Corpus Christi candidates take part in Mayoral Forum: Here's their responses

CORPUS CHRISTI — With less than 20 days remaining until Election Day, four of the six mayoral candidates for Corpus Christi participated in a live mayoral forum hosted by KRIS 6 News.

Mayor Paulette Guajardo and candidates Joshua Fraedrick, Isabel Araiza, and Michael Hunter answered a series of questions from moderators Clara Benitez-Cortez and Bob Jones of KEYS FM 97.8. Anthem Powers did not respond to KRIS 6's invitation to participate, and John Calkusic dropped out prior to the forum due to illness.

During Wednesday's forum, candidates addressed a range of questions, including their top goals if elected and how they plan to tackle voter concerns such as finances and industry.

One of the main talking points was a potential desalination plant. On Friday, KRIS 6 reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave the green light for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's (TCEQ) draft discharge permit, issued in December 2023.

Candidates Joshua Fraedrick and Isabel Araiza voiced opposition to the desalination plant, while Mayor Paulette Guajardo and Michael Hunter continued to support its potential impact on the city's economy.

Other topics discussed during Wednesday's forum included plans for economic development, the growth of the downtown area, whether candidates would have supported the 10% pay increase City Manager Peter Zanoni received in July, and how they would address public safety concerns.

Registered voters in Nueces County and surrounding counties can cast their early ballots at any listed Early Vote Centers from Oct. 21 through Nov. 1.

The following is a transcription of each candidate's responses:

"Part of my platform is against the very controversial desalination plants. I don't believe that they're the correct solution for Corpus Christi, and I don't see them as sustainable. I think they're going to be an ecological disaster, and I am in favor of water reclamation instead. I also want to see an expansion of our green spaces, more trees in our parks, and to fix our roads correctly. I don't believe that the rapid repavement program has been going very well. I think we've done not enough to correctly fix our crumbling roads, and we could be doing considerably better."

"We need a mayor that will center the people, the neighborhoods that we live in, and the services that we use. I was born and raised in Corpus Christi. I graduated from Del Mar College, Texas A&M, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Carroll High School, and I went to Boston College and earned my PhD in sociology. There, I studied the relationship between government and the economy and how those work together to shape people's life chances. If elected, I will bring that expertise with me. Eight years ago, I co-founded a group called For the Greater Good. We came together after three water boils in 10 months. We've been advocating for our water, for our public infrastructure, for industry to pay their fair share. We adopted Caroline Park when the city was selling our parks. We fought for our libraries, our senior centers, and our parks during the 2018 budget crisis. We've been fighting against desal. Look, government works. The issue is, who does it work for? Right now it works for the rich, the powerful, the well-connected, the special interests funding their campaigns. If you elect me, I promise you I'll work for you. My name is Isabel Araiza, and I'm number two on the ballot. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you my perspective."

"It has been an honor, an honor to serve you as your full-time mayor these last four years. I'm a fiscal conservative, and I'm the only candidate on this dais, if you will, who voted to fund our police and our firefighters. I'm also the only candidate who voted to lower your property tax rate. The financial position of the City of Corpus Christi is strong. We have 20% in reserves. That is unprecedented. It is a good thing, and it indicates that we are strong. So earlier today, you may have heard, we proudly announced that Bass Pro Shop has selected the City of Corpus Christi as their next expansion site. After studying the City of Corpus Christi and researching the City of Corpus Christi for two years, they determined that Corpus Christi is where they want to invest. It is where they want to make their next home. And so today, we have Bass Pro Shops saying you have a strong enough economy for us to want to come here. So I say to you, good things are happening here in Corpus Christi, and we are proud. There is work to be done, but we are going to keep working. And I humbly ask for your vote so that we can continue."

"I was born and raised here in Corpus Christi and have grown up loving this city ever since. I came back after Trinity. I went to Trinity University in San Antonio, and as soon as I graduated college, I came back here as quickly as I could. I got involved with the city. I wanted to be on the airport board. At the time, the position for Lillian Riojas on City Council opened up, and I luckily was appointed by the wonderful city council at the time to serve you for the last eight and a half years. And now it's kind of interesting because I believe I'm the only fiscal conservative running for mayor. And if you look at the last four budgets, which you can go to and check out yourself at CorpusChristiLedger-Star.com, who has voted for every tax increase and who has voted against every tax increase? For four budgets in a row, Michael Hunter voted no. Again, my name is Michael Hunter, and I am running for mayor of Corpus Christi. And I humbly request your vote."

