Odessa City Council member Denise Swanner has been fired from her job as assistant coordinator of Odessa Teen Court, a position she held for five years.
Teen Court is a non-profit organization partially funded by the City of Odessa and the Ector County Independent School District. Teens accused of minor crimes are sentenced by their peers and if they successfully complete the program within 90 days, their charges are dismissed.
Rebecca Grisham, Teen Court coordinator, declined to comment on the matter, but Swanner said Grisham felt compelled to fire her.
“She felt the program has been threatened, I’m not sure by who,” Swanner said. “She linked it with me being on council.”
There was no prior communication or notice, Swanner said.
“I’m not crushed. I was surprised, but I’m not crushed,” Swanner said. “You know it’s going to be nice being off. Everything happens for a reason.”
Grisham wrote the following in an email to the Teen Court board on Thursday, “I had a discussion with Denise this morning about some issues and conflicts regarding teen court and her position on city council that we could have never foreseen when she decided to run a few years ago, and I let her know that to keep the program separated from those issues, I was regretfully letting her go as my assistant. I just wanted to update you all and I will let you know when I find someone to fill the position. I want everyone to know I still fully support Denise and all she does for our City, and this was an incredibly difficult decision.”
Swanner herself emailed the board on Friday to express how upset and offended she was.
“She stated that the Odessa Teen court program was being threatened and she could no longer take the stress any longer. She also was upset that I was appointed to the Odessa City Council Municipal Court committee and asked that I not be a part of that committee,” Swanner wrote.
Swanner told the board Grisham never provided any details as to where the pressure was coming from, but said she thought things were only going to get worse.
Teen Court board member Todd Hiner said he didn’t feel at liberty to discuss the termination, but he also added he doesn’t know everything that led up to it. Former Teen Court Coordinator and current board member Tammy Hawkins said she doesn’t know everything that happened, either, and would like to hear both sides.
“I probably don’t need to say anything,” Hawkins said.
Swanner wrote in her email that Grisham brought up the “false allegations” made during a Jan. 24 council meeting, but had never brought up any “real or perceived” issues prior to that point, Swanner said.
Swanner ended her email, stating: “My biggest concern is the continued success of Teen Court and I am very concerned that Rebecca claims she feels her job and Teen Court is currently at risk. My concern is why she feels this may be the case and who or what she feels poses the threat. I would think the Board would be likewise concerned.”
On Jan. 24, Teen Court came up when the Odessa City Council was considering firing Municipal Court Judge Carlos Rodriguez.
Attorneys Gaven Norris, Jason Schoel and Anthony Robles speculated Rodriguez had gotten sideways with Mayor Javier Joven after Joven sent a letter to Rodriguez about Operation Graduation. The attorneys felt Joven behaved inappropriately when he wrote, “I request that you consider the maximum penalty for any social host violations and for any minor in possession citations.”
Norris also expressed concern unlawful access to juvenile court records was being given to council members, especially Swanner, given her role with Teen Court.
Swanner denied accessing the records that night and continued to do so in her letter to the Teen Court board.
Following that January meeting, Grisham said up until three years ago she accessed juvenile records solely to determine if kids were eligible for her program. She no longer has that access and believes Rodriguez has unfairly been caught up in the situation.
While Swanner occasionally accessed the files also, Grisham said the new policy prohibits her, Swanner and other city employees who previously had access to the files from accessing them.
Last November, Municipal Court Director Kimberly Jozwiak had door security code access removed from people who work outside the prosecutor’s office, judge’s office and court clerk’s area in order to make the court’s files more secure.
Grisham also stood up for Rodriguez and the council voted to table the matter after meeting in executive session.
“To my knowledge, his most recent review was glowing, but if there are issues or questions pertaining to his ‘handling of things’ or whatever, I implore you to have those conversations with him,” Grisham said. “He can explain what has or hasn’t been done or why from his perspective, but you have to have those conversations with him in order to get those answers.”
Rodriguez has not been reported to State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Grisham said.
“He is in the middle of his term here and firing someone in this position can have a lasting repercussion with his career,” Grisham said. “Please do not remove him from our court as it can have negative ramifications for not only him, but those of us that work with him.”
This year’s Teen Court budget for the program is $121,540, with $68,960 coming from the City of Odessa and $52,580 from ECISD. Swanner’s salary was $39,875.
