Red state mayor faces trial for removal over misconduct allegations

The Corpus Christi City Council voted on Tuesday to launch a removal hearing for Mayor Paulette Guajardo over allegations of misconduct.

The decision comes as the city faces a growing water crisis. A water emergency may be just months away, according to city leaders. But the controversy surrounding the mayor stems from a hotel development project, not the city’s management of its water supply.

After a tense debate, council members voted 5-3 to begin a trial to decide whether to eject Guajardo, who has been in office since 2021.

A citizen petition to remove Guajardo that precipitated the council vote includes allegations that she put an item on the council's agenda to award $2 million in tax incentives to a developer seeking to build a Homewood Suites in Corpus Christi, and that a PowerPoint presentation about the project included a slide showing a FEMA flood map that had been altered.

Guajardo is accused of being aware that the presentation that led them to choose Elevate QOF LLC as the developer was altered.

Ajit David, a competing hotel developer who wasn’t selected for the project, filed a lawsuit against the city alleging that the council approved the tax incentives based on an “ongoing false narrative” about the competing proposal.

Guajardo, who voted in favor of the tax incentives, later told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that the allegations against her are without merit. The Corpus Christi Police Department conducted an investigation and decided not to pursue a criminal case.

After the council discusses and decides the hearing’s procedures on April 14, they will move forward with adopting articles of impeachment for the mayor. For the removal hearing, city council members will “be essentially the judge and jury,” City Attorney Miles Risley said, and it would take a majority vote to oust Guajardo.

Guajardo will have the opportunity to summon witnesses and defend herself.

The process, according to Risley, could take around two months.

Council member Mark Scott, who voted against moving forward with the removal process, said the council should be focusing on a more pressing issue: the city’s imperiled water supply.

“What I get back from the community is, ‘Hey, are you guys rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?’” he said. “This is terrible timing.”

Council member Kaylynn Paxson said she voted in favor of holding a removal hearing because “we have to give that process a fair run … We have to let both sides come before us.”

Council member Roland Barrera, who voted against the measure, said he worries that the high-profile proceedings will discourage developers from considering doing business in Corpus Christi in the future.

“I would argue that this type of behavior, and the fact that we placate this kind of behavior, it tells developers, ‘Don't come to Corpus Christi, don't come to downtown,’” Barrera said.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.