"I think we should move over to a $0 base budget. It seems to be the most reasonable plan for moving forward, having to justify where our city is not only getting its money, but where we're spending it. It seems like the best option for us moving forward. We need to also look at where we're overspending. You know, when we're redoing carpets at City Hall, is that really something necessary that we should be doing? Or giving raises to certain individuals, is that something that we should be doing? Our city government should act in a fiscally conservative way, but it needs to remember that it is a service for the people, not just for the select few in charge."

"One of the things that really bothered me about this last budget cycle was the fact that so much energy and imagination gets focused on catering to special interests. I mean, these supposed fiscal conservatives borrowed $757 million. They found money for desal, for industry, and they want the people to pay for it. They slash property tax rates without thinking about the implications of that. They extended the industrial district agreement contracts for 15 years. We have rich multinational corporations just outside of our city boundaries that make billions of dollars every few months, and yet we don't require them to pay their fair share. So if I were mayor, I would center the people and our quality of life issues, because really, trash collection, the libraries, our parks, our senior centers—those are about quality of life issues. I think the expectation from the community is so low to just demand better roads. We need that, but we need to have the kind of energy that they devote to industry to be devoted to the people. And that's what I'll do when I'm elected."

"As your full-time mayor, that's exactly what I've done. So thank you—energy and time. Because it is a time commitment, and it isn't a joke. The strongest thing, and one of the biggest things we've done as a council, has been to invoke the people—to listen to the people, to hear what they want. Not just what one sector wants, but what everybody wants. Because guess what? We all want good quality of life. We all want good parks. We want streets. We've invested $695 million in streets. That is an unprecedented amount. You know why? Because you want your streets fixed, and that's what we're doing. And faster than at any other time we have fixed our streets. So it is a balance of making certain that we provide basic, essential services with what it is we hear from you. And that's our job to do. You can't vote no on every budget and then go stand in front of a ribbon and cut it and say, 'Yes, rah rah, here we go. We cut the ribbon for this particular project.' You have to be a strong leader to vote on an operational budget and a CIP budget. Otherwise, you get nothing, while being fiscally responsible. And that's exactly what I've done and will continue to do."

"Well, you also can't be fiscally responsible by increasing your budget by over $1 billion in just a few short years. Look, we went into this budget season with a $25 million deficit, closing senior centers, closing parks, potentially closing libraries. And on top of this, 2,000 employees did not receive their cost-of-living increase. All the while, five of our council members, including our mayor, voted to increase our city manager's salary. It doesn't seem like the right year to give the head of the program a big increase. If we were to take a fiscally responsible approach, the leader would take a cut and the people at the bottom would have been spared. That would be the direction I would take the city."

"First of all, I have a PhD in sociology. And as I said before, I've studied the relationship between government and the economy. My primary areas of interest or priorities are actually centering the people instead of the polluters and the profiteers. To bring ethics and transparency to the decision-making, we need to actually focus on how the decisions and priorities of our government will affect the community. You know, we, as members of For the Greater Good, have had to request public information documents when we see what they're doing with desalination. We'll look at their stuff, and their claims during city council meetings don't even match with their original documents. So, one of my priorities would be to make sure that we have clear, accurate, and trustworthy information because we can't trust our leaders if they are boldfaced misrepresenting or lying to the public. Our public infrastructure is really important. I'm going to center our water. We need to think about desal and actually request the far-field studies that they refuse to do. Also, we need to look at the utility rate impact of desalination because they're borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars to start. And I would also say that we need to audit their cost projections, because I believe they're false."

"First of all, we closed no senior centers, and we actually opened parks—the water garden and Cole Park. But moving on, I was a small business owner for 15 years, and I've been the mayor for the last four years. I believe that there is undeniable progress that the council has had and prior councils. But I would continue. We have to continue to fix our streets, our residential streets. We have to keep taxes low, and we have to listen to the people. We have to listen to all sectors of the people across the entire city, not just one sector. And that means making certain that we are responsibly taking care of our city while providing services."

