The five-member Corpus Christi City Council tribunal that ultimately suspended, and reprimanded, Mayor Paulette Guajardo took nearly one dozen votes before the decisions were settled — a maze, at times, as the panel assessed multiple penalties on multiple charges.
Guajardo had faced a removal hearing after being accused of “misconduct, malfeasance, incompetence, or inability or willful neglect of performance of her official duties” related toa $2 million tax incentives agreement awarded for development of a downtown hotel.
The allegations led to four days of evidence presentation, testimony and at times terse exchanges between attorneys.
Those who had petitioned for Guajardo’s removal asserted that she had promoted the agreement with Elevate QOF
LLC despite knowing that developers had been accused of misrepresenting the project.
In part, that is based on a screenshot used in the developers’ presentation that had not shown the dates of a news release on a U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency website.
Developers and Guajardo have denied wrongdoing in the matter.
Here’s a full breakdown of how each council member voted on each charge and each penalty.
The charges and the penalties
The majority of the City Council tribunal — composed of Kaylynn Paxson, Carolyn Vaughn, Gil Hernandez, Eric Cantu, Sylvia Campos and Mark Scott — found the mayor guilty on three charges.
Scott voted in dissent against each.
It was a 5-1 vote on the first two charges and a 4-2 vote on the third, with Cantu joining Scott in dissent.
Ultimately, the majority of the panel supported suspension of Guajardo for 30 days on the first charge and a reprimand of “conduct beneath the office of mayor” on the second charge.
Removal based on any of the three charges would have specifically required a 5-1 vote in support, which was not achieved. Suspension and reprimand only required four votes in favor.
No penalty was ultimately determined on the third charge, due to a tied vote.
A summary of the votes was provided by the city secretary's office.
The majority concluded the mayor had committed “misconduct, malfeasance, incompetence, or inability or willful neglect of performance of her official duties,” by:
- Charge 1: “aiding a fraud upon the taxpayers of the city of Corpus Christi related to the alleged need for complying with newly defined FEMA flood maps and/or altered FEMA screenshot.”
Voting in favor of her removal were Campos and Hernandez, with Cantu, Vaughn, Paxson and Scott voting in dissent. (Removal vote failed.)
A 30-day suspension was approved in a 5-1 vote, with Scott voting against. (Suspension approved.)
- Charge 2: "while testifying in her official capacity as Mayor, [perjuring] herself on August 6, 2025:
Q: So I think what you’re telling me is that during that time frame you were not in the loop as to what the findings were for the investigation?
A: Correct.
Q: So, therefore, you had no knowledge that it was something illegal in the process that you were voting on?
A: Right.
Campos and Hernandez voted for removal, with Cantu, Vaughn, Paxson and Scott voting against. (Removal vote failed.)
The majority declined to levy a penalty of 30-day suspension, with Campos and Hernandez voting in the affirmative and Cantu, Vaughn, Paxson and Scott voting against. (Suspension vote failed.)
The majority of the council approved a formal reprimand in a 5-1 vote, with Scott voting in dissent. (Reprimand approved.)
- Charge 3: “Failing to hold all information received from [Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp.] activities strictly confidential.”
Voting in favor of removal was Campos, with the remainder of the tribunal voting against. (Removal failed.)
Voting in favor of suspension were Campos and Hernandez; voting against were Cantu, Vaughn, Paxson and Scott. (Suspension failed.)
Voting in favor of a reprimand were Campos, Vaughn and Hernandez; Cantu, Scott and Paxson voted against. (Reprimand failed.)
Guajardo’s suspension became effective Aug. 8 and continues through Sept. 6, according to city officials.
Paxson, as mayor pro tem, will take on mayoral duties during that time.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
Consider supporting local journalism with a subscription to the Caller-Times.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: How each Corpus Christi council member voted in mayor removal hearing
