ODESSA, Texas — David Turner, Mayor of Odessa, is ready to slowly reopen the city. However, he thinks that the current plan, starting with Gov. Abbott's executive order to reopen retail businesses in a limited fashion, will actually make it difficult for these businesses to operate.
"I really don’t see this one working very well because you can’t buy clothes by driving up and then bringing out a pair of pants. You need to try the pants on, so this one I don’t think it’s gonna do a lot," Turner said.
Turner believes that Amarillo, Lubbock, Odessa, Midland, Abilene, San Angelo, and Big Spring should control the reopening of West Texas once the executive order expires.
"We sent a letter to the governor signed by all seven of us saying that we want to be able to control the opening of our home and cities because we’re not like Dallas. We’re not like Austin. We’re not like Houston, and we know our communities better than they do," Turner said.
However, Alejandro Barrientos, the co-owner of Curb Side Bistro in Odessa believes this plan is a step in the right direction for everyone who is currently unemployed because now, there should be more job openings.
"I think opening restaurants, opening retail centers is going to be a good outlet for some of those people that can’t even get to the unemployment line through the phone; to go out there and start looking for jobs and start seeking employment," Barrientos said.
But Turner does understand the importance of bringing jobs back, even if the current plan isn't what he prefers.
"These people need this money to live and you know it’s survival for many people. You know you’ve had a lot of people laid off in the oil industry. There’s gonna be jobs created and reopen back up," Turner said.
Turner will wait and see how this plays out, but he does have plans to monitor these retail businesses moving forward. He said that it's possible that fire inspectors or police could make sure that these businesses are following safe practices. He also said that there may even be a tip line for citizen to report to if they feel unsafe at any of these retail businesses.
In the meantime, the seven big cities in West Texas will wait to hear back from Gov. Abbott about whether they will get to control their reopening.
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