City Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Welcome to City Hall. Welcome to Council Chambers. It's wonderful to be back with you all today, so thanks for joining us as well. This morning, our invocation will be given by Father William Campbell with the Church of the Good Shepherd. Father?

Amen. Thank you, Father. And the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the Texas state flag will be led by Melina Guzman. She is a senior. at South Texas Science and Technology. She's an honor roll scholar and student council senior class officer.

Melina, thank you, and good luck in your studies. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, Ms. Woodson. We'll go to Section E, and that is our city manager's comments and update on city operations. Mr. Zanoni.

Okay, thank you, Nick. Councilman Hernandez.

Yes, has Colsa Bend Basin Estuary still against this, of us not releasing water? or opposing this temporary halt on releasing water? That is correct. Do you expect them to testify at the board meeting?

Okay. When we brought this up in years past, it had been a recommendation from CCW specifically Stefan Ramos to not open this can of worms is it is it still his position or CCW's position on that or.

Okay, so it's your position, CCW's position, that we do want to move forward and go to a more permanent solution as opposed to just a temporary one?

Okay, and I noticed you're not doing a water report today, and there was some question I did want to ask on that, but specifically the, I know that Sinton has refused to provide us their hydrology report, and we submitted an open records request on it, and did we, or can you give us the status of that?

Okay, so I want to be clear on this because did we provide them the hydrology report that was done by the Evangeline group?

So they were provided with Steve Young's report, the hydrology report.

But you're saying that they're refusing to provide their hydrologist report to us.

Okay, so did we, when that report was provided to Sinton, was there any redactions to that report? No. Not that I'm aware of. Okay, so we provided full information about the hydrologist report on the Evangeline property. To my knowledge, yes. But they refused to provide it to us. Yes. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Nick, for the update. So our request is for basically six months of... on those pass-throughs or until the combined levels reach 50%?

Okay, either or. And so we received that initial approval, and it has to go to the full board. When does that 180 days take effect? When we applied or when they give us that final approval?

Okay, so... You said that CCW is in support of reactivating NEAC to evaluate the long-term solutions. I'm just curious, I think that's something that we would already be initiating right now because I'm hopeful, I appreciate TCQ's support in this temporary pause. We've needed it for a while, but I think we need to be proactive because we're still, I think, going to come to them with some kind of long-term change recommendation, and I don't want us to be the holdup. Six months is not a long time to look at that.

That's what I'm trying to assess or rather get some confirmation that we We're not pausing that because we do have to get that. I want to be very proactive is what I'm trying to say, you know, get that, get the approval from the other two partners and don't wait on it because six months is going to go fast.

So seeing them tomorrow, which we know we will, and we're grateful for them to support this endeavor, when do we anticipate bringing that resolution to council?

Okay, could you send that update to us after we receive it tomorrow?

So, Peter, we already passed a resolution on this.

No, it was, I mean, because it was my item. It was a resolution to move forward with the temporary, and then there was a separate item, a resolution, to move forward with looking at the framework, because it is from 1995, and I believe it was amended in 2001, but to really look at this and start this process. So this should be, it is there. We'd have to look at the agenda of when that resolution was passed, but I know it was two items. One was for the agreement, the temporary, and the second item was for exactly this to move forward with the process which was going to be a long one but nonethe

Thank you, Chief Wade. And thank you for sponsoring this wonderful event. And you said it very well. Our firefighters and officers, they don't know. You don't know what you're going to encounter. So we appreciate everything that we have in both departments. Councilman Scott.

So my brother lives in New York City. And he was there on 9-11. What he says is the terrorist mistake was we came together, right? We came together. And you saw it that day. He saw it when he was walking down to see if he could volunteer. And they said, you know. And then we saw it in the baseball game a couple of days later. So I just want to say thank you. Chief, thank you. Chief, thank you. Thank you to your men and women for their service. And I look forward to coming together and recognizing the prize. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Chief White, thank you for the presentation.

Thank you, Mr. Zanoni. So it is 12.02. We are going to go to public comment. So before we begin public comment, I want to remind everyone that the City Council has adopted rules of decorum to help ensure that our meetings remain orderly, respectful, and productive. Copies of the rules of decorum are available at the City Secretary's office across the hall and are also available on the City's website. I ask everyone to please conduct themselves accordingly. We are here to do the people's work, and we would like to proceed in that spirit. When you do come forward, please state your name and the

Stephen Klepper. Then we'll hear from Robert Rocha, Marilena Garza, Adam Rios, and Susie Saldana.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Rocha. Thank you. And we do, just to address that, we have an item that I'm placing on the agenda to have a briefing over that particular subject next week.

Thank you, Peter. Councilwoman Paxson? Thank you.

Peter, we talked about this like three weeks ago, and this was... Right. You went back and forth with the association, with the fire department, and... Basically, we discovered that that was reality. There were some retired firefighters who were experiencing nearly a 90% increase with this.

I think what we need to do is make it very clear to the individuals who will be experiencing this and also to the public because it's a terrible concern. But as far as we go, there's not a lot that we can do to change it. And that's the position that we're in is they're coming to us, which is rightfully so, and saying this is a problem. It's going to impact me very negatively. And our hands are tied. So that type of thing where they can communicate on their end and get that clearly explained on their end, because that's where I don't want there to be the gap.

Thank you, Mr. Rios. Susie Saldana. Yes, Councilman Cantu.

Peter, can we set up a meeting next week sometime about the library and have her involved in it? I have some questions I want to ask, and I want to make sure we clear her concerns and everything.

Thank you, Ms. Saldana. Amanda Gomez. And then we will have George Johnson, Jared Suarez, Amanda Guerra, and Carissa Tamez.

I saw through another's eyes, and I remembered what it means to love, to serve, and to be the neighbor somebody needs.

Mr. Johnson, if you would, I noticed there's no you don't have a phone number or an email. If you'll right across the hallway is my office and you leave the ladies there with your contact info. And Peter, if you would maybe apprise the council of what not in this moment. in a memo right how this all works right and that way we can you know address this okay thank you councilwoman paxton peter do are we aware has development services at all talked to mr johnson i'm not aware of this the first i'm hearing of this situation so i can't answer that before he leaves property today can we have someon

go and address this and talk to him and get him some information so we can have the information as well so we can look at this deeply.

I think Yvette is also back there. Yeah. Okay, thank you.

Yes, statement of fact, that is completely fabricated and our city manager will clarify that today in executive session. Amanda Guerra. Amanda Guerra, Carissa Thomas.

Thank you, Reverend. Robert Schultz. Robert Schultz. Kathy Wimmer. Kathy Wimmer. Armand Alex.

Thank you, Mr. Alex. Rudy Riojas? Okay, okay. And we're going to go to WebEx. Stephanie?

I agree with what he said. I mean, I'm not, I'm sure, what are you asking me precisely? If I agree with him, or do I agree with what he's saying?

You don't need to play it again. We just saw it.

Yes. Yes, sir. I'm sorry, what was your name?

Mr. Zanoni, yes, can we have staff meet Mr. Ibarra, because this is an operational issue. Mr. Zanoni can absolutely address that.

So staff will come over, Mr. Ibarra, and speak with you and address, you know, go address these issues. Okay. Yes, thank you, sir. Thanks.

Absolutely. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Councilwoman Paxson.

Thank you. And Mr. Ibarra, just as a statement of fact, we are investing over a million dollars in the beginning of a sidewalk project, and we have had lengthy discussion about bringing sidewalks up to speed at our parks. So thank you for bringing this facility. You're not supposed to put in sidewalks after you put in pavement. You're supposed to do all that before you put in pavement. We appreciate it, sir. This is a big priority to us in the next budget. We appreciate that. Thank you.

Yes, the area he's talking about is actually in District 5. It's around Sneed. There's an area there that is an older neighborhood, but this was kind of a result of us doing the pavement-only aspect. They have a lot of gutters that are turned up the wrong way, and then you see where it doesn't drain properly. We actually have to send a vac truck out to those neighborhoods, that particular neighborhood that he's referring to, in order to suck up water because the way the street was designed, the drainage is on each end of the neighborhood. So the whole section, if it drops down, doesn't drain.

Well, they'll inspect it and see and address the issue.

No, they're aware of it. Ernie's well aware of it.

Okay, Rebecca, we're gonna move on to board and committee appointments.

Yes, and I would like to recommend the reappointments of Ernest De La Garza. He is with the Business Development Group corporate representative, and Melina Gosa. She is in the marketing slot, and I'll entertain a motion to approve the recommendation.

