Doucet claims he, others on council, have ‘concerns’ about city manager

Published 2:46 pm Thursday, November 9, 2017

By David Ball

david.ball@panews.com

 

Harold Doucet Sr., District 4 councilman in Port Arthur said the idea to consider firing the city manager wasn’t his decision alone.

Doucet explained that while he requested the consideration get put on the agenda, the majority of the council agreed to put it there.

Doucet said there are concerns over City Manager Brian McDougal’s job performance and he said those concerns are shared by other councilmembers. But he said he couldn’t make those concerns public.

“It wasn’t just my decision,” Doucet said. “It’s not about me; it’s about the council. There are some issues, that’s why we discuss it among the council (in closed executive session).”

However, despite the agenda item, no action was taken because McDougal hired a lawyer and the lawyer requested the consideration be done in public at some future date.

“The official (McDougal) requested it,” he said. “The law says it must be done in closed session unless it’s requested by the employee or official to have an open meeting.”

Doucet said he is fine with an open discussion.

“Now the public will hear,” Doucet said. “I think it should be public, but the law says it should be closed. The decision or conclusion will be the same (if it’s either open or closed). If I have a problem with the city manager I’ll say it face to face. I support what I say.”