A Call To Action (edited)

Just when the city of Port Arthur had finally started moving in the right direction with a council that seemed to have finally figured it out; all hell breaks loose. Even after the council went months without a split vote and was able to unanimously pass things in their meetings a majority group of members decide to play politics and cave to special interest. Thomas Kinlaw and Cal Jones sided with Mayor Freeman and Charlotte Moses to extend the search for a city manager AFTER they had all decided on a process that gave them Hani Tohme as the next city manager. This move was made in my opinion, because our former Mayor Deloris Prince had been trying to push for the job to go to Natasha Henderson, former City Administrator for the city of Flint Michigan of all places..

Dr. Tohme became a contracted consultant for the city of Port Arthur at the request of interim city manager Harvey Robinson. His initial contract was for six months and was renewed for another six months before city attorney Val Tizeno decided that he had to be at least a part time employee to keep the position. He was then hired as a part time employee who would eventually be in charge of water utilities and public works. In Jan of 2018 the water department was projected to have a $4.5 million deficit to add to the $52 million deficit from the previous ten years. By September of 2018 he reduced the deficit to $1.2 million and the 2019 revenue will exceed expenditures for the first time in ten years. It was done through savings and structured rate increases that made business and industry pay their share of the water bill. He also met with industry and convinced them that it was important for them to pay their share and they agreed. During the meeting he asked them for funding to start a pipebursting crew to replace sewer lines. By August 2018, he had equipment purchased using the $1.15 million donated by Motiva and Valero, and a crew trained and on the ground replacing pipe daily.

During a drainage meeting with DD7 and Motiva, he explained to Motiva that it had been proven that downtown Port Arthur does not flood and suggested they consider moving their offices downtown by purchasing the sabine hotel and turning it into office space and an emergency headquarters. By doing that they would help revitilize downtown and provide a safe place for their staff during storms. After their local team evaluated and agreed, they started putting contracts on properties downtown.

In December 2018 the city manager put public works under his supervision. From that date until now the in house street rehabilitation crew that the old regime could not assemble for two years, was established, trained and paved more than ten streets. What the previous administration planned to do in 12 months was done in 3 months. The city was going to spend $9 million to replace the wastewater treatment plant on Hwy 365 and replace it with a pump station to pump the waste to the proctor street plant. The proposal was made because the plant could not meet the permit limits set by TCEQ. By implementing $70 thousand worth of modifications the plant was put within operational limits and millions were saved.

These are just some of the things accomplished by Dr. Tohme in a short period of time while running two departments at the city on a PART TIME basis. He is no longer employed at the city of Port Arthur because the interim city Manager, Harvey Robinson deemed his employment as a conflict of interest., even after city attorney VAL TIZENO advised that his employment was NOT a conflict because he was not a fulltime employee and he had disclosed the potential conflict to avoid issues with his employment. Harvey Robinson knew of this so called potential conflict from the onset and decided to use it at that time to deter Dr. Tohme from seeking the City Managers position and increase the chance of Natasha Henderson from Flint Michigan. Dr Tohme has a business that has jobs currently going on within the city limits and according to them it would be a conflict for him to remain in said positions. My problem with that is, he owned the company and had the jobs going on when he was initially hired and the city manager knew about it. Ask yourself if Dr. Tohme is the man we need to manage this city and if the answer is yes, contact and encourage your city council to do whatever it takes to make him the city manager of PATX>