City: Melvin may get housing benefits
Published 9:07 am Wednesday, January 3, 2018
By Mary Meaux
Port Arthur’s police chief may soon be afforded the same undetermined housing benefits allotted for officers under his command.
Chief Patrick Melvin has been employed in the top spot since September 2016 with a salary of about $123,000 and had not been offered the benefits.
City public information officer Risa Carpenter declined to offer details of housing benefits offered to officers and any associated cost to taxpayers. She suggested that The Port Arthur News would have to file a Freedom of Information request for that information.
Council member Willie “Bae” Lewis said he learned recently that Melvin does not get the same housing benefits as other officers and he has no problem with the city offering the benefits to Melvin that other officers are afforded.
In December, Melvin was named one of six finalists for the police commissioner job in St. Louis, Missouri but the job went to John Hayden, of St. Louis, though Melvin is said to have scored high on the interview.
In November, the Port Arthur Police Association presented a vote of no confidence against Melvin, saying the chief’s management style led to the departure of about two dozen officers, morale is down and Melvin was absent when the city was flooding during Tropical Storm Harvey — all of which Melvin refuted.
The council does not meet again until Jan. 16. It is uncertain if the issue will be on a future agenda for approval or discussion.
