Leaders in Corpus Christi, Texas, are weighing the removal of the city’s mayor as they reckon with a water crisis that could disrupt life in one of the nation’s largest petrochemical and refining hubs.
The City Council voted 5-2 this week to set a May 19 removal hearing date for Mayor Paulette Guajardo after the council received an impeachment petition signed by seven people.
The petition is not based on Guajardo’s handling of the city’s worsening water outlook, but rather a hotel tax incentive vote that critics and some council members say may have violated ethics standards.
The battle over whether to remove Guajardo is the latest chapter in a political drama that has come to define Corpus Christi’s City Council meetings — drama that has been shaped and amplified by the worsening water crisis in the Southeast Texas city.