Okay, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed say no. No. The motion carries. I would also like to recommend the new appointment of Adam Rios in the public art and public space area. I'll entertain a motion to approve the recommendation.

Any opposed say no. The motion carries. All right, ma'am. Thank you so much. That's the only board. Thank you, Ms. Watson. So next we have our budget items, section I. Budget-related items, items 4 through 13.

I'd like to move to approve items 4 through 13 with the exception of 7. Is that a possibility?

Yeah second reading or would have to consider seven individually the tax rate for record vote, but Okay, so we have a motion so I'd like to move to approve items four through 13 with the exception of seven Okay, we have a motion in a second

to approve four through 13, with the exception of number seven. Is there any public comment on items four through 13? Okay, if there is no public comment, we will, I'm gonna finish, I heard him. I'm gonna close public comment. Councilwoman Paxson. Thank you.

Mr. Zanoni, before voting on item four, I wanted to circle back to last week's discussion, jumping down to item seven because they are connected even though this proposed passage excludes seven before we take a vote on four. Do we have an update?

Originally, there was a motion made to go to the no new revenue, and I think the discussion centered around bringing back a recommendation. If we were to do that, this is what we'd need cut before we vote on number four.

Do we have a presentation on that showing totals? Do we have anything prepared?

Okay, so the recommendation in order to facilitate going to the no new revenue tax rate would be I think it was 700 million, whatever that offset was that we were putting into these new items. And there was no other recommendations on other ways that we could save that 820?

I guess from the last discussion, I recognize that you said that would be the first recommendation, but it seems like there was potentially going to be a secondary. These are other options that we could consider. So I guess that's kind of what I was looking at because we know abatement, we cannot lose that. So that's what I was kind of looking for.

I guess I'm a little disappointed that we don't have something kind of showing those dollars since there was actually a motion made and there was discussion about it. So... I appreciate that, thank you.

Okay, we have a motion and a second to put through, let's see, items four through 13, with the exception of number seven. Please submit your votes. Councilman Hernandez. Hold on a second. Yes.

Peter, I mean, I was, you know, in terms of how you look at this, you look at particular programs, which you don't look at it as an overall, concern. What is the percentage of the budget that $820,000 represents?

So what are we looking at the general fund? $360,000? I'm sorry, I didn't look at it. It's about $350,000, yeah.

Less than half of 1%. So if you did a small less than half of 1% across all departments, would that be an issue?

Next year we have to look at our... Can you articulate that a little bit better?

Okay, I did have an issue with the way this was done. Did we make any changes to the cost of living allowance versus merit pay? We did not, Councilman. We kept the recommendation as we had it. Okay, well, I didn't vote for all the items from 4 to 13. I did not vote for 4. I also did not vote for, I want to say it's... Item number 12. So, Rebecca, on this thing, since we're voting them all at once, can I select certain ones that I'm not voting for?

I believe so. I think there was one other one that I voted against. I think I also voted against six as well.

Councilmember Vaughn is what, excluding? She's voting no on four and eight. Four and eight. Well, if it's two and you're notating it.

So let's go, do we need to rescind the, because we have a motion to second.

We have a second. Please submit your vote. Okay, the motion carries. Okay, the next item, item number five, ordinance establishing compensation for the presiding judge and municipal court judges of the City of Corpus Christi beginning in fiscal year 2027. Are we doing this together or individually? Individually. She's doing them individually. Yes. Yeah. All right, so item number five, do we have a motion?

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please submit your vote. Okay, next item, number six, ordinance adopting the Corpus Christi fiscal year 2026-2027 capital budget beginning October 1 of 2026. Do we have a motion?

Do we have a second? Second. Please submit your vote. The motion carries. Item number seven is an ordinance setting a property tax rate of 0.599774 per $100 valuation. which is effectively a 0.50% increase over the no new revenue tax rate and approving the tax roll as calculated.

Mayor, I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 0.599774 for $100 valuation, which is effectively a 0.5% increase in the tax rate.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please submit your vote.

Okay, so that fails. Okay, the motion fails. Yes, Peter.

Just for clarification, this has to be a supermajority, six vote?

I think there was some good suggestions as far as less than 1% from each, or up to 1%, a reduction from the budget like Councilman Hernandez recommended and merit versus... COLA, those types of things. Again, I wish that those could have been presented today to avoid this type of a situation because there was so much discussion on it. But those were really good places to start.

Well, it's disappointing, especially after months of workshops. You know, as I say often, I think all Staff and developers and individuals that invest in Corpus Christi is a predictable regulatory environment. And to come at this time to request, and I tell you what, in Austin, this is called a bumper sticker initiative in order to be able to basically state that we're reducing the tax rate to save every homeowner $5 annually. And I think the consequences that we're not, you know, this year because of the tax relief that this council, the prior council did, that put us in a position where we'r

Thank you. Like I said this before, this is a really, it's a big responsibility that we have here. And as much as I don't like to see some of the cuts and this kind of at the end theatrics, it's not needed. I mean, those things should have been discussed beforehand. I also am very disappointed with the mayor with her latest votes of just the abstentions. She's been here long enough to know how important this is. So again, I hope that we're able to redo this vote and everybody come to the table and do what we were elected to do, which is pass this budget.

Yes, and for the record, I have not been a part of one conversation of this budget, and this is not the same budget as years before so no it would be wrong of me to be voting on something that i have not had one conversation with my colleagues or the city manager on so councilwoman uh bond okay mr senoni you know last week we kind of had a plan on what we were going to do so to me it's just kind of being up leveled i'd like to see us finish the agenda and for us to go back to number four

And then the tax increase and talk about it. And let's figure something out because I'm disappointed that we don't have anything, any other cuts that we can present to us other than cutting the mowing. I don't like that. So I am not pleased with what's gone here either because I voted for both of those last week. But now I'm confused as what. So I want to hear for in detail what we're cutting, what we're not going to cut. And then. I want to go back and vote on the increase if it's, because I realize we've got to pass a budget, but I also want to make sure what cuts we're doing, that they're f

uh... nor do i think we can get him in a few hours percent your forward number four so we can see exactly what's going on here so that we can get in some kind of agreement some of them up for the budget and not the increase i mean i think they go hand in hand we could do that that's just a suggestion yeah that's that's a good one where we could review

So we talked about are still in there. I'm just saying, let's go back and do a review. And then the mayor hasn't been here and she can hear that as well.

Well, let's, yeah, we'll do that. Let's get the other comments through here. Councilman Cantu?

Quick question, Peter. Can we table this until next week so the mayor can be up to speed this week on this?

Yeah, so they could wait a couple more days. I think They may be I don't think the people are in a rush to get their tax bill.

Okay, what we're going to do is move forward. I know we have a couple more comments. We'll move forward with the consent agenda item, and we're just going to move forward with the agenda, and then we'll go back to four. All right, Councilwoman Campos, and then Hernandez, and then we'll go to the consent. Go ahead.

Thank You Sergio thank you for reiterating what this vote actually means so again I just want to point out that yes maybe the mayor was not here present but I would think that she was still listening to the information that was being presented plus the months leading to this so again I want to urge and encourage all our council members to please vote accordingly and let's just get this done.

Yes, so Councilwoman, statement of fact, based on your vote, I was not here for 30 days. I was not able or allowed to reach out to any staff member to our city manager, so regardless of where I, you know, listening to the conversations or not, I was not a part of them, and it would be completely irresponsible of me to vote on a budget that I have had absolutely no input on. I have not been able to ask a question or receive a response on, and that was based on the actions that were taken by you. So that is why I cannot vote on a budget that I have not been involved in. Councilman Hernandez.

You know, a while back, just a month ago, we made a suggestion to put before the voters the final two cents that probably would have addressed some of these issues. Now, ultimately, I think the voters should be able to decide on some of these things, right? Especially on something like a tax increase for streets specifically. I don't... You know, I didn't vote for the budget last week because I thought there were some issues there, but I did vote for the tax increase just so we could get to this week so we could get some information put forward on some options. I'm disappointed we didn't see a

Is that okay? I thought we wouldn't vote on those until, are we able to vote on those?

So let's go ahead and vote on items eight through 13. And there were some in there that somebody had a problem with? Okay, so item number eight is an ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Aviation, Section 9-35, Parking Rates, by revising the parking rate for long-term parking at the Corpus Christi International Airport. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please submit your vote. Okay, the motion fails.

Okay. Item number, did anyone have an issue with 9 through 13? We already had it. I'm sorry? 12?