"What qualifies me to be the mayor? Well, I guess two of us are in an interesting position on that one because we've been on city council for a long time. I mean, this is the ninth budget I've been through. It's kind of hard to argue with experience like that. The three major issues should be pretty straightforward. It's water. We're at 23% capacity right now. If we don't have enough water to take care of ourselves, our homes, our animals, our loved ones, then I think you're going to have nine new members of City Council. The main issue is going to be water going forward. The other issues are obviously infrastructure—roads, drainage, etc. There are plenty of places throughout the city that are having drainage issues. That's why we have the new sales tax proposition coming up that was unanimously passed, and I believe the voters will pass it as well because they see the needs there. And then the last one is public safety. We need more police officers. We need more firefighters."

"I didn't go to mayor school. I won't pretend I did. I may not be qualified to be mayor if we're being really honest. I can tell you, though, that in every job I've ever worked, I've risen to an administrative or managerial position fairly quickly. And I'm also a small business owner here in town. I drive our streets every single day, and I actually get to interact with our community—not just as a campaign ploy. My three things, as I mentioned earlier, are that I am running against the desalination plant. As Councilman Hunter pointed out, we do need water for our families, for our pets, for our agricultural lawns, and all of that. I think we have it. Our meteorologists say that we are not in a drought. When you have 80% of our water being utilized by heavy industry, then it's not a problem of our consumption, it's a problem of their consumption. I think the first step for that is to start charging them the same rate that the residents pay. I know that they utilize the most, and some people think they should get a bulk discount. I disagree. I think it's our water, and I question how far they would let it go. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I want to fix our roads correctly and see an expansion of our green spaces."

"Yes, I do support desalination, and I have supported efforts in looking into prior, or, I'm sorry, other water resources that were not feasible. They were not feasible to move forward, which is why we're looking at desalination. We're not looking—we're actually building desalination. So it's extremely important. This topic is because, as was mentioned, we're at 22% in our western reservoirs, which means over 75% of our reservoirs are dry. And that is—we're in a critical moment in time. So desalination is absolutely something that we need to continue moving forward. We just received a no objection letter from the EPA, so we did get the green light to move forward. And that's what's happening. This is a process that has been taking place for decades. Not just this council but multiple councils prior. So this is a very important project that does need to move forward."

"Yes, I do support desal. I support all the potential water projects. Right now, there are three potential main water projects: Inner Harbor, Harbor Island. We did get the letter on Friday of no objection, which is kind of interesting because they are not necessarily a socially or fiscally conservative group giving us that opportunity. So it gives us the green light across the board. How long would it take to get all these projects? Desal plants, probably three years, three and a half years to build, and all of the nuances that go on—getting the ability to build it. So that could be a while. There could be lawsuits—nobody really knows until we do pull the final trigger. There is also a reservoir west of us. It's the Vaught Eshelman. It is about 280,000 acre-feet of water. It's fresh water—well, it's actually not necessarily fresh. It would basically be a desal plant in itself, but it would be groundwater, and it would be another opportunity that we could look at. It would potentially be the fastest water source to get up and running."

"As mentioned before, I am very against the desalination plants. I see them as an ecological disaster just waiting to happen. The Inner Harbor does not have enough water exchange with the Gulf of Mexico to support pushing all that brine out into it. Anybody that's lived through red tide or brown tide would tell you that same thing. I know that there are plenty of local fishermen and even our new oyster ranchers that are terrified of the Inner Harbor desal. Also, the amount of energy it takes to run the desal plants is something that I feel like they have not been talking about enough. They are not very efficient. After you get the first round of salt through there, it tends to clog up the whole thing. I am in favor of water reclamation, though. It's forced filtration of our treated water. It's already here on land, and we can push it right back out into our water supply."

"So For the Greater Good has been following the water issue since 2016. And that's when we first learned about desalination from the Texas Water Development Board and an organization called H2O for Texas that came here and was pushing desal. One, our community isn't growing. The economic interests keep inviting high-volume water users to come into our area with the promise of selling our water. In 2017, after they agreed to give 25 million gallons of water a day to Exxon and 6 million gallons of water a day to Steel Dynamics, the city—who they were a part of—cut a deal with those industries or high-volume water users, basically passing the drought exemption that allowed industry to pay $0.25 per 1,000 gallons to be exempt from the drought. We shouldn't have desal. All of the permits are about dumping the desalinated water into the bay. That's 57 million gallons of brine and sludge every single day being dumped into the bay. That's going to have an impact on eco-tourism, and that's going to have an impact on our general operating fund. And it's going to be a negative loop. We deserve better. We can end the drought exemption for high-volume water users, and we can stop inviting those water guzzlers into our area and cultivate economic growth from within."

