Voter guide: Beaumont Mayor

Q3: What is the best way for council to work to improve economic development in Beaumont? 

Q4: How do you describe your governing philosophy and how will best serve Beaumont? 

Q5: What makes you the best candidate for the position? 

Robin Mouton (I)

Age: 62

Occupation: Retired AT&T sales executive

Highest level of education: Graduated from Hebert High School

Volunteer work or previously elected office (up to three):

• Volunteers at/with Paradise Baptist Church 
• Member of National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials and is on the executive board of directors
• Texas Municipal League board member

A1: The council's top priority right now, because of public opinion, would be safety. I believe that myself, along with the new city manager and our chief of police, we've done everything that's needed in order for our police department to be productive -- to perform their jobs at the best of their ability. Any type of training that has been needed, this council has been accommodating to the needs of what's needed. Council's priorities are that we set policy for the city and represent the citizens. So first and foremost, we want to make sure that the citizens are being represented.

A2: I'm quite proud to say that the council, led by myself, has spent the largest dollar amount in the history of this city in the past year. We've spent $100 million -- $61 million for water, $24 million for sewer and $22 million for streets and ditching. We also have a new chlorine dioxide program to fight the manganese, which is the brown water discoloration in our water system. We are already making the necessary spending and improvements. I believe that we are well ahead of anything that we would be faced with in the near future.

A3: I can tell you that economic development right now is a big priority for our council, for the city. Downtown revitalization, we have approved three new permits for downtown Beaumont restaurants. We have approved a proposal to move forward on the downtown conference hotel. We recently did the groundbreaking for Riverfront Park restoration and the reinvestment. If you look downtown with mural festival -- all of the murals that have been painted in downtown Beaumont. We signed and had the groundbreaking for the $1 billion dollar OCI Beaumont facility, one of the largest of our commercial permits last year.

A4: I believe in order to be a good leader, you have to know the concerns and the hearts of the people that you're leading. I was voted in by the people, and I want to do what is best for the citizens of Beaumont. In order to do that, you have to listen to what your constituents are asking for. I'm going to always vote on the interests of what the citizens are asking for because the citizens vote you and to represent them and to represent their interests and I'm proud to say that that's what I've done since I've been in the office.
represent the people.

A5: Experience. Experience matters, and I'm proud to say that I ran on unifying our council. I ran on economic development, and I ran on downtown revitalization, and each and every one of those objectives I feel are being met right now. We have more economic development in our city than we've had in a very, very long time. We see the revitalization of downtown moving forward with Riverfront Park and a new downtown conference hotel, which renderings are being made for. The council is working in unity, so that's why you see the progress. Without unity, there is no progress. And I'm proud to say that came under my leadership. I said that in 2021, and now we're seeing the results of it.

Roy West

Age: 62

Occupation: Branch Manager of Gill Mortgage 

Highest level of education: Master’s degree in Divinity from Southern Methodist University 

Volunteer work or previously elected office (up to three):

• Previous President of the Southeast Texas Crime Stoppers board
• Hosts weekly KLDI "Roy West Show"
• Works with the Gift of Life

A1: Public safety, infrastructure and youth initiatives

A2: We talk about how much money we're spending, but we're not talking about deadlines we're anticipating for getting work done. I believe that when it comes to infrastructure programs, there ought to be a shared timeline. I come from a business background. So, when somebody calls me, we give them timelines of when we anticipate the work being completed. I know that when it comes to planning and executing, you have to have a timeline. So, it perplexes me they don't share those because that becomes true transparency and true accountability. Then if you start missing timelines, people may not like the timelines, that can be one issue, but secondly, is it's hard to hold somebody accountable for getting a job done when you don't know when it's supposed to be done by.

A3: In business, things change and you have to change with it, meaning when you're going down one road and you hit a dead end, you don't just keep pressing ahead. Within municipalities, they don't give up on things that aren't making progress. We need to acknowledge the challenges that are preventing us from growing, such as the perception of public schools and people not wanting to move to Beaumont. If you want economic development, you a have to address the issues that are stopping your economic development. When people Google Beaumont and the crime rate and the problems with our public schools it turns people off. My thought is let's have coalitions working to repair that so people can see these issues are being dealt with and we do have a plan and we're not ignoring them.

