04/30/2025
Many families live in manufactured homes—an affordable housing option built in controlled environments with better warranties than many site-built homes. It’s time to stop letting the city decide what kind of home is best for you and your family. Choose what fits your needs, your budget, and your future. Let’s put a stop to this……
ODESSA CITY COUNCIL GETS MOBILE HOME ORDINANCE WRONG, AND COUNCILMAN EDDIE MITCHELL INSULTS ODESSA RESIDENTS
Under a set of sweeping proposed zoning changes, the City of Odessa aims to outlaw mobile homes across large sections of town — areas where they have been legally allowed for decades. The move would severely restrict one of the few affordable housing options left for many Odessans.
The effort is being championed by Councilman Eddie Mitchell, whose recent comments have sparked outrage.
In a NewsWest 9 report, Mitchell openly dismissed concerns from mobile home residents, suggesting that the properties at issue are not even “homes.”
“These are not homes — they’re trailers,” Mitchell said. “They bring down property values and don't represent the future we want for Odessa.”
Mitchell’s remarks — characterizing thousands of residents’ hard-earned homes as nuisances — have been widely condemned as offensive, elitist, and deeply disrespectful to the working men and women who call Odessa home.
For many families — including oilfield workers, retirees, single parents, and young couples — mobile homes represent an achievable version of the American dream: safe, stable, affordable housing without the crushing burden of high mortgage debt.
Now, these residents feel targeted by their own city government.
Residents who received letters from the City describing the proposed changes are speaking out. During a NewsWest 9 interview, West Odessa resident Angela Ramirez stated, "When I got the letter, I felt like the City was telling me I don't belong here. We pay our taxes, we take care of our property. Why should we be treated like second-class citizens?"
Another resident, Jerry Simmons, added, "Not everybody can afford a brand-new $300,000 house. Some of us just want a clean, safe place to live and raise our kids."
The push to restrict mobile homes comes at a time when Odessa’s housing costs have already surged — thanks in part to rising property taxes, new impact fees on construction, and an overall shortage of affordable homes. Rather than working to expand housing options, city leaders seem determined to limit them even further.
This proposal isn’t just bad policy. It’s an attack on Odessa’s roots — a city built by hard-working people from all walks of life, not by zoning out everyone who can’t afford to live behind a gated wall.
Odessa doesn’t need fewer working families. It needs more leaders who respect them.
If you believe Odessa should remain a city for everyone — not just the wealthy few — now is the time to act.
ATTEND:
The Odessa Planning & Zoning Commission is scheduled to meet on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at 1:30 PM at Odessa City Hall, 411 W. 8th Street, 5th Floor.
This meeting will include a public hearing on the proposed zoning changes that could restrict or prohibit mobile and manufactured homes in several districts across the city.
CONTACT:
Reach out to your City Council member. Demand they reject these harmful zoning changes. Remind them that mobile homes are homes — and the people who live in them deserve a voice, not a cold eviction notice disguised as a zoning update.
City government should lift up Odessa’s families, not push them out and Councilman Mitchell should apologize for his offensive comments.
