CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — The City of Odem had its second attempt at passing a budget Tuesday evening after not enough council members showed up to last week's meeting.
This budget would aim to fix the $200,000 a month deficit they are currently running with.
The chambers for the Odem City Council meeting Tuesday Night were packed, having to bring in extra chairs for the number of citizens that showed up, and that's for one big reason. Odem has officially passed a budget that should hopefully bring them out of the deficit, but it wasn't without some pushback from the community.
"I myself feel that due to the issues the city is facing, our police department should not be punished," said Isabel Rivera, who works at the Police Department.
"Right now, we are putting the safety of our kids, you all — the adults, and the response time," said Odem City Council Member Isaac Dominguez.
The budget includes getting rid of the police department's police officers and staff, except the chief of police.
It also cuts the property tax by a little over 5% while giving city workers a 4 to 5% raise.
This new budget has a goal of saving at least 5% of the operating budget per year for the next 5 years, as well as money for needed repairs to both water and wastewater facilities.
"We are here now with an opportunity to change that. To hopefully work our way back to being fiscally responsible and save money," said David Maldonado, Mayor of Odem.
Council Member Billy Huerta was the only one who voted against the budget, saying they needed to have another meeting to take out some spending like the salary to the council itself, which he says equates to around twelve thousand dollars. This would allow for a larger police staff than just the Chief.
"The reason I voted against it is because we still had time. If we had gone back to the table and added the items that were not included, I believe we could have saved an officer and a dispatcher," said Huerta.
The meeting, in which the public had the opportunity to ask questions and have discussions openly with the council, got heated at times. Many, including council members, wanted to know what actions led to this deficit and who should be responsible.
Mayor Maldonado assured that they are keeping and compiling records and will eventually lead an investigation, but that his main focus is balancing the budget and working on critical infrastructure like the wastewater treatment facility as well as the aging water pump and tower.
"I hope that he does continue with the investigation because there is a misappropriation of funds, and people need to be aware of that," said Huerta.