A4: I have a business background and my experience in life is that when there are problems occurring, I go to the problems. My first job out of college was as a police officer in Houston, because I learned at an early age that most people run from problems in general, whether it's associated with law enforcement, business or the school district. I've made a living in my businesses, from buying commercial and residential property to the mortgage business, by helping solve problems when I see them. First of all, when you show up, people appreciate that you're coming rather than leaving and when you come, you may not know how to solve the problem, but you know there's a problem that exists and it needs solving. 

A5: I've been explaining my business experience, my 62 years of being here, being a problem solver. I own real estate commercial and residential here in town. I have a radio show. I get it that Beaumont is not a united city. We fight amongst ourselves. Whether it's north end, south end, west end, downtown, nobody feels like they get their fair share. We need to change the narrative where instead of fighting against ourselves, we ought to be realizing we're competing against Baytown and Waco and Tyler and Lufkin. Together, we can all make our city better. We're all of our city. I also want to bring in for evening City Council meetings and for term limits on City Council.

James Eller, Jr.

Age: 45

Occupation: General contractor

Highest level of education: Welders certification and GED

Volunteer work or previously elected office (up to three):

• Does work for American Legion Post 33
• Builds ramps for veterans from mid-county to Lumberton
• Installed Giving Field signage

A1: Over the years, talk of crime has been repetitive. We've said the same things, and council is not addressing it the way they should. What they've doing with everything else is Band-Aiding the issue because departments aren't being held accountable for actually doing their job. I think we need to first work with finding out the problems with these departments and then supervision. The city manager needs to be in the street, he doesn't need to be in office. He needs to actually go and check up on these individuals that work underneath him, there needs to be an accountability to the supervisors and the heads of all these departments. All this is just talk because we have policies and procedures already in place, but the city of Beaumont is not following -- the department head all the way down to the actual workers.

A2: I've actually been out on calls where the city of Beaumont doesn't follow their procedures, or they're just being rushed by their supervisor, one way or another. We do not do all the steps already in the procedure book, we're not following those basic steps. We have sewer problems that are reoccurring in the same areas. The city of Beaumont made a statement that they have no known water or sewer issues in the city, which is a complete lie. This is from the department heads and this is backed up by the current council because the council has not said anything against it. If they accepted the fact that we have issues, then they would rebut that statement. We have multiple problems. 

A3: We could be starting at high school level of training students, not just with the regular career course at Taylor Career Center. We can actually incorporate the city of Beaumont working with Beaumont ISD, the Taylor Career Center, Lamar, Lamar Institute of Technology to actually make it a co-op to have students all the way from the high school level. We can pull them into programs to help build from high school on through to college and basically connect ownership to the city. It would have more individuals caring about the communities that they grow up in, go to school in, learn in, develop in and hopefully reinvest back into. We won't have the same individuals leaving the city, they would be more proud to be in the city that they have invested into.

A4: My governing philosophy would be more care and compassion for the citizens. There's huge disconnect with council, administration, city government. Those three sit to the side and are completely, in my opinion, against the citizens of Beaumont. I don't care how much they paint a mural on the walls, how much they throw events here -- that's to draw in tax money, it's to draw out individuals to spend their money here. That's all the city is doing. They're just keeping citizens busy. We need to break down policy, ordinances, permits and different things that the city holds against the citizens, because we're driving the citizens out of Beaumont daily.

A5: I'm more like a citizen than any other candidate. I've been through the hardships. I've been through the paces with the city. I've seen the difficulty the city places on homeowners. I've fought for citizens that I don't share the same issues with. However, I share their burden and am out there investigating. I'm out there actually doing it. I don't pop up each election and then start showing my face. I'm here all the time. People reach out to me, and they've been reaching out to me for years. I've made policy changes that affect every resident, made infrastructure repairs that affects everyone that travels in those areas. No other candidate can claim that and actually show proof. I put in work and I've been putting in the work for years. I'm the best candidate because I'm just like everybody else. I'm not a politician.