Odessa’s mayor ran to help the West Texas city “repent.” Now he wants…

  

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ODESSA – A reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper hung low over jugs of sweet tea and totes of hot coffee at Parker Heights Christian Church in the heart of town in Odessa.

The refreshments were for faith leaders and other community members who had gathered around the mayor of Odessa during one of his many informal listening sessions.

Javier Joven, this West Texas city’s first Hispanic mayor, spoke forcefully for more than twenty minutes about water infrastructure, public safety and other topics of the day.

At one point, amid discussions of broken water pipes and bond ratings, an attendee asked Joven if the City Council would revisit banning transgender people from using public bathrooms outside the sex assigned to them at birth, an issue the council briefly debated earlier this year.

Joven, a deeply religious and conservative man, told the audience he supported the policy because he worries about the safety of his four granddaughters.

“I’m concerned about any male being in any restroom anywhere,” he said.

This campaign stop highlighted Joven’s penchant for diving into cultural issues while holding a nonpartisan position, which his critics say is inappropriate, alienating and distracting from everyday problems mayors should address.

Joven and his supporters say it is not about politics. It’s about morality.

In his quest for reelection, Joven plans to be unwavering in his belief that governance and spirituality are bound together and social issues are as important as municipal matters, such as infrastructure and blight.

His rhetoric is becoming more commonplace in Texas, as conservatives and the far-right flank of the Republican Party have become increasingly willing to embrace religiosity in office and public policy — including in nonpartisan elections for school boards and city councils.

For Joven, it is about his obedience to God and saving the soul of his city.

“I felt like we needed to publicly repent,” he said in an interview with The Texas Tribune, referring to Odessa.

Meanwhile, his opponents question his leadership style and ability to usher a city so integral to the oil and gas industry during one of its most successful periods yet.

“I can’t remember a time when the City Council was so partisan,” said Ronnie Lewis, a precinct chair of the county Republican Party and one of Joven’s fiercest critics.

Cal Hendrick, a former oil and gas attorney and general counsel for an insurance firm, hopes to unseat Joven in the November election.

He acknowledged that most voters are focused on the presidential race but said partisan politics shouldn’t define the mayoral election.

“It’s about what’s best for Odessa,” he said. “We’re talking about water, roads, parks, police, fire,” Hendrick said.

Joven won his first City Council seat in 1995, beating an incumbent. He served his first term representing the city’s southwest district, where he was born and raised.

His mother, an immigrant from Acuña, Mexico, and his father, born in Del Rio, printed campaign fliers and drove around town in a minivan to distribute them. One of his first political fundraisers was an enchilada sale, which netted $1,200.

He felt unprepared for his first council meeting. He wanted to crack down on prostitution and improve the district’s infrastructure. Eventually, he successfully passed three ordinances targeting sexually oriented businesses promoting what he called illicit activity. He also wanted the council to use previously approved debt to improve the city’s infrastructure. But the council overruled him, he said. He felt he was ineffective and stepped down before his term was up.

At the time, he told the Odessa American he was leaving because he needed to become his family’s “spiritual leader.”

As a civilian, Joven continued to be frustrated. He loathed the depiction created by the best-selling book Friday Night Lights and the comparisons to Midland, a wealthier city 20 miles east.

“Odessa doesn’t have rivers or mountains, nothing to be proud of, and that was present in the community. I wanted to rebrand,” he said.

In 2000, he ran for mayor but lost. Ten years later, he again ran for City Council and lost that race too.

Joven would finally get his chance to put his mark on city politics after he ran for mayor in 2020 and won. His victory came after he spent years harnessing the support of the conservative electorate during his time as vice chair of the local Republican Party, his first foray into party politics in 2012.

For the 2020 election, the Ector County Republicans changed their bylaws to endorse nonpartisan races — an exception break with modern history. The GOP backed Joven and three other candidates. Joven promised to outlaw abortion in Odessa with the support of the other candidates.

Three of the four won.

Two years later, in 2022, they followed through with their pledge, but only after the Texas Legislature effectively outlawed abortion in 2021.

Joven enlisted the help of pastors to drum up public support for an ordinance he hoped the council could pass without a citywide election. A group of church leaders then criticized Joven for questioning the religious beliefs of a council member who opposed the ordinance.

The council went on to approve a nine-page ordinance, which largely mirrored state law.

This, Joven argues, was a crucial step to rebranding the city. Critics said it was a partisan issue the council didn’t need to worry about.

Joven didn’t stop there.

In Texas, a city’s charter spells out how much power its nonpartisan mayor holds. There are “strong” mayors who oversee the daily operations of the city as an executive. And there are “weak” mayors who have ceremonial duties with the day-to-day business run by an appointed city manager. Odessa has a “weak” mayor system.