Okay, so do you want to make a motion? I move for approval of items 9, 10, 11, and 13.

Right. Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve items 9, 10, 11, and 13. We have a motion and a second. Please submit your vote. 9, 10, 11, and 13. Well, nobody had an issue with 9, 10, 11, and 13. The only issue was 12, so we're pulling that individually. Okay, the motion carries. Councilman Hernandez, you have a question or comment on item 12, which is an ordinance amending section 14-1341 of the Corpus Christi Code to add a fee for processing petitions for annexation.

Like, the only issue I had with this was because of the state restrictions on us unilaterally annexing in the future. I didn't want to discourage people from annexing into the city with additional fees. So I didn't think this was appropriate, so I'm voting against it. Here, I move for approval. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please submit your vote. Okay, the motion carries. Consent, that takes us to consent agenda item section J, 14 through 27. Do we have any items that council members would like to pull? 14 through 27. 19, 20, 21. 19, 20, 21. Anything else? 27. 27. Okay, then I will, any requests from the public to pull an item for public comment at this time? Okay, there being none, we'll move on. I will entertain a motion to approve consent agenda with the exception of items 19, 20, 21, and 27. No, that's separate. Okay, we have a motion to approve. Do we have a second?

Okay, please submit your vote. The motion carries. So the first item pulled is item number 19, and that is an ordinance annexing a .99 acre tract of land located at the southwest corner of County Road 47 and FM 43. Councilman Hernandez, is that you? No. Councilman Cantu.

Have you got any feedback on this one? From any residents? No residents at this point on the restaurant, correct. Okay, thank you. I'll move to approve. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please submit your vote. The motion carries. Next item pulled was item number 20, and that is an ordinance annexing 1.377 acre tract of land located along the south side of FM 43 and east of CR 47. Councilman Cantu, was that yours as well?

Yes, ma'am. Is this the Dollar General? Yes, sir. It is, right? Correct. Okay. Does anybody hear from them? Do you have any pictures of the building that you're going to build there by chance? You do not have anything? I do not. Do you know what kind of building we're going to build there?

Got it. There's some concerns from residents of the just having a plain old warehouse type of building out there, and then also the lighting in the back of the homes, the back of the building facing the homes in the back. And then I believe they don't want a big old sign.

Okay. Um... Um... I think that's all I have. I move to approve.

Okay, we have a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Okay. Please submit your votes. The motion carries. Next item pulled is item 21, and that is the ratification of a city ordinance disapproving the program expenditure in funding under the termination, settlement, and release agreement between the Corpus Christi B Corporation and Elevate QOF. And who pulled this one?

I pulled it. I just want to do a vote by itself on this one. Thank you. I move to approve.

Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve the item. Please submit your vote. Okay, the motion carries. Next item, last item pulled is item number 27. That is an ordinance amending the chapter 380 incentive agreement with La Palmera Mall. And who pulled this one? Councilman Hernandez, go ahead.

Mayor, before we do that, I know we had two people from the port here. Both of their items were approved in 24 and 25. I wanted to see if they had an opportunity to at least say something on their agenda item before we do 27. Sure. Kent?

Did y'all want to say something? Are you... recommending they say something. This is a very good news item and items 24 and 25 are related. 24 is a motion authorizing the execution of the interlocal agreement with the Port of Corpus Christi. This is for flood wall upgrades at the Science Museum for the Port of Corpus Christi Authority to design and construct a flood wall or bulkhead with concrete apron, provide flood protection, pedestrian connectivity, and ship channel operational improvements.

Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. You're good? Well, thank you for all the work you've done as well, both of you. Okay.

Okay. Okay. I just wanted to clarify something on the, on item number 27. There's no additional funding associated with this. It's just an extension of the timeframe to, to get to that funding. Is that correct?

Okay, I just want to make sure that was clear. We're not providing any more funding. It's the existing funding that was already approved back in 2028, or I'm sorry, 2008?

2010? Okay. But the agreement was in 2008? Okay, so I just wanted to clarify that, that we're not just handing out money. We're doing our due diligence here, giving them an opportunity to complete what they're doing. Okay, thank you. With that, I make a motion to approve.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Councilwoman Paxton?

Well, my comment was actually on item 24, but I just wanted to thank the port because this is not only gonna be a very valuable enhancement to that structure, but through this partnership, it's a huge saving to the city and it's an incredible facility for the public use, so thank you for that. Hopefully, and I don't know if it's possible, but I'd love to see if there was fishing returned over in that area somewhere. I've actually had some people bring that up to me. I'm sure we'll see beautiful designs in the future, but thank you for your partnership.

I wanted to just speak on the item number 27, the La Primera Mall. Yeah, I think this is a good news item. Number one is that I know the world is changing and a lot of people are buying things on eBay and whatnot, but The other thing is that I really do believe overall when you take a look at the number of the fraud that's involved in a lot of times when you're buying things and you're not familiar with the retailer on the other end, there's a lot of issues there. I think America is, in my opinion, is going back. and welcoming the ability to touch something, to deal with a live person, to make

Thank you. I just wanted to also just thank the people that continue to invest in our city. I did make a request that perhaps may be a demand that at least if with the incentive that they plant more trees on the back end of the Padre Staples Mall, that is known as a heat zone, and they could really help out with that. I hope that they're listening and I think it's a good news for the city of Corpus Christi that they have invested and that they've reached out to some of the other companies that are already here and continue to see Corpus Christi as a place to come play and work here. So with th

You want to turn your light? Yeah, he spoke. Okay, I think we have a motion and a second, so please submit your votes. Okay, the motion carries. Thank you, Jennifer. Okay, so let's see, we have, it's 1.47. We're gonna go ahead and break for lunch. We'll come back and go to public hearings, individual consideration items. Let's see here. Okay, so the council will go into executive session on items 32 through 33 per Texas Government Code Section 551.071 and 551.072. And we will return.

I think they were asking about the timing. They were able to present, but they were trying to confirm on the timing as their short staff. So I don't know if we can move that item up earlier, and that may alleviate that issue.

I think they were anticipating it being quite late this evening.

Just get confirmation, Peter, and see what we need to do.

Okay, thank you. So we'll return. Okay, we're gonna go ahead and bring the meeting back to order. We left off on section L, public hearings, items 28 and 29. So item number 28 is a zoning case number ZN9151, MVR Construction Company, Inc., located in District 3. Ordinance rezoning a property at or near 6201 Greenwood Drive from the RS6 Single Family 6 District to the CN1SP Neighborhood Commercial District with a special permit.

Okay, we do have a motion and a second. Councilwoman Vaughn?

I just have a couple questions. So they didn't want it there because it's like a throw-down yard for their equipment, correct?

So the building will stay? Correct. Okay. All right. Thank you. Councilwoman Paxson?

Thank you. What were the three oppositions, and was it to the amended or the original requests?

So it is... One of the renderings looks like a, you know, it looks kind of nice, that storage facility. I guess my thing is, is it's right in between so much residential.

Are they going to be putting any kind of fencing or barriers to kind of, you know, if that's your home up against what's going to be that roadway and now going to be a new storage facility? You know what I mean? That's quite a big change to their current.

Okay. Have they indicated doing one of those? Okay. Okay. And is the... I'm looking for the picture. I'm sorry. I'm trying to find it again in the packet. Um, there is a rendering. Okay. There it's, um, it's kind of a sharper looking building. Is that more realistically what they're, I know it's just a rendering, but do we think that's kind of what they're going for? I don't know what page it would be on yours. It's our site plan.

Okay, and I think you said it earlier, but the lighting is going to be minimized or controlled so that it's not disruptive to the R6?

Okay, and when we remedied some of those concerns that were voiced in those letters, did we ever make contact with them again and tell them they were remedied?

Is the roadway that's going to the north of the property, is that just for their internal use? That's just for that property to use? And the building is going to be on the south?

I almost wonder if it wouldn't be better to flip it so that there's less traffic.

Okay. Well, thank you for all this information, Yvette.

Yvette, thank you. Thanks for working with the developer because this is, I think, important in terms of the development, which is the next item. How many homes is that? 920. So this is basically to help facilitate building 920 homes.

I think this is a great project. And again, thank you for, I mean, that's the point, right? Facilitate, work with our developer, and move the project forward. So I'm happy to see this. We have a motion and a second. Councilman Cantu?

Hang on, I got a couple questions. Yeah. The front entrance will be on Greenwood, right? Okay. And then we're going to limit him hours?

But isn't there like body shops and warehouses around those neighborhoods?

