City council advanced a petition to remove Mayor Paulette Guajardo over Homewood Suites investigation, begins process that could take months amid water concerns.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi City Council has voted to advance a petition to remove Mayor Paulette Guajardo from office, setting in motion a process that could take months and raising broader questions about governance during a worsening water crisis.

RELATED: City Council votes 5-3 to advance removal process for Mayor Guajardo; mayor responds

The council approved the measure in a 5-3 vote Tuesday night, marking the first time in city history that formal removal proceedings have been initiated against a sitting mayor.

In a social media post Wednesday, Guajardo called the effort a “threat to democracy,” arguing that voters — not council members — should decide her future. She also tied the dispute to ongoing debates over the city’s water supply, defending desalination as critical to Corpus Christi’s growth and saying she plans to continue fighting both the removal effort and water issues.

The next key step is expected April 14, when council members will meet to determine how the proceedings will move forward.

The petition was launched in August by activist Rachel Caballero and has gathered more than 2,200 signatures — less than 1% of the city’s estimated population of 315,000. 

Some residents voiced support for removing the mayor.

“I regret voting for her, I did vote for her … I hope they do remove her,” one resident said.

Others questioned whether the issue should take priority over more pressing concerns.

“I’m not sure the question at issue — whether or not a particular FEMA map was altered — is the most critical question facing us right now,” another resident said. “What we really need is water.”

Former Mayor Joe McComb, who lost to Guajardo in the 2020 election, criticized the removal effort and said it risks distracting from urgent infrastructure challenges.

“She has not done anything that justifies what they’re trying to do to her, and that’s wrong,” McComb said. “Even if you disagree with somebody, you disagree with them and you go on — you don’t go out there and try to get them thrown out of office just because you don’t like them.”

McComb also pointed to the city charter in explaining what could happen if the mayor is removed. Under those rules, the at-large council member with the most votes would become mayor pro tem — which would currently be City Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn — until the next election in November.

“The charter says that there becomes a vacancy in the mayor’s office … the person in the at-large position that gets the largest number of votes becomes the mayor pro tem,” McComb said.

He warned the ongoing dispute could damage the city’s reputation while critical issues remain unresolved.

“The sad part about it is, the city of Corpus Christi — we’re not only getting a black eye, we’re getting two black eyes, one for the water and one for the way the council’s acting on this thing,” McComb said.

While there is no precedent involving a mayor, the last time a Corpus Christi elected official was removed from office was in 1987, when City Councilman Frank Mendez was ousted over alleged ethics violations in a 5-3 vote.