By David Ball

david.ball@panews.com

The new interim city manager for the city of Port Arthur isn’t a new face around city hall.

The Port Arthur City Council approved Harvey Robinson as interim city manager at the regular meeting Tuesday night at City Hall. Risa Carpenter, public information officer, said Robinson retired from the city in January 2009 as personnel director and assistant city manager.

Brian McDougal, former city manager, resigned last month after serving three years.

Jimmie Johnson was the acting city manager until council members selected an interim.

Willie “Bae” Lewis Jr., District 5 councilman, said he has known Robinson for a number of years. He said Robinson headed up hurricane recovery following Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike and he did everything in-house.

“He recovered millions of dollars we spent,” he said. “He found the money to rebuild the civic center.

“He can hit the ground running and keep all the department heads accountable.”

Lewis thinks Robinson can use his experience with securing grants to help recover the $26 million spent on Tropical Storm Harvey recovery.

Robinson worked under three city managers. Lewis said he had a reputation for straightening out departments.

Robinson started employment with the city after high school in environmental inspections. He transferred to the purchasing department, then human resources.

Lewis said he believes Robinson can mitigate some lawsuits against the city.

“Morale is bad for the city employees,” Lewis said. “Since Harvey Robinson is in there, morale is up. He’s a no-nonsense kind of manager, but he’s fair. He’ll meet with all the department heads and tell them what’s expected of them.”

Moreover, Robinson negotiated all police and fire contracts for more than 20 years.

Lewis would like to see Robinson create a grant management team and have all city grants done under one roof. Grants are particularly needed to recover money lost for the Operations Center on Highway 73 due to Tropical Storm Harvey. Additionally, there may be grant opportunities to elevate pumping and repair drainage and streets.

Lewis said there are more than 60 vacancies in city departments although money is in the budget to fill those positions.

“We need to get those positions filled,” he said.

Lewis suggested Robinson would serve as interim for six months until a permanent city manager is hired. Robinson will also head up the city manager search committee, which he did during his tenure in human resources.