Okay, please submit your vote. Mayor, we need the public hearing, please.

We need to open and close public. Yes, sorry. I'm going to open public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to make a comment on item number 28? Okay, there being no one, we will close public hearing and please submit your votes. Okay, the motion carries. Next item, item number 29, is zoning case number ZN9079, MVR Construction Company, Inc., located in District 3. Ordinance rezoning a property at or near 5514 Greenwood Drive from the CG2 General Commercial District to the RS4.5 PUD, single family, 4.5 district, with a planned unit development overlay.

Thanks for the presentation. I just had a comment. I know some of the council members are going to remember the Bohemian Colony. Remember that project? I think we actually did a TIRS for that. And I was all excited about that project. It was 97 acres, I think. And then all of a sudden it kind of went away. The interesting thing about this is that this area now, even though it's not in my district, I'm still pretty pumped up about it because this area has recently kind of went It's kind of a resurgent type area, and it's pretty exciting. In the long term, I think after we get some of this resid

Bone and Joint Clinic. South Texas Bone and Joint. Yeah, amazing facility. Anyway, I'm just glad to see something there in that area happening because I was so disappointed that the Bohemian colony didn't come to fruition.

Yeah, this is going to be a hot area. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I also want to echo that. I want to thank the developer. You know, there's been, I mean, 30 years of history to try and develop this property. And I wish you the best. You know, I'll say a few Hail Marys for you. What is it? Throw a Hail Mary pass. I mean, I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. And, you know, things like this, you know, once again, as I say, it's ad valorem to, you know, help CCISD with their situation. You know, projects like this, you know, it's not just for the city because there's an ag exemption. I think we're getting $5,000 a year in revenue

Yes, thank you. You know, on your PowerPoint, you didn't include Planning Commission, but I'm assuming that's the case because it was in the agenda memo for Planning Commission approval?

Okay, well, it only says staff on your PowerPoint. Okay, the... Now, we're only doing zoning, but obviously you've got to have entrances and exits, right? So are we making a modification to the transportation plan or anything like that to account for this?

Four points of access. Okay. Are we going to have to make any modifications? I mean, these are C1 collectors? Okay. So at some point, some modification will need to be made.

Okay. But are we going to add it to the master plan?

Okay. I'm just stickler for the details. Okay. Thank you.

Before he owned this property, did we put money in this property, the city did, like for sewer and water and all that stuff?

So we never did anything like added, added more stuff to it.

What about Holly road? Are we going to, is there any, um, any, um, um, um, making it, making a four way.

Because it's a two-way right now, right? Yeah. And how many homes is he going to build in here?

Okay. I'm going to approve. Second. Second.

Thank you. Well, I've grown up in this area, so yeah, I've been waiting. And I remember the Bohemian project. So yeah, this is a long time coming, and I wish this company well. I hope that they succeed. And yes, I can also attest that the bus goes through that Silverberry and in between because I've got a sibling that uses that and is grateful for that. So hopefully, again, this will also spur some new development. And I wish them well. So thank you.

Okay. Okay. We have a motion and a second. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to make comment on item number 29? There being no one, we'll close public comment and please submit your votes. Okay, the motion carries. Our next, thank you, Yvette. We're gonna go to section M, individual consideration items. Item number 30, and that is a resolution establishing an ad hoc committee to review the city's procurement of professional services, including architectural and engineering services, and recommend improvements to city processes and applicable state law, as requested by Councilmemb

Thank you for the presentation. Chapter, just to be clear, Chapter 2254, that's specifically A&E type contracts. That's what you were referencing in this presentation. Let me go to that.

Sure. I appreciate that. I think one of the common themes that you demonstrated throughout your presentation was you cited the Texas code, and then you said most cities follow some sort of a close variation to what we do, which is what the code is. Great, we're following the law. That's perfect. To me, that's one of the big driving factors behind wanting to call this committee for a brief period of time is, to look at what could we do across our procurement. And I'm not saying that we're not following good practice. I'm not saying any of the other cities are not following state practice. I'm n

Okay, so I'll read the code directly. 2254.004. In procuring architectural, engineering, and land surveying services, a government entity shall first select most highly qualified provider of those services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications, then attempt to negotiate a provider with a contract at a fair and reasonable price. What is your definition of fair and reasonable price?

Okay, so if you can explain that. So, for example, are you keeping a historical record of what these companies charge by hour and average it out to say that that's what the norm should be, or how are you determining that?

But you're not keeping track of what that looks like on an average basis?

So is there like a reference point, like a professional site that says this should be the average cost for this year in this particular market based on these particular circumstances, do you have some sort of professional site that you can reference to?

Is there a codified or policy, written policy on how you should determine what is a fair market price for this particular year?

Okay, so with procurement on this, without having some sort of formalized policy on how you determine what costs should be or negotiated costs should be, obviously you can't do it on the selection process, but on the negotiation side, there should be some formalized process to determine whether or not the cost is structured correctly. Okay. So because, I mean, when it comes to us, it's a yes or no kind of situation, right? We don't have any insight into, well, at least it's not part of the agenda memo or the documentation. You have to ask for the individual scoring by whoever did the scoring f

Okay. Well, I understand what Councilwoman Paxson was kind of trying to set here is to have kind of an oversight on the process, separate from council, obviously with an ad hoc committee, or maybe it could be a standing committee to review these kind of processes, but I'll let others ask questions.

Thank you Okay, so when it comes to the committee the consists of five members Is it typically the same five members or you all rotate or how does that know it depends on the project?

For example, the desal project, since there has not been a desal project, how would you have determined which committee members would be

Okay, well, I guess then I need to I wanted to ask, I see that the city of Austin requires in depth training for evaluators, including ethics and anti lobbying. So I would, I mean, is it safe to assume that we have anti lobbying in our committees?

Well, only because one of our employees, what's his name? Brent? No. Can't think of his name. Went directly from here to Friesen Nichols. Who? It is Brent, right? I'm just wondering how, if it happens more often than we know, that our engineers are going to the private sector and back and forth, like, does that happen pretty often?

But are you saying that we do no longer have that provision in place where we have a standing rule that you can't just go from, you know, from city of Corpus Christi to the contractor within 90 days, 120 days?

It is 12 months. You can't work for the contractor. Because I thought that Brent went directly on city projects. Okay, but the city project was the Inner Harbor, and then he went to go work for Friesen Nichols.

No, but you can't work on the same project that you were. Correct. Okay. Okay. Well, thank you for clarifying that. All right. That's all I have for now. Councilman Paxson.

Thank you, Jeff. Thank you everyone for the presentation. I think still at the end of the day and it's no fault of our department because it's state policy. The big thing behind this is, you know, we hear it a lot. We hired the same X amount of contractors and there's so many complex reasons as to why that would happen. So part of this is evaluating that. It's that so much of our costs are increased because we're a city entity. and they charge us more, and that's not you, that's not me, that's none of us, but it's not exclusive to the city of Corpus Christi. It's a systemic issue, and anytime

I just want to, I guess, reiterate, as somebody that competes for professional services, not necessarily as an architectural engineer, I'm just going to make some comments, but... You know, and then I get stuck in between whether or not it's a professional service or you can include the pricing. I think the situation is when you have professional services, what determines the price is the market. And, you know, about two years ago, Corpus Christi, exceeded the the average wage exceeded that of the state of Texas and in some areas it was we exceeded that and if you deal down on it a lot of it w

Okay, and just for clarity, you are wanting to have council members choose or appoint a person. Is that correct? Right. And those people would then look at the policy and state law. recommend improvements to city processes and applicable state law. I guess I'm wondering what is the deficiency that you feel there exists?

Thank you. So the outline was to have each Elected a point similar to the committee's we've done far-field Conservation plan all of those a point one and have someone from legal someone from engineer kind of help be the liaison and the objective is really to to come up with An evaluation of our policies and that's that's the whole bulk of things some of the conversation up here would certainly be included things like Who's scoring? What's the training we do or don't provide for those scoring? Where we may not drive the selection, what do we drive in the negotiation? Those types of things. I kn

Okay, thank you. Peter, we, I think we've heard, we are abiding by, this is very specific, right, this professional services. We're abiding by, we have to abide by state law and procedure and best practices.

