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A Port Arthur outsider and City Council stalking horse was recently awarded yet a second Pleasure Island development contract.

The result was the nonprofit Sailing Club lost their 60-year-old home and the ability to continue summer programs for local kids.

Wholly ignored by City leadership were the awardee’s various business vendor liens recorded across Jefferson County. News reports also tell us of an unfinished apartment project that has been foreclosed.

What General Contractor would work for a developer, knowing he may never get paid?

What bank would consider financing a $Million Water Park/Hotel/5-Star Restaurant project literally inside an industrial zone, next to a documented crime area with a local customer base that has an average household income nearing the poverty rate?

Successful Galveston County property development titans, such as Tillman Fertitta or George Mitchell’s group, did not submit bids — possibly knowing all this to be true?

The real losers are future generations of children who will be denied the opportunity to experience sailing a course, using nothing but the wind and their wits.

— David Bradley, Vice Commodore, Port Arthur Yacht Club