Many discussions on the topic of changes to Port Arthur City Council have been held between community groups, private citizens and in the pages of the Port Arthur News over the past year. These changes include the possible redistricting of our city, elimination of city council seats and reduction in compensation for city government officials.

Some of you may have seen over the past two weeks, a group calling itself “United Citizens of Port Arthur” that is petitioning to have a couple of these items addressed on the November 5th election ballot. It is their desire to eliminate City Council Positions 7 & 8. Arguing that this will help in reducing cost and aligning Port Arthur City Council with other communities relatively similar in size. Which it will definitely do. By acquiring a little more than 1,400 signatures by July 22, they will be able to force City Council into adding this item on the November ballot for voters to decide on.

As we have discussed in previous editions of The News, the city of Port Arthur is made up of nine elected positions consisting of eight city council seats and one mayor. For ease of understanding I will break them down individually below, but as you can see, citizens in each district have 5 different city council members they are able to contact if/when a need may arise. However, that is more than is needed for our population size.

• District 1 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in District 1
• District 2 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in District 2
• District 3 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in District 3
• District 4 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in District 4
• District 5 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in District 1 & 4
• District 6 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in District 2 & 3
• Position 7 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in city of Port Arthur
• Position 8 – Represents and is elected by citizens living in city of Port Arthur
• Mayor – Represents and is elected by citizens living in city of Port Arthur

Although The News is, and has been, a supporter of reducing the number of current PACC seats and reducing costs for the city, we do not feel that taking the easy way out by eliminating the only two citywide positions, other than mayor, is the right approach. Residents of Port Arthur need to make sure they are educated about this important subject before signing anything. How we restructure city council is crucial to our community’s future.

The Port Arthur city charter states that changes like this can only be made every two years. So if the petition for change explained above ends up being a catastrophe for the city, it cannot be corrected immediately. Which is why, if this is now the time for change, it needs to be thought out very carefully for the future of all Port Arthur residents.

We propose that PACC needs to create a committee that will be responsible for the future of Port Arthur. They will need to take a look at all possibilities, changes and outcomes. This will include possible redistricting of the entire city, looking into the voter populous of each current district, should all districts be voted on city-wide, and how each possibility will affect each citizen. The committee should work to propose three options for PACC to review, and then place on the May election ballot next year.

This committee needs to be composed of local business people who can understand the future direction of Port Arthur. Each city council member should list a number of potential committee members they would support representing their district. Representatives for this committee shall not have current or prior city government experience or affiliation. City Council will vote as a whole on each member with majority vote selecting until each district is represented. By May of 2017, our community will have a clear understanding of its direction and the leaders of our city government will have a clear understanding of its responsibilities and community future.