Unless you feel otherwise, I feel like this, number one, is very operational and we're policymakers. So this is more in your lane. I think it does cross over, but I think we have to be very careful. And to put... lay people in a room who are not familiar, I wouldn't think. I don't know, to me it's just a little bit, it could go the other way, where it could become, we create problems. To me, I think this is very operational. And I think, if anything, we are 50 days out, 5-0 out from an election. And I think by the time something like this is put together to review, it's really for the next cou

Well, I think that's part of it, too, Peter, is what exactly are we looking for? I know, Councilman, you just...

Why wouldn't we start with an audit then?

Well, I'm a little conflicted about it, and I wanted your opinion as well, too, because I understand what she's trying to do. I do. I think she wants the process to be better, and I get that, but I can't think of one person that I know that I would put on it because I think we need some really smart people on it. Not that I don't know smart people, but I'm just saying it's an individualized expertise on doing this, and I'm kind of The fact that we are towards the election, do we want to wait and move it towards the next year? So what benefit? I mean, you have an opinion. Do you think it's some

Is that a yes or no? Do you think you need them or you don't?

Oh, no, you're just kicking that can down the road.

So you feel comfortable with what you've done, is what you're saying?

Well, my concern has always been on this is the fairness of it, to make sure we're not using the same contractors over and over and over. Right. And I know we have to follow state law, so I'm not sure what all we can do since we have to follow state law.

Audit's not a bad thing either. Right, we could start with that. Councilman Hernandez.

Okay, so our job here is budget policy and oversight, right? So the oversight component, this would be an oversight component of it. Right, what we're not talking about is not observing state law, it's just having an oversight of the process, okay? You know, and I can think of a put on that, put Bill Goldston on it, a retired engineer, part of, what's your organization called? I forget, ACEC, right? So, you know, where you have some involvement on, you know, I remember when I first ran for office, the The one, I remember a group, I won't mention their names, but there was a group that came to

And I think everybody agrees with that, but I would think an audit would be the way to go to begin that first step anyway. Councilman Scott.

Thank you, Mayor. I thought that was an impressive presentation. I think the issue is Are there protections in place regarding bias? And what I heard both of you talk about was the multiple layers of protections to try to remove any bias on the committee selections. I think until you can change state law to negotiate based on rates with consulting, then we're not really getting anywhere. I think if the council wants to direct staff to create a policy on rate checking or whatever you called it, then we ought to tell them to go do that. I mean, if that's something we want, then just go do it. Th

You know, I think that this really does scream the fact that if we are concerned, we have an audit team. And I think that looking in the past at some of the things that were brought up and the auditors looked at it's been an effective tool overall I mean I know that there's been some ups and downs in that department but if you take a look at things like the rental agencies and a lot of things that they did in terms of auditing the airports and auditing some of the city contracts and that. We learned a lot when we were able to improve processes and really have a system of checks and balances an

Okay, we do have a motion and there is not a second. So, you did? Okay, I didn't hear that. Okay, so we can vote and this is to create a, yes, to create an ad hoc committee. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to make comment on item number 30? Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Schultz. Anyone else? Okay, we'll close public comment. We have a motion and a second. Councilwoman Vaughn?

I understand what you're trying to do, and I think it's a good idea, Councilwoman Paxson. But for me, I just think it's so late in this term, and I'm concerned that you have a shortage of staff. You do. You do. And to put any more on them, I don't see that we can do that. And I'm concerned that we are stepping over our boundaries, and there comes a point where you have to trust the staff. Even though I have questions, I do have questions, but I'll ask them. and hopefully I'll get the right answers. But I don't feel comfortable doing it. I just don't. I think her intent is good, but I just thin

Thank you, Councilwoman. Okay, please submit your vote. Okay, the motion fails, 7-2. Okay, our last item, Peter, we're going to have item 31, which is a city annual audit plan update.

We're going to actually have not yet sorry yes we're going back to.

Thank you for presenting this. I think it was conversation that we've heard a lot from the diocese. We'd like to know kind of what the audit department's been working on. I know we get privileged to that, serving on that committee. Did you have in your slides at all the audit plan that we see in the committee?

Okay. Okay, could you go to that, the next line? I'm sorry, we just didn't have it in our packets either. And so the engineering and the human resource is complete, but we're still in signature for the fire station. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you for the presentation. Can you do me a favor and just, um, put together an org chart? I would just like to see, um, cause I'm not on that committee anymore. I would just kind of like to see who's in the audit department, who's doing what and how that, and, and how many staff you have now.

If it's filled, it's filled, just so that I can get a good visual. Yes, sir. And then maybe share that with all the council members. No problem. Thank you.

Councilman Campos. Thank you. Thank you for that suggestion. I, too, agree. Obviously, the audit department is in dire straits because you don't have an auditor that would be about us, so I don't know how soon we would be able to hire an auditor since, again, we're not gonna be here long, but I know it's important that we do that. So with the three people that are remaining and the, I don't have the scheduled plan that you have, are you gonna be able to fulfill what you have with the three people remaining?

Okay, and what would be the, I mean, is it possible that you could hire temporary workers to help in your department?

Okay. And you know that we know that we just had the... You did the audit on the onboarding for human resources, which was pretty damaging for me when I heard that. I'm still working on getting it on agenda for hopefully next week, but... How would that work if their pre-boarding is not sufficient? I mean, we want to hire qualified people, but how do we do that when the HR department is not able or has not been able to, I think, do their job? So what would you suggest? I mean, do you have people that you work with that you could recommend? Since we don't do the hiring, right? I mean, we can't.

And who would be the one to evaluate that? Would that be Peter? Would that be you? Who? Who would determine that these individuals would qualify for your department?

Okay, well, only because I've heard Councilman Barrera state or show me a little bit about how some of the recommendations that he has received, I do not have privy to that. As far as possible auditors that we could look at at their application, I have not seen it.

He is the chairman, and I don't know at what point does he share that information. You'd have to ask him.

Right, but I think at one point there was a statement made that the qualifications had been changed or had, yeah, I guess had been changed. Okay, so we want to make sure that we hire someone that has actual municipality experience.

Councilwoman Vaughn. Well, this is a real concern. It's not on you, but... It sounds like it's in a mess, and I'm just wondering, Roland, is this your fault since you're the chairman and you're running them off?

It's all my fault. I know. I know. My wife tells me that all the time.

I'm just kidding. But there is no way that if you've got—I was on the same line as you, Everett. I wanted to have a chart because I was on the audit committee. I've never seen it like this. and you guys only have three people in there. Yes, ma'am. And there's a reason people are resigning, and I'd like to know why they keep resigning. There's a reason for that, and that should be a flag for us up here. We need to find out what is going on there because something is obviously going on. And whenever I wanted an audit report, I actually wanted a complete audit report like you did, engineer an OSO

First off, I wanna commend Joseph Lopez, What is it? Tiffany Cheshire, right? And man, somehow or another, Samantha. It's just Chapa, right? Yeah? Okay. And for the tremendous job which they're doing to fill in all the gaps. One of the things I want to commend Joseph for, he is the stellar leader of educating himself. What is it? He leads, which he didn't include in his report, he leads with, it's not CE, in my industry it's CE, what is it called?

Yes, of which he has by far exceeded that while still maintaining his workload. In addition, Several of the audits that we've had in the past, even though it has the auditor's signature, he's probably been the one, the senior auditor, him and Samantha, that have been the ones that have really been put forth all that effort. So typically, whenever we have some of our meetings, they're either referred to Joseph or Samantha. So I want to commend them for the fine effort of which they have. Joseph, how long have you been with us? Over four years. And Samantha, do we know?

Three, and then Tiffany, you just came with us about a year ago, and I mean, she's also been amazing, and she provided excellent support staff for anybody that's been in the position and dealing with, she typically is the one who probably has to deal with all the other departments to be able to procure their information. So number one, I want to say what a tremendous job the three of you are doing. I would argue that perhaps, I can't explain why individuals leave, but I think now we're probably holding individuals to a higher standard of which, you know, we, we want to, we want to reward those

I believe it's two individuals from the audit committee. I mean, last time it was... Has it right here.

Okay, thank you, thank you. And so the last correspondence I got was September 1st, and that showed that we had, and you said we had 18 applicants. And at the time, three were from Texas. We even had one from Canada. Now, at the time, and so we have 10 that have been qualified, I guess. At the time, it was only eight. So we're just following through the process. We're using the same firm that we used in the last recruitment. And so what is it? I'm confident with their skill set. And then we've also made a pay adjustment. There was a challenge. The prior audit committee felt that they could get

Okay, we changed the process and updated the ordinance 12 1⁄2. It used to be three council members, a member of the community, a qualified member of the community, and the city manager. However, it was very difficult to find a qualified person that had internal audit experience from the community without them being a candidate, right? So that's why it changed to the audit committee plus the city manager. It is disappointing. Are we still doing construction audits with Talon? Yes, sir. Okay. And that hasn't come to council here recently. The... It is disappointing that we did lose so many peopl

Okay, well I won't get too much into it because it's probably going to be something we bring to council next week as an agenda item. You know, this is hard for me because I was on the audit committee for four years, and I hate to see it in this situation. But anyway, thank you. I appreciate the work you're doing. Thank you.

