Throughout the modern history of our city, there have been pivotal events that have shaped us into a place unlike that of any other in the country.
When we hear that, we immediately think of things occurring over the decades as we became the largest sports and entertainment destination between the East and West coasts, hosting 16 million people annually, establishing the city’s largest economy.
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As enviable as all that and much more is in our story, it’s not the most transformative thing that we would experience.
No, that would come on the day almost 30 years ago when a man who shared a skin color with fewer than ten percent of the town’s residents – at least half of whom not old enough to vote – would win a historic election and become the city’s first black mayor.
What that meant was the realization that Arlington voters had made their decisions on the strength of a candidate’s character qualities and not on his race.
That is a unifying outcome to define us as a people and more valuable in our collective identity than anything else.
Before he won the mayor’s seat, Elzie Odom had already made Arlington history when he was elected as the first black member of the city council in 1990 during my second term as mayor.
So we would spend the next seven years working with our council colleagues, trying to serve our fellow citizens through the work
before us.
In the memoir he would publish after completing his terms in office, he wrote something that I had witnessed in our time together. Here’s what he said:
“There was a lot of hype about my being the first African American on the council, but after I was sworn in and the work started, I was no different from anyone else. All my life, I was taught that all people are the same and should be treated the same.”
In all things, Elzie ultimately developed his support or opposition to the endless matters on our weekly agenda on the question of how his vote would serve the best interests of all our citizens.
Of course, not everyone would agree on every outcome, but no one should have to wonder if their position had been heard and carefully considered.
His decision-making process was manifestly informed as the only council member whose inalienable rights were at stake in a time of the transformation of our country’s basic civil rights.
He knew what it was like to feel like his interests weren’t being fairly considered and didn’t want anyone to experience that kind of separation or neglect from government actions.
His vital role in our council’s work to reshape Arlington’s form of government is an example of his resolve.
We had, at the time, a method of electing all eight council members in an at-large system. That meant there was no answer for citizens who wanted to know who “their” council member was and who was most responsible for matters in the part of town where they lived.
Most other major Texas cities had addressed that situation by dividing their cities into single-member districts by creating one for each council position.
Elzie’s response to that was immediate – he walked into my office and declared he didn’t like that. He said he wanted to put his candidacy before all voters, not just those in some part of the city.
I told him I didn’t like it either because it would limit voters having a say on election day to just two of the nine seats – the candidate in their district and the mayor.
We needed to see if we could come up with something better.
In the end, our council set up a mixed system with five single-member districts, three members at large, along with the mayor seeking support from all the city’s voters. That would allow all voters to have a say on the majority of the elected body.
Such a plan would have to win approval of the U. S. Department of Justice, whose role was to evaluate the question of diverse citizens having an opportunity for all races and ethnic groups to be represented.
Federal concurrence for what we had designed came quickly, and Elzie’s leadership in that decision was why.
Elzie summed up his 96 years of life experiences, including his time as a public servant, like this:
“I marvel when I think about my humble beginnings in Shankleville and the wonderful examples of Christian living I experienced, and how God took that and gave me such a full and wonderful life. It has been one blessing after another all my life.”
Arlington will mark time from when Elzie and Ruby Odom decided to come our way. We are a better place because they did.
