Volunteering for the community he was raised in; the life of an Odessa City Councilmember

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) - While the common Odessan may only see their elected officials working during a Tuesday meeting, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes.

ABC Big 2 had an exclusive interview and shadowed a councilmember for the day to see what it means to dedicate a huge portion of your time to the community.

Mark Matta took the day with KMID to discuss his first term on the Odessa City Council. He said he could see on the outside that the City needed some changes and figured he'd take the reigns and run for Council, to try and help those changes happen.

"Instead of just complaining of what was happening or what wasn't happening in Odessa, now I get to be a part of that solutions," he said proudly.

While he is finishing up his first term as a Councilmember, he said showing people what members do behind the scenes, gives them a different perspective.

He added the one thing most people don't realize is he's still human, and has a lot going on outside his office.

"I think for the most part, most people don't really know what a city council member does. The main thing that we do is just make sure the city has the available funds, to run the daily aspects of our lives," he said, as he gave examples of infrastructure that are a main focus, such as the city's water.

"All the small things that we kind of take for granted, at making sure we have the protection, those are the things that we reall...