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If city services such as bill payment for utilities have slowed down in Port Arthur, Mayor Thurman Bartie has not heard.

“I would be notified if bills weren’t being paid,” Bartie said. “Evidently, it must be above average, because nobody has alerted me to any problems.”

City hall has been closed for a few days, although Bartie didn’t publicly announce the temporary precaution in response to the coronavirus crisis until Friday. Bartie was not sure exactly when the facility was first closed.

The pandemic has not resulted in any layoffs or furloughs of city employees. Work times, however, have been staggered to prevent what Bartie called “an over-abundance” of workers at one time. Councilmembers have met through remote teleconferencing instead of holding open meetings at their usual fifth-floor chamber to encourage social distancing and avoid the risk of having more than 10 persons in the same room.

Those who can work remotely are working from home, including Bartie’s administrative assistant, he said.

‘Don’t go to church’

During Friday’s news conference, Bartie issued a simple request to churchgoers and other congregants of the city’s houses of worship: “Don’t go to church.” The licensed minister commented on the extension of the city’s “Stay at Home, Work Safe” order that mirrors Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order.

Abbott’s order, which was updated March 31, lists religious services as essential; however, it recommends that all houses of worship conduct services through “remote telework” (audio or video conferencing).

Judge Jeff Branick signed an addendum reflecting that change to Jefferson County’s order on Friday.

Bartie’s original order, signed last week, disallowed services in parking lots and services of 10 or more people in a house of worship.

While the governor’s order does not specify a limit of attendees in a worship setting, those who conduct and participate in services are asked to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines regarding social distancing.

“I support Gov. Abbott in his attempt to enhance worship experiences, respecting his decision to override provisions of my original order,” Bartie said. “I, Thurman ‘Bill’ Bartie, mayor of the city of Port Arthur, Texas, strongly discourage any house of worship (faith, denomination or belief) opening its doors and allowing persons to congregate in any numeric dimension inside of the edifice set aside and consecrated for worshipping.”

Even if worship services were held outdoors and social distancing were observed, Bartie stands against that.

“I think the governor meant well, but had I been the governor, I’d have made it very explicit, totally, ‘No, you shouldn’t go.’ But maybe the governor has to deal with pressure I don’t understand. We’re dealing with the people we’re closest to. I know if I don’t take this position four or five months down the road, that could be something that could bring a demise to my political career, simply because of that. That’s why I simply stay where I am on this. Please, don’t go to church.”

District 2 Councilman Cal Jones took a different stance.

“You go to church believing and having faith the Lord will take care of you,” he said. “You pray day and night for the Lord to sustain you. If you pray day and night for the Lord to sustain you, and you always say you want to be on the battlefield for the Lord, if you’re going to leave here, if you’re going to die, what better way than to die on the battlefield for the Lord? The mayor and I talked about it before we came out here, and he understood where I stand on that.”

To wear a mask
or not wear a mask

Jones added he believes 10 or more persons should be allowed to congregate inside if they wear masks.

“I don’t see no problem meeting them in the parking lot, surely in the parking lot with the pastor having a loudspeaker preaching to the people,” Jones said.

Bartie was asked if he believes citizens should wear facemasks in public. President Trump said Friday the CDC recommends the use of masks in public.

“I have my mask in the car, and I put it on at my discretion,” Bartie said. “If they have the availability to get them, it may be wise to use them. I don’t want to say I’m ordering you at this point, but maybe by next Friday, we may have to order them to do it, because some cities here in Texas have added that to their ordinances.”

In those cities, anyone who is infected with COVID-19 who is outdoors and does not wear a mask is in violation, Bartie explained.

“As these numbers increase, so should our diligence increase,” Bartie said. “The whole state of Texas is next in line to be one of the hotbed states for COVID, and I don’t really want us to have that distinction, and you shouldn’t want us to have it.”