Tomorrow, early voting begins for the Nov. 8 presidential election. As citizens all over the nation head to the polls to make a decision that will affect our country for the next four years, there is a local side to this election that residents of Port Arthur should consider voting for as well.

Over the past few years, a growing number of citizens have questioned the need for a city council with nine seats, including the mayor, which represents a city of just more than 54,000 residents. In comparison to other cities throughout Texas, Port Arthur is way out of line as reported in the Aug. 10, 2015, edition of The Port Arthur News.

As PACC members receive monthly reimbursements totaling close to $1,500 each and the Mayor $ 2,000, citizens seeking to reduce unneeded expenses view reducing the number of PACC seats as a very strong option. This kind of change cannot just be made willy-nilly. To do so, an item must be placed on the November ballot allowing residents citywide to vote and possibly change the Port Arthur city charter. Charter changes can only be made every two years.

The United Citizens of Port Arthur group, which was strongly supported by District 5 City Councilman Willie Bae Lewis, was first to try this, hoping to remove Seats 7 and 8. Late this past summer, UCOPA tried to force City Council to have an item placed on the Nov. 8 ballot that would remove these two citywide seats through petition. Luckily, UCOPA failed to meet the needed number of signatures in the allotted time frame. I say “luckily,” as I am a firm believer that this would have been a bad move for all citizens. Simply looking to reduce expenses by removing citywide Seats 7 and 8 without understanding how this could negatively impact citizens is irresponsible.

Under our current City Council format with nine members, each citizen throughout the city has five city council seats that represent them. Five of nine is more than half, which is a majority. Less than majority representation for each citizen does not allow for equal fairness. This is what the plan by UCOPA would have done, as Seats 7 and 8 are responsible for citizens across the entire city.

At the Aug. 9, city council meeting, Councilman Osman Swati presented an item that would have overlapping Seats 5 and 6 removed. His item passed with a 5-3 vote and will be on the Nov. 8 election ballot.

In the Oct. 16 edition of The Port Arthur News, Councilman Swati shared with readers his thoughts as to why this would be a good move for Port Arthur as a whole. He validated concerns by citizens that the size of Port Arthur’s City Council is way out of line as compared with other Texas cities of similar size. He took the time to actually study the situation. With Swati’s plan, City Council will be reduced to seven seats including the mayor. Swati’s plan also maintains majority representation for each and every citizen across our great city with four seats. This is possible, as seats 5 and 6 are overlapping districts and not citywide.

Councilman Lewis along with District 1 Councilman Raymond Scott stated that the citizens spoke when they tried to remove Seats 7 and 8, and that City Council should listen to them and still remove those seats. I could not disagree more.

The city of Port Arthur has just over 28,000 registered voters in a community with a population of 54,000. The UCOPA petition could not attain the 1,441 signatures needed. This is not a representation of “The Citizens Have Spoken.” In fact, you could spin it the other way and say, “the majority of Port Arthur citizens do not want to remove 7 and 8 as they did not sign and support the petition. “

It is my opinion the Port Arthur City Council needs a complete overhaul. Simply removing two seats either way will not fix the issues that citizens continue to be frustrated about. A committee needs to be put together that will look at the city as a whole and recommend changes that will help to push Port Arthur forward well into the future.

However, with that said, Councilman Swati’s plan is the right move at the right time. It allows for immediate change, and time for city and city council to prepare for future changes that will ultimately impact each of us.

When at the polls over these next two weeks, vote “Yes” to remove Seats 5 and 6.

Rich Macke is publisher of The Port Arthur News.