Councilman encourages residents to reverse election result

Published 5:43 pm Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Though a Port Arthur City Council member’s attempt to reverse a charter change election result through legal manuever was defeated at the regular meeting of the Port Arthur City Council on Tuesday morning, he’s not done trying to get a change.

Willie “Bae” Lewis Jr., District 5 councilman, said residents can still file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice to protest deletion of Districts 5 and 6 from the City Council. Voters approved a charter change election in May 2016 to get rid of the two districts. Lewis said eliminating the seats is unfair to some voters.

Presently, there are nine Council seats, including the mayor. Eight seats are held by blacks, although black voters comprise just 40 percent of the population, according to the 2010 Census.

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The City Council is a 4-2-2 model:

  • Districts, 1 and 4, cross-represented by District 5
  • Districts, 2 and 3, cross-represented by District 6
  • Two citywide at-large positions, 7 and 8
  • The mayor

Lewis says the deletion of District 6, which cross-represents District 2 and 3, would have a negative impact for minority voters — in Port Arthur’s case, Hispanics, Anglos, Asians and Other — in representation on the council.

Statistics from the 2010 U.S. Census showed that District 2 broke down as follows:

  • Whites- 4,313
  • Blacks- 3,115
  • American Indian- 123
  • Asian- 692
  • Pacific Islander- 132
  • Other race- 2,621
  • Hispanic- 10,645
  • Total- 21,641

Statistics from the 2010 U.S. Census showed that District 3 broke down as follows:

  • Whites- 7,705
  • Blacks- 4,889
  • American Indian- 217
  • Asian- 1,576
  • Pacific Islander- 21
  • Other race- 1,888
  • Hispanic- 15,775
  • Total- 33,959

Lewis said Port Arthur residents may contact the U.S. Department of Justice to file a complaint by either contacting Joi Hayatte at 202-307-3109 or email at voting.section@usdoj.gov.

Osman Swati, District 6 councilman, who authored the charter change amendment for the election, said he heard at the last meeting, as Lewis did, the Justice Department was contacted twice by the city of Port Arthur about the election results and they haven’t acted.

“He’s wasting the city’s time, though he may go down that route again,” Swati said.

After he leaves the City Council in May, Swati said he will be involved as a private citizen. He’s said a private citizen can do more than a Council member can.

“Citizens have to be involved in the system. They can’t ignore city hall anymore,” he said. “They should get involved and stay involved.”

Lewis will also leave the council in May.