Saul Ortega , Director of Development Randy Brinlee and OFR Training Chief Martin Moya. OFR Assistant Chief Joey White retired in September.
Since the city council voted 5-2 to terminate City Manager Michael Marrero and City Attorney Natasha Brooks on Dec. 13, the city has also lost three of its five city attorneys and Randi Pineda, who spent 21 years as the assistant to the city manager.
In addition, the city also fired Assistant City Manager Aaron Smith earlier this month.
Interim City Manager Agapito Bernal, Mayor Javier Joven and council members Mark Matta, Denise Swanner, Chris Hanie and Greg Connell did not respond to a text or email, either.
Odessa City Council members Gilbert Vasquez, who spent more than 30 years with the Ector County Independent School District, said he is concerned about all of the departures.
“No. This is not typical,” Vasquez said. “I do have concerns not only as a city councilman, but as a city community member that so many of our experienced individuals heading up very important departments are no longer with us because of retirement or resignation.”
Although he’s only been on the council since November, Vasquez said he had assumed, given Patton’s tenure, he must have done a good job under former city managers Richard Morton and Marrero.
“I would think that his longevity spoke for itself,” Vasquez said.
While he always hopes retirees are replaced by people who have been trained and mentored, Vasquez noted an employee survey conducted by T2 Professional Consulting revealed many employees complained about a lack of training and mentorship.
City council member Steve Thompson is also worried about all of the departures. Patton’s is especially troublesome because the city is currently discussing the feasibility of a multi-million dollar sports complex.
“At this point, it was a personnel issue. That’s really all I can really say. It’s not my purview to get involved, but the problem I have with it is it’s the wrong time. We’re losing all of our experience and all of our knowledge and we have all these things going on. Regardless what the reason was it’s very untimely,” Thompson said.
The city cannot afford to lose all of these long-term employees, Thompson said.
“Every good private employer wants long term employees, especially with the knowledge Steve has in parks and recs… we’ve got this sports complex report coming out. It’s just the wrong time to lose him,” he said.
Also complicating matters is the fact that the city is months away from hiring a new city manager and until that person is in place, the city can’t fill the two empty assistant city manager positions – Muncy’s and Smith’s, Thompson said.
“I can tell you the loss of these people at the tops of these departments has got to have an impact. It only makes sense. Every department is putting people who are not qualified in those positions as they get rid of leadership,” Thompson said.
At least a handful of those who have left the city since December have expressly attributed their departure to a bad work environment.
On her exit interview paperwork, Pineda wrote “I was planning to stay with the city for 30 years, but with the new council direction, I’m choosing to leave.”
Asked what she liked least about her job, Pineda wrote, “Mayor and city council, excluding Thompson and Vasquez.” She wrote that up until Dec. 13, the city was heading in a positive direction.
Muncy, who retired one week after Brooks and Marrero were fired, left most of her exit interview paperwork blank. However, next to the box where she clicked retirement, she wrote: “Close to retiring and changes made the decision happen quicker.”
Senior Assistant City Attorney Monique Wimberly resigned after Brooks was fired citing the “disintegration of work environment; political process became too intertwined with position.”
Her colleague, Jan Baker, said it was “too dangerous” to work for the city.
“I’ve had my bar license for 30-plus years and I didn’t want to lose it with what the mayor and his people were doing,” Baker said.
