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Hours of public comment focus on petition to remove Mayor Guajardo and water crisis
Summary
A long public-comment period at the March 24 Corpus Christi Council meeting centered on a petition to remove Mayor Paulette Guajardo and on urgent water-supply concerns. Commenters presented competing views and referenced prior investigations and evidence; the council later opened procedural steps on the petition.
Dozens of residents used the public-comment period at the City Council meeting on March 24 to press contrasting demands: some speakers urged the council to reject a petition to remove Mayor Paulette Guajardo and to focus on water-supply solutions, while others demanded formal review of ethics and misconduct allegations and asked the council to pursue removal proceedings.
Sharon Sedwick, identifying herself from District 3, told the council that multiple law-enforcement agencies and an independent investigation had found no evidence against the mayor and urged support for her. "We support our mayor," she said. Other residents echoed that position, thanking the mayor for pushing desalination and other water measures.
Conversely, petitioner Rachael Caballero and a string of speakers said the petition alleges misconduct, conflict-of-interest and procedural wrongdoing related to a City Council incentive for the Elevate QOF, LLC project (Homewood Suites). "We have the facts, we have the proof and this is why we would like to proceed with the petition to remove the mayor," Caballero said during a later phone-in comment.
Multiple people during public comment raised specific assertions about altered presentation slides and possible document changes that had been discussed at earlier meetings. City staff and independent attorneys have previously reviewed portions of those materials; the meeting record shows a range of characterizations from "altered" to "appearance of an alteration," and speakers disagreed on whether those findings amounted to criminal conduct.
After public comment, the council took a procedural step on the petition: at the request of several council members the body scheduled a preliminary procedural meeting to set rules and dates for a removal hearing. City Attorney Miles Risley briefed council members on removal procedures under the city charter, including options to refer misconduct questions to the ethics commission, to set a hearing on certified articles of impeachment, or to deny or take no action on the petition. Council set a procedural agenda item to consider preliminary matters and rules for a removal hearing on April 14.
Mayor Guajardo and petition supporters said they would use the council's procedural process to present evidence and rebut claims. Several speakers from both camps urged the council to move carefully and to rely on the investigative record when deciding next steps.
The council did not remove the mayor at the March 24 meeting; it instead voted to set a procedural agenda item to establish a schedule and rules for any subsequent hearing.
