BEAUMONT, Texas — A life-long Beaumont resident is hoping to win the mayoral race and bring change from inside city hall.
James Eller Jr. is facing off against current Mayor Robin Mouton and candidate Roy West for the Beaumont mayoral seat. For years, he has advocated for change in the city.
While this is Eller’s first time running for mayor, he did run for council member at-large in 2021.
From infrastructure to police transparency, Eller wants to focus on issues that he believes are affecting everyone. His top priority is transparency.
“We have to be a transparent government, so citizens can know that we're protecting them,” Eller said.
The candidate believes it starts with the Beaumont Police Department.
"I really want to push for body-worn cameras to be accessible,” Eller said. "We need to have that information transparent. We need to be able to have that. We need to be able to have a citizens review board to be able to look over the police."
Even though he has never held office, Ellis said he had fought for the community as an everyday citizen.
“There's other things that I've actually pushed for and I have passed,” Eller said. “I pushed it to council. Council voted 7-0 for water cut off.”
The candidate credits his advocacy for the city council changing the delinquent water cut-off day from Monday to Friday to Monday to Thursday. This means if a person's water was cut off at any point, they could have it restored on a Friday, instead of waiting until the following week.
“That water is not so important to cut off somebody's line,” Eller said.
Eller also runs the Facebook group, “Beaumont Texas Information Station" where people can share their concerns. The group has almost 6,000-members.
“A lot of individuals are not being represented by basically city council or government and I want to bring the compassion back to the people and make sure that the people are actually heard,” Eller said.
Eller said his campaign is fully self-funded. He's not fundraising or accepting donations, but he is accepting volunteers who want to help his cause.
The municipal election will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Early voting will be from April 24, 2023, through May 2, 2023, according to the city.