Councilwoman Vaughn. Just a quick question. When you are auditing a department in the city, are you having cooperation within those departments to get you the things that you need?

Okay. Just making sure, because I mean, that could, that could hamper you as well. Okay. Thank you. Councilwoman Paxson. Thank you.

Um, I said we're sitting on the committee this past two years. I know this committee has been under tremendous public fire. I think that didn't help the situation, especially with, I think that was a driving force behind one of our law department losses. Um, I recall that we have, on a couple of occasions, had to escalate items to this dais to get support for the work you guys have done. I know it's been a difficult almost two years, and that has included asking for support on these things, which we were happy to bring it here and provide, and the scrutiny and things like that. My heart and sy

So if you had to put us in four bullet points, so it goes, applications come in through the organization or through the chair.

and then they filter them to HR. HR passes them to the audit committee chair. They filter, cherry pick, pass that to the committee. The committee reviews and then that selection is sent to council?

So when you receive the applicants from the talent acquisition group, do you forward all of them or do they pass through a filter again at HR?

So that goes from the consultant that we hired for talent. Then it goes to HR. You're getting updates throughout the process. So do you filter what he passes to you, he or she, or you send everything you've gotten to the chair?

All of them to the chair. And then the chair takes them to committee. Yes. When do they get put before this group that we heard earlier that's comprised of the audit department, city manager? At what point in this? It's the audit committee. It's the audit committee.

essentially answers to the council audit, the auditor under them as the department. Is that uncommon to cities? Because what you said was we don't have an SOP as far as how we do this onboarding. If we're not the only city doing this, how do we have no SOP?

But we're still probably six to eight, if not more, weeks from hiring because before the next audit committee, and then it has to get whittled down, and then it has to go to council, and then an offer added. So we're still a couple of months out from filling this role.

Where does, hear me out here, you've answered a lot of questions on the standard operating procedures for filling that role, but in interim, to provide support to the department.

If we're talking about a temporary job fill, 90 days maybe, I can't imagine that going over an executive team procurement approval policy. Is there no way that? there's a service that we can temporarily hire that doesn't take the 90 days to fill the 90 days.

And I might want to add, we only had the termination of the interim order last week. And that was Wednesday or Tuesday, and then we met Wednesday. And we had the holidays, so. But if I may, I'm sorry. Sorry to interrupt.

No, you're fine. I just know we lost, George, six months ago, we lost another auditor over a month ago. Now we've just lost a third. So to me, even though we got the latest resignation a week ago, we're facing some serious deficits in the department. So we're holding them to the standard of completing their audits, but we're not giving them the tools to help support that department. And it was already a very tight turnaround to lose an auditor in less than 30 days to try to pick up that workload amongst the rest of the department. So that's my issue here is getting stuck in a position where it

Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you. Please don't mistake. This isn't directed at an individual. This is the feeling of the manifestation of a system flaw. This is not directed at an individual. But we have a hole here, and we have to fill it. Thank you.

Thank you. And I agree with Councilman Paxson about that it's not on you. You are waiting for direction from our committee chair. And even though the vacancy has, I don't know, four months, five months, six months. It's three months. Three months, all right, three months. So... you know, I don't think there's been the urgency that we have needed for this department and now we're at like zero, you know, before we were, you know, maybe on stage three and now we're like in stage one and it happened so quickly. So again, what is it that, I mean, obviously our chairman, has his reasons for not movi

But any any higher and firing would need to come from either the appointed city auditor or the appointed interim city auditor So we as a council can hire an interim outside auditor right now if we get used to yes Okay Good to know Thank you Councilman Hernandez, okay

It was a tremendously difficult task to hire a city auditor because I had an interim city auditor that couldn't get qualified, and we didn't have a pay increase for her for five years because this is when I took over. So I was well below market in terms of what I was authorized to pay for them. The person I selected was already getting paid what the top of the... of the market what I was looking to pay for. So, you know, you have a much better situation now where you're within market for pay. You don't have to find an outside person to try and hire somebody. It's just the audit committee and t

Okay, so we included that to be able to pay for that within that. So, I mean, all that groundwork should have been set up already. Yes, sir. You should have at least a blueprint for how to do it. The SOP should be the 12 1⁄2 ordinance on what you need to do to hire, and that specifically says who's on your hiring committee and how you do that. Really, this should be a little bit easier process than what I had to go through four years ago, because it took me a while, and then I had to figure out how to pay the person. I was just fortunate enough that the person we ended up hiring, his wife was

Let's see. Well, first off, anybody can pick up the phone and call me if they have any questions. I just want to leave that out there. And for the public that wants to know, 361-688-7111. Anybody can ask. Once again, 361-688-7111 for the four folks that are watching that are interested in the audit department. Yeah, please. Yeah, I'll tell you what, the Medicare people are calling me now. Anyway, so here was the process. Three months ago, we had a retirement. And so we quickly expedited the process of going through that process. We had to put together a job description. We put some tweaks to i

Hey, Joseph, thank you for what you're doing. Just wanted to make sure I didn't let that go. Thank you to you and your team. Just keep rolling as fast and hard as you can, and I think we're committed to try to find help as soon as we can. I just didn't want it to go without saying how much we appreciate you and the others that are with you here today and up in the department. Thanks.

Okay, thank you, Councilman. Okay, well, thank you for the update, the audit update. We appreciate you both being here. And, Peter, we're going to go ahead and go back to number four. Yes. Yes.

Would someone like to make a motion to reconsider? Can we have a motion? Do we have a second? Second.

Okay, so Peter, do you want to go over? So it's kind of simple and clear. What are the options?

Anybody have any questions? Councilman Pond. So when we started out this, I remember you saying we were 1.9 million short at the beginning. So you found that.

Yeah. Okay, so, and our budget has not gone up since last year with what you've done. It was 1.4 then, it's 1.4 now, so we've not raised it. So what you're telling us, and we have to approve the budget today. We can't leave here without approving the budget. We have to do that. And I hate it when we wait until the last minute, but hey, we've had workshops, we've done it, we all knew what it was going to be.

So if they don't, If we don't approve the budget, or if we approve it, and we don't go with an assumed tax rate, we're going to have to reduce the things that we requested, like the abatements, the homelessness. So I think everybody has to understand that. If we're going to do those things, there's a price to it. And I'm just glad we're not going up above the 1.4.

Yeah, yeah, so... I don't know. I just think everybody needs to think about that. And I know it's political season, and you don't want to have anything on your thing saying you voted for an increase, you voted for that, you voted for this, you voted for the budget. That is not the way you run things. You're up here to make hard decisions, whether we like them or not. So can we make a motion to reconsider the budget, to go ahead and make a motion to approve the budget? To approve. I'm going to make that motion.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Councilman, I know we're coming. Councilman, go.

Okay, so my biggest issue with the budget, and I voted against the budget, was the cost of living adjustment, the COLA versus the merit pay. I will change my vote on the budget if we change that as an amendment, and with that, I would change on the tax rate. but it has to be on the merit pay. I'm going to hold the line there.

Okay, but we're not talking about the market adjustment.

Well, I'm good with that. I just don't want to get away from...

Put it in writing what you want to have done for that, for the budget. We'll have to go back and revisit the budget before voting on this tax rate.

What would you have it in? I want to vote.

Whatever that is, I wanted something that we vote on to give to you.

Yeah, and remind me, and I don't know, I was trying to frame my question and I should have continued to listen. So how much is the increase of the health plan to the employees?

Those are 15% increase across the board. How many of those, I mean, can you, and I know, just spitballing here, of the 3,500 belly buttons that we have, how many of them have dependent coverage? About 20%. 20%? And what's the contribution amount that the employee has to make for dependent coverage? I know it varies. Just on the HSA.

So then we're going to increase the premiums by about an additional $35. Right around there. $35 a month, so $35. So it's $360, so roughly $450 a year, right? So if an employee makes, I don't know, a blue-collar employee is making probably $15 an hour. They're making $30,000 a year. And so now we're going to give them a 3% COLA adjustment. So they're going to get $900, right? Am I math correct?

