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Harold Doucet is ready to get to work as a Port Arthur City Councilman.

Doucet earned the District 4 seat during a runoff election Saturday against incumbent Councilman Kenneth Marks.

Doucet brought in a total of 253 votes or 58.84 percent of the ballots cast, while Marks brought in 177 votes or 41.16 percent of the ballots cast.

“The citizens have voted and I’m ready to serve and the things they are concerned with are my priority; infrastructure, services and management of taxpayer dollars,” Doucet said Monday.

Doucet, retired U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major, is not new to holding a political office. He held the District 4 seat from May 2018 to November 2020.

His opponent Marks spoke about election turnout and goals.

“It’s disheartening to not have people participate in the electoral process,” Marks said.

Secondly, he said he sought reelection to finish projects that began in his first term. They include two new fire stations, two major drainage projects in the Port Acres and El Vista areas and follow up on maintenance issues.

Another issue Marks believes is important is residents are provided with a calmer and more professional type environment by councilmembers.

“That’s one of the main issues when I ran back in 2020,” he said. There was a lot of buzz in the community about the rancor in the council meetings and I think we were able to make adjustments in the way we conduct ourselves and hopefully that will continue though it remains to be seen.”

As far as the election is concerned, the residents vote and they spoke, Marks said.

Doucet got the majority of votes and he wishes him well going forward.

Marks previously served as a trustee on the Port Arthur Independent School District board before serving as councilman but he would rather see himself as a community servant than a politician, he said.

Now that the election is over he plans to spend time with family

Background

Port Arthur Newsmedia spoke with Doucet in recent weeks about his campaign and thoughts on various issues in the city.

When asked to speak on the challenges the city faces, Doucet named several.

One challenge he said is being able to manage the revenue the city has and receives.

He said the city also needs to set priorities and work toward those accomplishments instead of going from one thing to another to another.

“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 said. “There’s no excuse for not providing the services they pay for.”