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Ector County taxpayers to be impacted by Odessa City Council recent firing decisions

The terminated city officials will receive 12 months for severance pay, and a pending lawsuit will add to what looks like an expensive process.

ODESSA, Texas — There has been quite the fallout from the Odessa City Council’s decision Tuesday night to fire City Manager Michael Marrero and City Attorney Natasha Brooks.

There are certainly plenty of things to take into consideration, especially when it comes to how this will effect taxpayers in Ector County. With a lawsuit pending and interims in place, this is only the beginning of an expensive process.

“I am flabbergasted by what just happened today," said one citizen during public comment on Tuesday night at the Odessa City Council meeting. 

Surprised, confused and upset were a few of the reactions Tuesday night from many audience members when Marrero and Brooks were terminated and asked to leave immediately. 

“And I’m super disappointed that my city council would terminate them without reason," said one citizen during public comment on Tuesday night at the Odessa City Council meeting. 

The Odessa City Council members went behind closed doors for a short period of time before quickly voting both city officials out by a 5-to-2 vote.

“You went and hid yourself behind closed doors and made a decision, and I’m very much appalled at that," said one citizen during public comment on Tuesday night at the Odessa City Council meeting. 

The city council has been virtually silent when it comes to why the decisions were made to terminate both Marrero and Brooks.

"Leading Odessa into the next phase is going to require collaboration and consistent and effective communication, amongst many other skills," said Odessa Mayor Javier Joven in a statement released Wednesday. "We look forward to establishing and initiating the process to identify quality candidates to permanently fill these roles." 

As the search process begins to find permanent replacements, Ector county taxpayers will certainly be impacted by these changes.

NewsWest 9 secured the contracts for both Marrero and Brooks, which revealed that Marrero was hired in May of 2018 at a salary of $238,000, and Brooks was hired in November of 2020 at a salary of $185,400.

Both former city officials will receive 12 months for severance pay, be reimbursed for paid time off not used and get one year of health benefits.

With a lawsuit likely on the way, Odessa attorney Gavin Norris says that court and attorney fees from litigation could cost anywhere from $50-$100,000.

It is unclear at this time how much money the interim replacements will make, how much the search process will cost or what the salaries for the eventual permanent new city officials will be.

NewsWest 9 has filed for information on a number of factors related to this story and are still waiting for further details.

NewsWest 9 also contacted the City Secretary's office for media availability, but never heard back from Mayor Joven or any city council members. 

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