With early voting underway, Corpus Christi mayoral candidates outline their plans for water security, street repairs, city spending and transparency.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Early voting is in full swing, and seven candidates are vying to become Corpus Christi’s next mayor, offering different approaches to issues ranging from water security to city spending and transparency.

3NEWS spoke with all seven candidates about why they are running and how they would address the issues they believe matter most to voters.

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Watery security remains a major concern across the Coastal Bend, with candidates offering different strategies for securing the city’s long-term water supply.

Incumbent Mayor Paulette Guajardo said moving forward with the Inner Harbor desalination project is her top priority.

“Water security, that is the first priority is securing our long term water supply, and that is through the Inner Harbor desalination project that is waiting for a council to move forward,” Guajardo said.

City Councilman Gil Hernandez supports a different approach, proposing a combination of water supply projects rather than relying on the Inner Harbor project alone.

“I’m going to continue to diversify our water supply. We, instead of doing the single Inner Harbor Desal, we decided to do three different projects: wastewater reuse, brackish water desal, and groundwater. So all of those combined are twice as much volume as the Inner Harbor Desal,” Hernandez said.

City Councilwoman Kaylynn Paxson supports another desalination plant, the Harbor Island project.

“I support the Harbor Island project. It’s offshore, it’s in the Gulf. It’s going to produce so much more water that puts our city in an immediate and long term secure water position,” Paxson said.

Beyond water, candidates identified street repairs, the city’s budget and its debt as other issues that need attention.

David Ainsworth, a local businessman, wants to begin his time in office with a financial review of the city.

“I’m not a politician. I’m a businessman, and I want to help get in there. I’m a great leader and I will lead the new city council into making decisions, but before we can start, we have to do a forensic audit of the books,” Ainsworth said.

Chelise Hyatt, a mother of four who works in youth development, said she wants to help the city reach its potential and create a future that residents can be proud of.

“This city has so much potential and I feel like we are wasting it,” Hyatt said. “I will on day one start working very hard for this city and continue it. I have four teenage children who all go to Del Mar, and I want to leave a city for them that they’re proud of and that they want to raise their children in.”

Dave Heasley, a longtime boat captain and welder, pointed to what he described as corruption and the city’s debt as major concerns.

“One of our biggest problems is the corruption. The corruption is what’s killing our city, and it’s very obvious after the mayor’s recall hearings that she’s not working for us. And it’s very obvious that our city manager has gotten us into a situation where we’re $3.2 billion in debt,” Heasley said.

John Calkusic said transparency and accountability would be central to his approach to city government.

“My whole equation is transparency, oversight, accountability, honesty, integrity, and trust. If you don’t have that at City Hall, you might as well just keep the building locked up because that is the foundation,” Calkusic said.

Early voting runs through Oct. 30, followed by Election Day on Nov. 3.

3NEWS will provide special election coverage on Election Day as results come in.