Rosendo Ochoa Jr. to run for Port Arthur City Council Position 8

Published 12:06 am Saturday, January 18, 2020

Position 8 on the Port Arthur City Council is gaining a third candidate for the May 2 general election.

Rosendo Ochoa Jr., 42, has announced his intent to file for candidacy for the at-large seat. Ochoa will challenge Tieranny DeCuir and the Rev. Donald Ray Frank for the seat currently held by Kaprina Frank, who is term-limited.

“It’s more about diversity,” said Ochoa, a 1996 Lincoln High School graduate who works as a process operator for Motiva. “I’ve been in the neighborhood asking around, and the Hispanics don’t feel their voices are heard. My children are asking why I don’t run.”

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Ochoa is a father of five.

If elected, Ochoa’s goals are to help all of Port Arthur’s factories hire more local people, improve ambulance service response time and improve security in game rooms.

“There are 1,550 people who work at Motiva,” Ochoa said, “and 11.5 percent of them live in the city, so you’re taking all of the tax dollars out of town. If factories keep wanting tax abatements, hire more local people.”

Ochoa also challenged DeCuir and Donald Ray Frank, if elected, to donate their entire city council salary back to youth programs in Port Arthur. Ochoa said he would donate his to Lamar State College Port Arthur and Pop Warner football teams for travel expenses and equipment.

The filing period for local offices opened Wednesday and concludes Feb. 14.

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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