Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The final two open seats on the Port Arthur city council have been filled after unofficial Election Day results were released Saturday night.

In the race for District 3 representation, Doneane Beckcom captured nearly 68 percent of the turnout by securing 240 votes. She defeated a challenge from Wanda Lewis Bodden, who secured 113 votes (32 percent).

Previous District 3 councilman Thomas Kinlaw ran for and won an at-large position.

“City council is supposed to oversee the various city departments and not try to micromanage them,” Beckcom previously told Port Arthur Newsmedia. “And there’s a lot of lack of transparency between council members and between the appointees on the different boards, different committees and in different departments.”

In the race for District 4 representation, Harold L. Doucet secured 253 votes (58.84 percent). He defeated a reelection effort from Kenneth Marks, who secured 177 votes (41.16 percent).

Doucet is not new to holding a position on council, having previously served from May 2018 to November 2020.

A retired U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major, Doucet believes his experience will help contribute to what the city needs in a leader.

“The government is set up to provide services and take care of its citizens so that what the citizens are the most concerned about should always be your priority,” Doucet told Port Arthur Newsmedia previously. “There’s no excuse for not providing the services they pay for.”

The services include garbage pickup, water, sewer, drainage and beautification. Those are the things citizens will let city leaders know they are not pleased with.