Elzie Odom

Elzie Odom
28th Mayor of Arlington, Texas
In office May 6, 1997 – May 3, 2003
Preceded by	Richard Greene
Succeeded by	Robert Cluck
Personal details
Born	Elzie Delano Odom (1929-05-10) May 10, 1929 (age 95) Shankleville, Texas, U.S.
Spouse	Ruby Lee Truvillion

Elzie Odom (born May 10, 1929) is an American politician, community activist, and former postal worker who served as mayor of Arlington, Texas, from 1997 to 2003 and as an Arlington city councilman from 1990 to 1997. He was born in Newton County, Texas, in 1929, and raised in the freedom colony of Shankleville, Texas. He attended Prairie View College before becoming a letter carrier with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 1950 in Orange, Texas. He also became the first African American elected as a city official when he served on the Orange school district board starting in May 1965.

Odom became one of the first African American postal inspectors in the country in 1967, the same year he was transferred to Los Angeles. He was transferred to San Antonio by the USPS in 1970 and finally to Arlington in 1979. He retired from the USPS in 1987.

Odom first ran for city council in Arlington in 1989 and was first elected in 1990. During his tenure, he made the city's boards and commissions more diverse and representative of the city's population. As president of the Arlington Sport Facilities Development Authority, he oversaw construction of The Ballpark in Arlington and together with the rest of the city council successfully kept General Motors' Arlington Assembly and the Texas Rangers in Arlington.

In 1997, Odom ran for mayor, winning 50.19% of votes as turnout reached a 10-year high. His major accomplishments as mayor included advocating for Arlington youth, supporting programs for citizens with disabilities and seniors, paying off The Ballpark in Arlington ahead of schedule, and creating a street maintenance sales program. He retired from office in 2003.