"The Art Walk is a wonderful, wonderful event. Uh, it's been setting records every Friday, so it's hard to compete with something like the Art Walk. But I will tell you, my family has been involved with the South Texas art community for over 50 years. My grandmother, my mother, and myself have all been on the board of the South Texas Art Museum, and we have contributed significantly. One thing that I have done—maybe popular or unpopular, but at least I'm transparent about it—is that we set up through my position on City Council to help block off streets for the Art Walk and other events downtown. Some people are concerned about that, saying it causes too many parking issues, but it gives a sense of safety and the opportunity to walk. And for those businesses downtown at those events to prosper, we would have to implement more opportunities like that."

"Art Walk has been great, and I honestly am so impressed with the Downtown Management District for all that they do for downtown. They've really brought it back after the fiasco of road repair almost killed our downtown industries. But, you know, we should start expanding out and having other festivals across the city. There's no reason we can't have food truck festivals in Flour Bluff, kite fly events out in Bill Witt Park, or chili cook-offs over at Salinas Park or Hazel Bazemore. There are so many other spaces we could expand to, and utilizing those spaces correctly would be the best way, I think, to grow the events scene."

"So one of the things that I really love about our community—just so that you know—I actually collected over 900 signatures from registered voters across the community to get on the ballot. And I had an opportunity to talk with people, and I've been active as a community organizer, engaging with my community broadly for the last eight years. There are so many people already doing wonderful things, and we can support what they are doing. Right now, what they do is cobble together resources and rely on themselves. What's happening downtown is a testament to what we can do when we invest public resources in public spaces. Right now, we invest resources in certain pockets of the community, and I think there's a correlation between which communities are considered valuable. If I'm mayor, I'll prioritize thinking about the entire community. We can devote more resources to city parks and recreation, maintain public spaces, and then they'll be ready for events."

"What I've done is work and collaborate with Visit Corpus Christi and the Downtown Management District. I'll give you some examples of the work we've done together and spearheaded. One was the Illumination Project, which involved lighting up 100 trees on Chaparral Street downtown to completely change the ambiance of downtown. This created a pleasant environment, and it's probably the thing we hear the most compliments about. Another is the Norma Urban Park. This was a collaboration with the Downtown Management District to reimagine the park at one of our T-Heads. A lot of people remember skating on the platform out there, but last summer, we transformed it. We had over 4,500 visitors to the park, with food trucks and a big Corpus Christi sign that people took pictures next to. It was a wonderful thing, and that's what I've done."

"I would not have given him that raise. I would have voted against it. The $101 million of unsecured debt that he's brought us into, and the attempts to close our wildlife or wetlands preserve and cut back the hours at our libraries—I cannot imagine someone less deserving of a raise."

"I wouldn't have given him the raise. I think he's already making an extraordinary amount of money, which shows he doesn't really value our community and has to be bought off to stay here. We need to look at how we're paying our workers. Cutting important community services should have signaled that you don't give his office such an increase in spending. Many of our city workers earn below median wages, and there's a high turnover rate. Zanoni misrepresents the truth about desalination and its costs. He faces little accountability, and the amount of spending he's allowed could have been used for workers' jobs and expanded library hours. Centering people leads to different spending priorities."

"Yes. The five businesspeople on council voted to give Peter Zanoni the pay increase. He received a 5% cost of living increase and a 5% performance increase. The responsibility of managing a $1.8 billion budget and over 4,000 employees is immense. He's on 24/7. Zanoni also helped us achieve a double-A credit rating and renegotiated our industrial district agreements, increasing the tax base by $120 million over 15 years. He's in direct contact with the community and ensures things are taken care of. Hiring a new city manager would cost market rate, which is where we ended up."

