For the first time in the city\u2019s 174-year history, a mayor has been formally reprimanded and suspended from office, though she avoided an outright ouster that would have prevented her from running for office for the next two years.<\/p>\n
On Friday, August 7<\/a>, a divided Corpus Christi<\/a> City Council voted to publicly reprimand Mayor Paulette\u00a0M. Guajardo after finding her guilty of misconduct while in office related to a $2 million economic incentive agreement for a downtown hotel project called the Homewood Suites. However, after hearing four days of testimony spread over two weeks, the council was unable to reach the five-vote supermajority necessary to remove Guajardo entirely \u2014 a decision that would also have\u00a0barred her from seeking office for the next two years.<\/p>\n What were the charges against Mayor Paulette\u00a0M. Guajardo?<\/p>\n The council majority found\u00a0Guajardo guilty of the three counts against her \u2014 misconduct \u201cby aiding a fraud on the taxpayers,\u201d perjury related to an August 6, 2025 deposition, and \u201cmisconduct, malfeasance, incompetence, or inability or willful neglect\u201d for failing to maintain confidentiality regarding a Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation meeting.<\/p>\n The council-led trial was sparked\u00a0when six\u00a0Corpus Christi<\/a> voters submitted a 2025 petition alleging that Guajardo engaged in misconduct in 2024 related to\u00a0the hotel incentive agreement. The petitioners \u2014 including Ajit David, a rival hotelier<\/a> who sued the city over the downtown hotel project, alleging fraud \u2014 claimed that Guajardo was aware that a slide had been altered during a 2024 presentation that the Homewood Suites developers had used to request federal funding for the hotel, according to Texas Public Radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prior to the vote \u2014 and with David sitting at his side \u2014 the petitioners\u2019 attorney, Doug Allison<\/a>, characterized the years-long debacle as a \u201cvery serious cancer\u201d and \u201ccorruption\u201d that had plagued Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one wants to really have to deal with the underbelly of this city, which has been the breeding ground of the mayor for too long,\u201d Allison said in his closing statements Friday.<\/p>\n But\u00a0Guajardo\u2019s attorney, John Flood, pleaded with the council to closely examine the facts of the case. If they did that, they would find none of the arguments held water, Flood said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you strip away the rhetoric and look only at the evidence, this accusation has no foundation whatsoever,\u201d Flood said.\u00a0\u201cThe easiest thing in the world is to punish someone that you\u2019ve already judged. The hardest thing to do, and the brave thing to do, is to lay down that judgment long enough to listen.”<\/p>\n Only District 5 Councilman\u00a0Gil Hernandez and District 2 Councilwoman Sylvia Campos voted to remove Guajardo from office. District 3 Councilman Eric Cantu \u2014 often one of Guajardo\u2019s most vocal critics \u2014 voted against removing her, telling KRIS 6<\/a> reporter Andrew Bishop<\/a> that that kind of decision-making belongs to voters.<\/p>\n Ousting the mayor would have required a 5-to-1\u00a0supermajority, but suspending her did not. That vote passed 4-to-2. Councilman at-large Mark Scott voted not guilty on all three counts, and similarly voted against penalizing the mayor. Now, for the next 30 days, District 4 Councilwoman Kaylynn Paxson will lead the city as mayor pro tem.<\/p>\n After the trial, Mayor\u00a0Guajardo took to social media<\/a> to thank her constituents \u201cfor the overwhelming support\u201d during what she called a difficult time.<\/p>\n