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<\/p>\n11 out of 15 at-large City Council candidates attended a Del Mar College forum to discuss water, desalination, public safety and other city issues.<\/p>\n
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 With Election Day approaching, candidates running for Corpus Christi City Council are making their final push to reach voters and share their plans for the city’s future.<\/p>\n
Dozens of candidates running for local, county and state offices gathered at Del Mar College’s Center for Economic Development for a forum put together by community organizations that brought candidates into one room to help voters make informed decisions.<\/p>\n
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This story continues below.<\/p>\n
11 of the 15 candidates running for three at-large seats on Corpus Christi’s City Council attended the event, discussing their priorities and how they would address some of the city’s biggest challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say \u2018I’m just one vote, I’m not gonna make a difference.\u2019 They’re so wrong for thinking like that,\u201d said Gonzalo Tamez, President of LULAC Council #4444 and one of the forum’s organizers.<\/p>\n
\nCandidates share views on desalination <\/p>\n
Corpus Christi’s ongoing water challenges were among the major issues discussed, with candidates expressing differing views on the proposed Inner Harbor Desalination project.<\/p>\n
Candidate Scott Corliss said he supports the project, citing water affordability and the need to diversify the city’s water supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m for Inner Harbor, because the bottom line is we need to have the lowest rate for our ratepayers with the ability to grow and true diversification,\u201d Corliss said.<\/p>\n
Incumbent Mark Scott also voiced support for moving forward with the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon’t let the perfect get in the way of the doable. If you find an answer that’s doable, do it and move on. If you look at the projects we’ve bragged about over the years they are projects that are doable and we pulled the trigger,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
Candidate Merida Nardone Mendoza said she believes the project is ready to move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that it’s fully funded, we need to move forward. It’s been approved through different organizations like TCEQ, I can name them all, EPA. But I also feel it’s important to be good stewards of our community,\u201d Nardone Mendoza said.<\/p>\n
Other candidates voiced opposition to Inner Harbor desalination or called for exploring alternatives.<\/p>\n
Candidate Joshua Fraedrick said protecting the bay should be a priority and pointed to other potential locations for desalination.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo desalination plant that I will approve will come at the cost of our bay. That is a non-starter for me. I am interested in exploring things like Barney Davis and Harbor Island,\u201d Fraedrick said.<\/p>\n
Candidate Dr. Nancy Vera also opposed the Inner Harbor project and raised concerns about division on the City Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m against Inner Harbor Desal. That’s a no for me. And I’m tired of the not getting along on city council,\u201d Vera said.<\/p>\n
Candidate Julian Jacob Hernandez said he is concerned about the potential financial impact of desalination on households.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m against the desal, and I’ll tell you why. What’s it gonna cost the single parent households? The households that I grew up in,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
Candidate Sammy Gonzalez said the city should consider other water sources instead of moving directly toward desalination.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can’t bend the knee to industry and just go straight for the desalination plant. There’s other resources we can use such as underground water or recycled wastewater,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n
\nEconomic development and city services also draw attention <\/p>\n
Water was not the only issue raised during the forum. Candidates and organizers also discussed economic development, public safety and city services.<\/p>\n
Alex Garcia, an organizer with the GI Forum, said the city’s economic future should include opportunities for future generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre we looking at the economic base? Economic development is a big thing. Because I’m not looking so much for myself, I’m looking for the next generation,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n
Candidate Michael Miller said his decision to run is connected to his desire to improve the community for the next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve put in the work to try to make this a better place for my children. And this is just the next step for that journey,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Candidate Alex Johnston highlighted the importance of tracking performance across city departments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it’s police and fire response times, the number of animals in the animal control services facility, anything that you want to manage you have to measure, and if you measure you have to have visible KPIs that show if you’re improving,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n
Write-in candidate Jen Gracia also made her appeal to voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease consider me, I’ve got your back Corpus. Just remember, Jennifer Gracia, the only write-in candidate,\u201d Gracia said.<\/p>\n
\nEarly voting continues through Oct. 30 <\/p>\n
Voters will choose three at-large City Council members in the Nov. 3 election.<\/p>\n
Early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30, giving residents the remaining days to cast their ballots before Election Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"11 out of 15 at-large City Council candidates attended a Del Mar College forum to discuss water, desalination,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-478133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}