"I don't think the city manager deserves a salary and benefits package that exceeds that of Los Angeles, California. This decision came as we were entering a budget season with a $25 million deficit. Like I said earlier, 2,000 employees didn't receive their cost of living increase because of the current budget situation. Of our 3,600-plus employees, 400 budgeted positions remain unfilled, leaving $46.7 million sitting unused. Our $1.8 billion budget is $300 million more than last year. What fiscal conservative would vote for that? If the bonds pass, our debt could exceed $2 billion with interest."

"I know a lot of people are concerned about public safety. I think we can address public safety by cultivating community and investing in public spaces. The Animal Care Services Center is incredibly important. My niece's dog was mauled by strays in the neighborhood, so people are afraid to walk outside. Sidewalks are also critical. Many people can't walk on their sidewalks and are forced to walk in the streets, which is dangerous. Walkable sidewalks help build trust and community, making us not just feel safer but actually be safer. Additionally, we need to expand parks and recreation programs. There are barriers to access, and people need affordable latchkey services and neighborhood parks for their children. My neighborhood doesn't even have a park."

"My three priorities outside of water, taxes, desalination, and streets would be public safety—always number one—animal care services, and investing in our senior centers. These are extremely important because they are what call our attention. Public safety must be a top priority. And, of course, seniors should always be a priority. These would be my second set of priorities if I had to choose."

"Diversifying our economy should be a priority. Right now, during oil and gas booms, the city and state do well, but we need to prepare for periods when those industries aren't thriving. I'm pro-industry, but we need to expand into sectors like tech, which continues to grow globally. We don't want to get stuck playing catch-up for 20 years. Public safety should be on that first list, in my opinion. We're short about 200-500 officers depending on who you ask. Corpus Christi's geography—stretching along the coast—makes it harder to cover with the current number of officers. We need to prioritize adding more officers to meet the national average for officer-to-citizen ratios."

"Infrastructure and desalination are important, but we need to also address the growing houseless population. I support a housing-first solution. We could use city- or county-owned properties, put a bit of investment into them, and provide homes for our houseless community. It's simple math: empty houses and houseless people. I also believe animal control is an issue. While we have good rules on the books, they aren't well enforced. People don't bother with intact animal licenses, and animals are left roaming around. We should start issuing fines when animals are picked up by animal control, not to discourage people from retrieving them but to encourage better care. I also want to see more green spaces and trees in our parks."

"Since I've been on council, the investment and focus we've put on Animal Care Services has been immense. Are we there yet? No. Can we flip a switch and change everything overnight? No. But have we made strides? Absolutely. I led the charge in creating the first-ever allocation for a spay and neuter program in the city of Corpus Christi, which is critical because that's where it all starts. Before, we had never allocated money for spay and neuter, and that makes a huge difference. Since 2016 or 2017, there's been a $2 million investment into Animal Care Services. Working with partners like PAC and Gulf Coast is also crucial. We're fostering stronger adoption and foster programs, and we'll continue to improve."

"We need to work with all the different animal rights organizations throughout the city. Many of them are frustrated. First off, we've had spay and neuter programs for the city for a long time. What happens is, you take the animals in, the vets perform the service on behalf of the city, and we pay them a fee. I think that fee was increased recently, which is what she was referring to. We need to open up that option to every veterinary clinic and animal rights group in the city—not just two specific groups. Even if some organizations may not want to participate, at least give them the option. The more groups we have involved, the quicker we can spay and neuter all the animals."

"I've actually heard some pretty good solutions from the other candidates, and I hope we get to implement those with the current council members. But we also need to focus on educating people who provide resources without providing care for animals. I understand the compassion behind feeding every animal on the street, but that can cause more problems. Not checking on the animals or not providing proper care just makes the population grow. Re-educating those individuals or giving them other opportunities to volunteer and care for the animals would be a better approach."

"While I was collecting signatures, I spoke with people passionate about Animal Care Services. One recommendation I heard that makes sense is to be more transparent about where calls are coming from and keeping an active record of that on the website. That way, we can target specific areas and devote staff to those places, not just to address the stray animals but also to connect with the community. Workers could go into these neighborhoods to talk about spaying and neutering and share helpful information. Another point is we shouldn't have cut the Animal Care Services budget in the last go-around. Public services are often the first to go during budget crises, but we need to shift our priorities and focus on neighborhoods first when making budget decisions."