But the thing I'm more concerned with is that obviously you can afford, you know, Peter and the fifth floor and all the executives can afford. What is it? The 15 percent increase. but I'm talking about the blue collar employees. I'm talking about the people in landscaping, the people in asset management.

So, see, that's the thing I'm saying. So you get somebody that may be making $30,000, $40,000 a year, and if they have family coverage, now half of their COLA increase is going to increase. And I think the thing is, is that... And, you know, I've been intimately aware of what's been going on in the health plan, and I know we've had a... Not necessarily... We've had an increase in the number of claims. It hasn't been this year that's affected us with big claims. We've just had an increase. I mean, we've had an increase of about 300% of claims falling below the spec, which is 300,000 or 350. So

Peter, um, The only thing I want to say is I just want to remind everybody as we're talking about this, number one, retirees, they don't get a cost of living adjustment, right?

Anyway, I just want to make sure, just to remind everybody, we're going to put this on the agenda and talk about it in detail next week. That's right. And regardless of what we decide to do today, I just don't want to forego that conversation.

How many employees are below the mean income level?

I'm a huge proponent for merit and increases. However, when we're talking cost of living, we have a huge portion of our staff that every dollar counts. I think that there's, I don't think that's 100%. I think we have some disparity between tiers, but we have huge portions of staff. This is an organization of 4,000 people that they really need that. If you let that inflation and those healthcare costs increase and now their paychecks are decreasing because of that difference, what incentivizes them to stay with our organization? Are we increasing those wages? No. How are we supposed to get indi

I don't think that would be like a standard application. I'm just talking in years of...

I'm thinking with the disparities we have between pay codes, it would be quite a few years of that before we had that problem.

My question is whether we have evaluated a tiered COLA.

So you're saying there's still an 8% gap to overcome in the 100s, a 12% in the 200s? So when we looked at the market,

Okay, I disagree fundamentally on that philosophy. I think that's a strategy that any organization can employ, and it doesn't have to be a standard policy to employ that strategy in years of a tighter budget. And especially when we're looking at a 12% gap at the 100s, adding a 3% there, 8% gap at the 200s, and a 1% there, that still leaves a fair gap between those two ranges.

I see. That wasn't clear earlier. Thank you, Michael, for clarifying that. Okay. So since we're still talking about item four, we said that 820K is less than half of 1% of our budget. For 39 departments, less than half of 1%. I don't know, I think anybody who has run an organization has had seasons where you go to your different departments and you say, we're in the next budget cycle. I want a 5% reduction, present your budget. And I realized that we've cut a lot back to overcome that 1.9 million, but we're talking less than half of 1%. So I'm still frustrated that that wasn't, you know, even

Thank you. You know, for our insurance, I've got to say it's really pretty good. I mean, considering, I mean, even when I was with Coca-Cola, it was better than what I had at Coca-Cola. It's better than what my wife gets at her job. I mean, it's really, really good. Don't, I mean, it's, you know, even the high deductible plan, you're given $2,000, you know, in the health care savings account. There's not, you know, a lot of other companies require you to put money into it from your bank. So, I mean, what I want to say is that we have a good plan here. It's a great plan. Yeah. Okay. Now, I want

Okay, so what's your range of increase? I mean, if you have 12% as your average, what is it, 6% to 20%? What is it?

So you're having some significant increases on the 100 range and then the 200 is an average of 8%?

Okay, so we're given some significant increases to comply with the market. And what we think is the living wage, right? So I'm not sure what the, what the pushback is on this COLA versus merit incentive. I mean, we're not talking the 300 range, right? That are making 80,000 plus, right? Is that the cutoff or is it?

But I mean, what we were concerned about was your low end pay folks that were the 100 and 200s. But they're getting, you know, an average of 12 and 8 percent increases or just below 8 percent. So I don't understand the pushback on the on the merit pay versus COLA. Well, so I'll I'm not going to go. I'm not going to. You know, I get your argument point. And I know what you guys want. I don't think that's appropriate. I'm going to go ahead and make the motion. Are we on item four or are we on item seven? Item four. Okay. So I'll make a motion to amend re-designated 3% COLA to the fiscal year 27

You're welcome. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Councilman Boyer.

after we let's let's finish this up i'll vote on this we got an amendment with a second on the floor i'll go ahead and vote on that then i want to make comment make my comment all right okay so we'll hold the comments for um here momentarily so we have a motion in a second we're going to submit our votes that fails so the motion fails now can i make my comment yes go ahead i i just want to remind the council you know and and these are things that have already been said city staff has worked on this budget tremendously hard and set things. And for Peter, because so there's been a couple of time

The homestead exemption. You know, that was something that we thought hard and long on, and that hit us by $10 million, right? Yeah, $12 million. $12 million. And so we had to absorb that. Now we came in and we absorbed another $1.5 million just to get to where we're at right now, and now we're asking to save another $820,000. At the end of the day, $5 savings to the taxpayer. You know, if somebody were to tell me that, look, I drive a BMW and my BMW is supposed to have 93% octane, but I can put 87 in there if I want, but I run the risk of blowing my engine up. I use that example because that'

Thank you. Okay, well, I'm glad that we're talking about our employees and what this budget means to them as well. I had asked Peter about the disparity between the highest paid in that department, the director versus the lowest paid, and what the difference was, and are we meeting their needs? I mean, we have, for example, you know, the animal care services director that is, their proposed salary would be like, what, 200 plus? Yeah. And then you have an employee that is earning like 13 bucks an hour. The disparity doesn't make sense. So I am glad that that is being fixed. I don't know how oft

Every other year you go with. Like we go with the 100, the 200.

So I'm grateful for that. And again, I just want to emphasize that we are talking about, what, $5.25 a year to move on this budget. I'm just confounded. I know that We've been working on this budget for months. It's not like it just came out of nowhere. I mean, we had the meetings. We had, you know, city community input. We, you know, so we tried to fix what we could. And then to do this at the last second, the last minute, I just, I don't agree. So hopefully my... My fellow city council members will all come to the table and, you know, let's just get this budget paid for or or approved rather

Thank you. I want to thank you guys for the work that you've done when you cut out was a million nine nine hundred thousand. What do we start cutting halfway through the year? About $1.9 million. So, I mean, it's not like we haven't worked hard to cut the budget, and I appreciate the work that you all have done. I appreciate the work you've done on the adjustments to the 100 and 200 level. I think we actually added a lot of expense to the audit department because we wanted it to be competitive, and that's awesome. I'm okay with the budget as it is. I think the reason we're in this spot is that

I would just say, because of the challenges that we had this year, homestead exemption was part of it, $10 million, I think you said. And I'm glad they did the homestead exemption, but I wish they had done it gradual and not so much at one time. Because, I mean, I benefited from it. But I think for the future, for the next term, the ones that are here, I think we need to start working on what we're going to do. Because we give out a lot of money to TURs. That's going to be something everybody's going to say, leave the TURs alone. but if the city does not have money, we need to reevaluate some

Okay, so. We did? Oh, I didn't hear you, who seconded? Yeah, did somebody second? Did you second it? Okay, as is, or with? Oh right, because the amendment failed. Okay, so we're back to the original. So we have a motion and a second on item number four, as presented, correct? Please submit your vote. We've already had it. Motion carries.

Does it have to be somebody on the prevailing side? Does it matter?

Okay, so no, he didn't. You voted no. No, you voted no. Okay, so you're voting yes? So then the vote on item number four is 6-7-1-1. With Councilman Cantu voting for the item. 7-11. 7-11, yeah. Okay, got it. Thank you. Okay, so who needs to?

Yeah. In order for us to be able to do the budget, it needs to be yes on this next vote in order to do the budget, to fulfill the budget. Just saying. Not trying to influence anybody. I'm just saying. Right.

You out there listening, Michael Hunter?

Okay, so you are able to... Brent Chesney.

I'll entertain a motion to reconsider item number seven. She said she would. Second? Second. Okay, we have a second. Go ahead, Councilwoman.

All in favor say aye to reconsider the item. Any opposed say no. No. Okay, the motion carries. Yes. Go ahead.

I move it. Well, put your light on. I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of $0.599774 per $100 evaluation, which is effectively a 0.50% increase in the tax rate. Second. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Please submit your vote. This is item number seven. I don't know. Who are we waiting on, Rebecca? Nobody. All right. Okay, the motion carries. It fails. We need six votes. Oh, we need six. We need one more vote. Don't put it on me.