Unlike most city council members who run to represent specific parts of town, mayors run citywide, affording them the authority to shepherd discussions in city hall and establish priorities.

Gloria Cox, an associate political science professor at the University of North Texas, said despite local government’s nonpartisan charge, most elected officials have some sort of allegiance to a party.

“We all know the party affiliation of most of the people in government, particularly mayors,” Cox said.

Ray Perryman, a local economist, believes the City Council’s overemphasis on partisan and social issues has resulted in disorder.

“These are certainly important topics throughout the country but are not within the purview of city governments and go far beyond the core functions related to providing infrastructure and supporting local economic success,” he said.

Perryman and other City Council critics argue that under the current government, the city has suffered challenges related to infrastructure, economic development and personnel issues. City Council members say they are accomplishing precisely what they set out to do.

Denise Swanner, an at-large council member elected in 2020 and considered a close ally of Joven, defended her record, calling the ordinance classifying Odessa as a so-called sanctuary for the unborn her utmost priority.

“I answer to one person, and one person only, and that’s God himself,” Swanner said. “And then, I answer to my constituents. It’s God, family and then government, so it was the right thing for me to do personally.”

All three, formerly backed by the GOP, face challengers in November.

It hasn’t been all social issues. Joven and his allies on the council have raised salaries for police officers and firefighters, began a multi-million sports complex deal, secured a contract to bring Bass Pro Shop to the city, generated revenue from mineral rights for the first time and implemented a new way to set budget priorities.

Joven also pointed to removing the former city manager and attorney in early 2022. His critics disagree, saying the decision was unnecessary and divisive.

Joven said the two city employees were uncooperative.

Those personnel changes ignited a seachange in the city. More resignations followed. By January 2024, at least three more department leaders had left, either by submitting an immediate retirement or resigning, according to an analysis by The Odessa American. The city has since replaced them.

It has also replaced its utilities director twice in less than two years. Tom Kerr, who served for a decade, retired. Kevin Niles, who took over for him, resigned to pursue the same job in Kansas. Joven said the personnel overhaul was a necessary step for the city to function.

“There was a culture here where a lot of people did not feel comfortable coming to work,” Joven said. “There was a huge sigh of relief. Change needed to happen.”

And just last August, the city removed the president and vice president of the Odessa Development Corporation — Kris Crow and Jeff Russell, who were once considered allies of Joven and helped him campaign for the 2020 election. Russell said the removal caught him by surprise.

“I didn’t know there was any animosity before this,” Russell said.

Crow could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Odessa’s already frail infrastructure ruptured. In two years, two leaks led to citywide outages that lasted hours. The first in 2022 lasted 48 hours. In July, the city spent $25 million to begin fixing it.

Residents are also grappling with a shortage of garbage trucks that forced the city to reduce the number of weekly trash pick-ups, formerly twice, to just one. The issue has been ongoing since December 2023. The city said it expects to fully arm the department with trucks by next year.

Hendrick, the insurance attorney hoping to unseat Joven, said he wants the City Council to return to addressing everyday issues, not national political wedge issues.

Hendrick comes from a family of cattle ranchers who have roamed Odessa since the 1880s. Inspired by former President Ronald Reagan, the 59-year-old was the first registered Republican in his family. He has voted along party lines in every local, state and federal election.

Hendrick has no political background and has never run for office.

But the national issues seeping into the City Council discussions concern him. He said the partisanship has hindered the city’s progress.

“Your duty is to the entire community, not focused on some political party,” he said.

One Thursday morning in July, Joven started his day at his office in city hall wearing a uniform: a white collared shirt with an insignia of Odessa printed on it and brown pants. He chatted with city employees he ran into in the hallway and elevator, proudly boasting about his efforts to shift away from the culture he described as toxic and fractured.

This job comes easily to him, he said. He enjoys solving the city’s everyday issues and the ones his constituents raise directly to him.

In his office overlooking the city, Joven held up a smartphone. It buzzed nonstop with calls and messages.

“This is the stuff that’s easy,” he said. “Fixing the potholes, the trash. I send the pictures I get to my director and they address it immediately. And I like hearing about that.”

Despite the controversies that marred his first term, he feels optimistic about his reelection prospects.

And unlike other campaigns where he’s been on the ticket, he said he feels confident delivering his message on the trail to residents and voters again, regardless of the yearslong backlash.

Other politicians he knows hated the campaign trail.

But him?

“I’m the opposite. I thoroughly enjoy it, and I feel energized.”

Eli Hartman contributed.

Disclosure: University of North Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.