"I'm proud to be affiliated with Beautify Corpus Christi from a young age. We were tasked with cleaning our parks and beaches, and every weekend, we would fill up bags picking up trash. Some of the stuff we found was not for the faint of heart, but we did the dirty work, and that's what I'm willing to do as mayor. During my time on the council, I was the first person to go underground during a construction project for a giant storm drainage pipeline—the first in the city's 100-year history. We need someone on city council who is committed to making those kinds of efforts."

"During my time with Oasis Brewing Company, I organized various community events, but I also remember standing in the parking lot during our last freeze, giving out as much water as I could. I froze my fingers and toes off helping those in need because New Oasis could filter and provide the water. I strive to better my community; at the dump, I help unload trailers for neighbors in need. I may not have an official record of helping our city, but I have plenty of support on social media from those I've assisted long before I intended to run for mayor."

"From 2010 to 2016, I conducted community health needs assessments for five local hospital systems, and I've continued this work with Driscoll Hospital in 2019 and 2022. I co-founded For the Greater Good, advocating for the community for the past eight years. We urged the city to develop a plan when their water infrastructure failed, leading us to buy bottled water. During the 2016 water ban, we distributed water to the community before the city established a distribution site. I've worked hard to raise awareness about desalination and its potential impact, and I've collaborated with organizations concerned about our environment. Now, I'm running for office to ensure I can be part of the decision-making process to help guide the city in the right direction."

"I'm not sure about being involved in pipelines, as mentioned, but what I'm proud of is my support for public safety. Since I've been on the council, we've hired 63 police officers—an unprecedented number. That's why I'm the only candidate endorsed by the police officers; I voted to support them in the budget. This investment in our police and firefighters prioritizes our citizens—our elderly parents, grandparents, and children. A safer city leads to success, and public safety is the proudest achievement I can claim."

"You've heard me speak tonight about my platform and myself, which isn't something I normally do. I'm the first name on the ballot, and even if you've already made up your mind, I humbly ask that you take a look at me. Visit JoshuaFraedrick.com and reach out to discuss the issues however you want. I believe we all want clean air, clean water, a safe future, and places for our kids to thrive. While we may disagree on how to achieve that, I hope we can agree on those goals. Again, I'm Joshua Fraedrick, and I'm running for mayor. I ask for your vote."

"I'm number two on the ballot, and I understand how government works—it's about who it's working for. I believe government should be a public good, pooling our resources to enhance the quality of life for the entire community. For decades, our city has been run like a business, investing in certain areas while neglecting others. I believe all our residents are valuable and worthy of investment. As mayor, I will ensure that our policies center on people and consider how our decisions impact all segments of society. We face significant issues like desalination, where the permit allows dumping brine back into the bay, which could have detrimental effects on our economy. Budget cuts should not come at the expense of public resources, like senior centers or libraries. We need to prioritize the entire city—not just the wealthy or well-connected who fund major campaigns."

"I humbly ask for your vote to continue serving as your mayor and representing everyone. I'm not sure what dividing the city means; my public record is transparent, showing my actions and collaborations across the city. I love Corpus Christi and work full-time for you. The progress we've made is undeniable. We need to fix our residential streets even faster than before and address our water supply issue. What plans do others have when our water runs out? The EPA supports our responsible water supply process. I've also voted to lower property tax rates to provide tax relief for seniors. When hiring a mayor, you should look for a record of accomplishments. My record stands strong, and tonight I ask for your vote to keep the momentum going and continue listening to you."

"I might not be as camera-friendly as my opponents, but I want to share more about myself. I've given back to this community with your support. I've been involved with organizations like Beautify Corpus Christi, the South Texas Art Museum, and the USS Lexington Rising Tide Society. I appreciate the opportunities to serve this city and have learned a lot. I had visuals to show the tax increases over the past four years, but I can't show them due to rules. However, you can visit CorpusChristiLegacy.com to see the voting records on tax increases. A tax rate decrease doesn't mean your taxes haven't gone up, especially if property values have risen significantly. Transparency is essential, and I hope you take a look. Thank you for your time. I humbly ask for your vote. My name is Michael Hunter, and I'm running for mayor of Corpus Christi."