FREEMAN ATTACKS GUILLORY IN JP RACE

With the county democratic and republican primaries on the horizon, candidates are now starting to post their platforms and political advertisements. While visiting the face book group, P.A. Politics I noticed that Antoine Freeman; candidate for Justice of the Peace Pct. 8, used his platform to attack a fellow candidate. There were a several statements that caught my eye that tell me that he is not the right person for this job.

1. " I believe that Port Arthur deserves a Justice of the Peace that will serve the entire community and not play favorites to a select group of citizens."

2. "Now the same basketball league that this little girl played in is the same elementary basketball league that Joe Guillory tried to end while serving on the school board. When I found out that he was actively trying to dismantle this league I step in and did my part to try and save it. We organized the participants and made sure that we documented the business of the league. I was voted in as President of the league and if God say the same we will have opening day on January 15, 2018 which is Martin Luther King’s Birthday as we have done since I became involved with the league in 2012. We charge $20 to play in the league; if you are not a member of the YMCA it cost $75 to play basketball at the YMCA. It may be the only opportunity that some of these kids will have to play organized basketball. Why would a school board member try to deprive children of that experience?"

Now, Mr. Freeman is saying that the city deserves a JP that will not play favorites. Well, he also goes on to say that Mr. Guillory was wrong for trying to DISMANTLE a so called after school program. Any competent attorney that is NOT trying to cater to a certain group of people could see that Mr. Guillory was not trying to dismantle the program, he was questioning the procedures of the program that were in conflict with district policies. Any competent attorney could see that it was a conflict of interest for a sitting board member who was sworn to protect and defend the policy and assests of the district. The board member, Kenneth Lofton had money collected at the door and sold concessions while using the district facility at no charge. There lie's the conflict.

If said program were an after school program then it would have fallen under Title Funding and District employees would have collected the money and turned it in to the district and the children would participate for free. We know that there were no title funding for the program, therefore this was not a district sponsored program. This is why it was addressed by Mr. Guillory, because he knows his job. What Mr. Freeman has done is condone the flagrant violation by a seasoned board member in Mr. Lofton. By stepping in and serving as President of this private, for profit organization, he has proven that Mr. Guillory was correct in his actions.

Since Mr. Guillory's action, policies have been changed and everyone now will pay for the use of the facility, therefore making it legal to collect money and sell concessions. i would like to personally thank Mr. Guillory for looking out for the Tax payers in this matter.

After reading Mr. Freemans attack on Guillory and researching the situation at hand, it is my opinion that Mr. Guillory is the best person for the job. Mr. Guillory has a proven record for serving his community. His servitude started in 1994 where he advocated for children with severe medical problems by sponsoring and co sponsoring fundraisers and supported childrens miracle network where funds were donated to childrens hospital. Since then Mr. Guillory has changed his focus to the children of Jefferson County by supporting Angel Tree Foundation and Toys for Tots. He has allso had multiple toy drives dating back to 2011, and the toys obtained were donated to the aforementioned organizations. In 2015, Mr. Guillory decided to take his servitude to the next level by running for the PAISD board of trustees. Over the last three years I have watched Mr. Guillory make conscience decisions for the betterment of our students. In 2018 Mr. Guillory has identified a need in this community and has chosen to run for justice of the peace, pct 8. Another question that one must ask is why would a successful attorney in southeast Texas with the integrity that he speaks of, take such a pay cut by serving as a county employee. Is he really a man of integrity? Does he really have a successful law practice? And if not there lie's his reason for running,,,,,he needs a job.