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To concerned citizens of Port Arthur, Texas: filling boards or commissioners positions through nominations can or will become dysfunctional.

Example #1: The Pleasure island commissioners (filled by nomination) was changed to being filled by appointment through a charter change petition.

Each council member makes an appointment to the Pleasure Island Commissioners Board and no vote by council is required.

Example #2: The position of Mayor pro-tem of the city; the governing body filled this position through nomination. We changed it to rotation by charter change petition.

Two councilmembers helped formulate the Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation lawsuit.

The two councilmembers supported the lawsuit by changing the evaluation of an EDC employee, a clear abuse of power.

Council members cannot get involved with personnel; it is a conflict of interest. They voted on the settlement of lawsuits (abuse of power). Councilwoman Tiffany Hamilton voted against the appointment/nomination of Floyd Batiste. This vote is personal, he fired her when she worked for EDC. The reason was poor job performance.

— Port Arthur Councilman Willie Bae Lewis Jr., District 1