Bartie v. Batiste – Port Arthur mayoral candidates face off in debate

Port Arthur’s mayoral runoff is approaching, and the final two candidates are spending the time campaigning hard.

One of the most recent of those campaign events was put on by the Press Club of Southeast Texas. Port Arthur incumbent mayor Thurman “Bill” Bartie faced off against challenger Floyd Batiste in a debate moderated by the Enterprise’s Tom Taschinger.

Taschinger asked 10 questions on issues from economic development to COVID response and crime, in addition to giving time for each candidate to give an opening and closing statement.

“I return as the incumbent Mayor of the City of Port Arthur, and I asked citizens and I would ask you, allow me to continue the progress — the progress of human leadership, the progress of having the opportunity to have been faced with very many calamities, from hurricanes to garbage problems to COVID,” Bartie said. “I have been able to overcome all odds that have been presented. With the help of the council, the help of the city manager and with the help of good citizens, I have actually been able to be what I think is a pretty effective mayor. If you accept me, I will prove to you that I am the leader that you need in the city of Port Arthur, and even in Southeast Texas.”

Batiste opened his side of the debate with a reintroduction.

“I started a career back in Houston, and I came to South Texas and I had 24 years of workforce development experience, managing workforce centers in Jefferson, Orange, and Hardin counties,” he said. “After those 24 years of operation over there, I came over to the City of Port Arthur economic development corporation as the Director of Economic Development.”

He said that the Economic Development Corporation under his leadership was recognized at the state and national levels and he won a lifetime achievement award for his contributions. He drew attention to his work on downtown Port Arthur and getting housing for students at Lamar State College Port Arthur.

“There’s a lot of things my hands have touched,” Batiste continued. “We started off (asking) ‘how can we change this community?’ The reason why I’m running is because I want to bring my experience, leadership and knowledge to take Port Arthur to another level.” 

Batiste said that the main goal he would focus on if elected to make a “dysfunctional” EDC successful again. He would also like to bring all the entities in the city together and function transparently.

Bartie’s main goal is to “continue the progress” with infrastructure, ensuring that what is happening on a national level with President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill has an impact in Port Arthur. 

When asked what the biggest challenge the city faces, Bartie mentioned employment issues and giving residents the ability to support their families, while Batiste said the city’s greatest challenges are holding people accountable and communication among city entities.

The area across from Central Mall also was a topic for debate. Bartie pointed to the recent allocation of funds to continue Jimmy Johnson Drive. Both candidates pointed out that the land is swampy wetlands, but Bartie sees the area as having potential for housing, apartment complexes, retail, and even small industrial facilities. Batiste repeatedly mentioned retail as being a good idea after the studies are completed on the area.

When the conversation turned to crime in the city, Batiste lamented a loss of extracurricular activities for students and called for the their reinstatement.

“Years ago…we had young people doing something after school. Now, they’re doing nothing,” he said. “So the question is, how do we engage young people in activity, whether it be nonprofit, faith based organizations, social service, we have to begin to re engage young people because if you look at the crime, it’s young folks.” 

He said he is in favor of the new curfew ordinance, recommended by the Police Department. Bartie agreed that the curfew should move from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. but said that crime in Port Arthur is no different than anywhere else – it’s just that the community gets more attention for crime because it is predominantly a community of minorities. 

“Crime is all over America. Look at what happened in Brooklyn a couple of days ago,” he said. “(Crime) only becomes newsworthy because we’re a minority community.  I don’t care what color you are – red, black, blue, green. You have to rear your children. But like my grandmother was saying, you have to raise your kids with the fear of God.” 

Regarding air quality, Bartie was vague. He said that local plants should follow guidelines set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, but when their emissions exceed lawful limits, they are in violation of the rules and, “We do something with criminals, don’t we?” he asked. 

Batiste stressed the importance of making plants a part of the community as opposed to external to it. He suggested that those working at the plants should get involved in government and social groups so that there can be better communication. 

As the event wrapped up, Batiste spoke on the reactions he gets from people when he tells them he is running to be mayor. He said people want to see the change that they’ve been told for 17 years they would get.

“I don’t see a change and they don’t see a change,” Batiste said. “They want to see a better community. They want a better quality of life. They want to make this place home again. They want to see it cleaned up.”

But Bartie noted that change only happens if you have a continuation of leadership.

“Change cannot occur when you continually change leadership,” the incumbent said. “The continuation of leadership will bring about the change citizens want, but first we have to have a citizen who actually understands that. Government is not going to change just like this. It’s a process and we’ve already begun the process. What I want to do is have the opportunity to continue the progress – a continuum of leadership that is answerable to you and a continuum of leadership that is accessible to you.”

The runoff election is June 11. Early voting will run from Tuesday, May 31 through Tuesday, June 7. There will be no voting on Sunday.