As a pre-trial hearing nears, former city leaders are posing questions about ethics, recusals and due process behind efforts to remove Mayor Paulette Guajardo.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As the Corpus Christi City Council prepares to consider two major issues Tuesday, attention is focused on both the proposed Inner Harbor desalination project and the ongoing effort to remove Mayor Paulette Guajardo from office.
Before council members vote on the desalination project, they are scheduled to hold a pre-trial hearing Tuesday morning related to the petition seeking Guajardo’s removal, a process that previous city leaders say is largely unprecedented in Corpus Christi politics.
The proceedings have prompted debate over whether the city is following the appropriate process and whether some council members who were witnesses in the previous Homewood Suites investigation should recuse themselves from participating.
Former Mayor Joe McComb said he believes the current process raises concerns.
“I’m defending the process, and what’s happening to her is not right,” McComb said.
McComb pointed to the 1987 removal of former City Council member Frank Mendez as the closest comparison to the current situation.
Mendez was removed from office following allegations that he violated conflict-of-interest provisions tied to a property sale. McComb, who served on the council at the time when allegations arose, said that case ultimately influenced the creation of the city’s ethics commission.
“The purpose that they learned, I think it was ’87 in the Mendez case, was that the council really doesn’t need to be put in that position where you’re making judgments on your fellow council members,” McComb said. “So that was the reason that the ethics commission was created in the first place, as a result of the Mendez case.”
McComb questioned why the current matter was not first handled through the city’s ethics commission, which he said could have reviewed the petition first and then made a recommendation to council members.
A review of the city charter indicates the council may refer a citizen petition to the ethics commission, though it does not explicitly require the council to do so.
Former Mayor Nelda Martinez also criticized the process, describing it as unprecedented.
“Anytime we get an ethics complaint, they do go to the ethics commission and that was circumvented, and the majority of the council decided to do this publicly and which tells me it’s very political,” Martinez said.
The issue of recusals has also become a focal point in the case. Council members Roland Barrera and Everett Roy have already recused themselves after previously serving as witnesses.
Martinez said she believes additional council members should do the same.
“Council member Gil Hernandez and Councilwoman Sylvia Campos would recuse themselves because of the precedents in the Supreme Court ruling that you cannot be a witness and judge,” Martinez said.
Martinez also questioned whether enough council members would remain eligible to vote on the mayor’s removal if additional recusals occur.
“Section 11 of the city charter states that you have to have the majority of the elected officials, you know, the city council, in order to remove the mayor, and there would not be a majority,” Martinez said.
The pre-trial hearing is expected to take place Tuesday morning. 3NEWS will give updates as they become available.