So in order for the other one, us to be able to do that other one, then can we just take some stuff off of the other one and then we can pay for it?

Things have consequences. They do. And by us not doing that, the things that we added, we cannot do.

I am willing to change my vote if we go back to the merit pay. If we go back to merit pay on item number four, on the motion that I did for that, I will change my vote on the tax rate.

And you also have the market adjustment of 12% on average for 100 employees. Right, we do that every year. 8% on average for 200 employees. That's correct. So the COLA or the merit pay is on top of that.

And like I said, you're better than the private sector right now.

Well, it's better than what I can get on the private sector. It's better than Obamacare.

Okay. So with that, I make a motion to reconsider item number four.

Yeah, we're going to make a couple of comments, Gil, if you'll hold on. Councilman Barrera?

So I'm willing to agree to the extortion. And the extortion of which, as Councilmember Royce said, we're going to save each homeowner $5. And mind you, the more expensive a home you have, the more money you're gonna save. So the working class of Corpus Christi is gonna get the least amount of benefit of this adjustment if we went to the three cents, and that's a thing. So that's one thing to consider. The other thing is that when you have a market adjustment, that just means you're getting paid the average of what you should have been paid already. You know, it's not an increase. If you're und

You have a good poker face. I don't like the comments that are thrown around about this being political or ego or anything. Everybody up here has to vote what their conscience is. I think there's still areas that we could look at this. And I would actually challenge Mr. Barrera If he thinks that this is such an attack, I mean, why doesn't he step forward and offer to pay for some of the $300,000 we pay annually to the bull riding association for buck days? That's $300,000. That's a huge portion of this $820,000.

Yes, but if we had that savings in hotel occupancy tax, there's so much more in the general fund we could put back. It would slide things over because we cover a lot of costs, a lot of costs from hot tax. And if we got that hot tax back, we could put it back in the general fund.

Hot tax can go to a number of things. Hot tax can go to lifeguards. Hot tax can go to those operations we have on shoreline. We have a designated area that goes to that. Hot tax can go to a lot of different things that we pay general fund for. We do consolidations of multiple budgets to get things done. We just spent days. Michael Rodriguez, we looked over a lot of this stuff.

It's still a budget savings that we could reallocate with, is my point.

I don't know the exact number. I think it was 500,000, and I'm not advocating we take it from there, that our city manager had, and I think you gave it up last year because you were trying to close that gap.

This is not, in my opinion, an attack on anyone. We want our employees to be raised. They should be raised to that minimum. When I found out that we had staff members that were making $13 an hour, I was deeply upset by that. That is difficult to live off of, almost impossible. This is not advocating to suffer any of those. A merit-based pay increase makes sense. A lot of organizations do that. That is separate from a COLA. That is separate from bringing them up to standard. But the comments that this is holding them hostage is not fact. We have a huge organizational budget. I have done it befo

I bet you do. But y'all had me sit out for 30 days. No, but you cannot possibly say, vote for something you're hearing for the first time. When y'all have had, no, no, don't scoff. You've had meetings, you've been, right. That's probably, that's, yeah, that's in line. Meetings and discussions. Let's not turn this around about me. I've not been here for 30 days. I haven't had one conversation with Peter. It is, but you looked at me and you were talking to me and you addressed me.

I think I have freedom of speech, Madam Mayor.

Not one conversation, Peter, have I with you? I think I'm allowed to voice my opinion, Mayor. Because that was the rule that was imposed. So you want me to come out here and vote on this budget without one discussion? This is not how a council meeting should go. That comment needs to stop on this dais. I have every right. Because it would be completely irresponsible. So please stop saying that. You vote, you do your right thing, and you let me do mine.

It works both ways. It would start with allowing me to have my comments, period. I have every right to speak with anybody up here, and in your next turn, you can address it.

Because this is getting out of hand. We're going back and forth. So let's move forward. Let's move forward. I believe I respectfully voiced my opinion and that didn't warrant an entire back and forth dialogue.

It's the second time now, second person on this dais. Let's move on, Councilwoman. Let's move on.

I think I know how to voice my opinion. Let's move on. The question is whether or not you allow me to do that.

You're doing it. Could you allow me to now? Let's go on. Could you allow me to? I'm asking you to go on. Go ahead.

no one up here needs weaponized for their own opinions if you don't want to vote on something that's your prerogative but i have every right to say hey you're advocating for it perhaps cast a vote for it anybody up i'm sorry could you stop interrupting me i would appreciate it thank you very much for that move on excuse me let's move on please finish your statement of two minutes This does not need to come to this. Everyone has a voice and an opinion and a vote, and we need to allow it to be such and move on from that. We don't need to have a bunch of accusations, upset inferences, and interru

But it's still passed before the next fiscal budget.

If it needs to be done by the 15th, we call a meeting before the 15th. That's doable.

Does that count if you recess to the next business day?

No, there's a separate... So the notice of public hearing for the budget has to be posted for 30 days. And so, right, because we've already posted it.

Okay. Mr. Rodriguez, can you come up to the... Do you remember briefing me on the pay plan, I want to say a couple months ago? And what did I tell you at that point in time about what I thought on the COLA versus the merit pay? Okay. Okay. So have I changed in any way?

Have I changed my support for merit pay in any way? No. Okay. So to say that it is something that I just, you know, this has been, Peter, I'll ask the same question. Yeah. In the eight years or seven and a half years that we've been working together, have I ever had any other position than merit pay. No, you've been very supportive of that. Very consistent. It's not new. This is nothing new. The position I'm holding is something I've held since the very beginning. So I don't want to hear the nonsense of this, you know, me holding somebody hostage or something or other if it is something I've c

I make the motion to reconsider item number four.

You always look at me. Because you're next to me. Here's my point. Can I talk to you?

Well, you've got Eric. If Eric allows you, he's before you.

going to say this. I don't like ever, you know, I sit and I look at these employees that make $13 an hour. I don't know how they're living off of that. I just don't know how they're living off of that. And I do think their pay needs to go up. And the insurance, it is a really good plan because I was in the private sector. I know what the public pays. I don't know if the employees realize how good a plan that is and the cost. It really is. My premiums right now, ours are ridiculous. So I have a hard time with that. I wish we could just Adopt the, we got the budget going, so we just need the rat

How much is it going to cost us if we don't get the votes today to postpone to the tax collector?

Did you have that price? No, I don't. You don't have that price? Does anybody have any idea, more or less?

I know everybody just started talking. I'm sorry.

Well, no, I was going to read the motion.

Well, I know, but Councilman Kent, she's behind the floor.

Go ahead, Councilman. I just think to be – I'm not picking on you, Mayor. I promise you. I'm not picking on you. I just think that you need more time to figure this out to see what side you're on. either a yes or a no. You know, I really wish we could table this for another week and get the mayor up to speed, Peter. I mean, so she could figure out a yes or a no, not abstaining. You know?

Yeah, and I know you're not, but you kind of thrown it on me. Well, give me how many weeks did y'all do it?

We needed a week, so that's all we needed.

No, I'm kidding. But it's a little more complicated, I think.

Well, we need to, we really, based on the timeline and what it would cost. The timeline? Yeah, for the tax.

Right, okay, so all in favor to reconsider, say aye.

Okay, I would like to read my amendment again. This is for item number four, a motion to amend to redesignate 3% COLA in the fiscal year 27 budget to 1%, effective October 1st, 2026, or the closest pay period to October 1st, 2026, and eligible for 2% merit-based pay program utilizing performance evaluation, effective 1-2027, or closest pay period to January 1, 2027. I need a second. Second. Do you second? I appreciate it. We have a second. Council Member Gump will second. Second. She's second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. And that is to go back to the 1% and then 2% in January.

Right, the amendment to item number four to address the merit pay.

Okay, please submit your vote. Wait, does that, do we have to have, we do have to have six?

Five, okay, right. Okay, so the motion carries.

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to accept item number four as amended.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. As amended, please submit your vote. Okay, the motion carries.

Mayor, I make a motion to approve item number seven. Or do we need to reconsider? Okay, I was on the prevailing side, so I make a motion to reconsider item number seven.

Okay. Mayor, I make a motion to approve item number seven. Oh, wait a minute. Sorry.

I move that the property tax rate be increased by adoption of the tax rate of .599774 per $100 evaluation, which is effectively a 50 cent tax increase in the tax rate.

Okay. Okay. We have a motion and a second.

Okay, the motion carries. Okay. Okay, there being no further business, this meeting is now adjourned at 6.23.