Another executive-level staff member of the city of Corpus Christi plans to make an exit — in this case, citing tumult on the City Council.
“The deep divisions on City Council created by the removal action [against Mayor Paulette Guajardo] and lawsuits, and the personal attacks engendered by the removal action have damaged my ability to be effective as an attorney for this City,” wrote City Attorney Miles Risley in a letter to City Manager Peter Zanoni, dated June 17.
“I try to stay out of political fights as much as possible, but, as you know, it is impossible to do so at our level,” he added.
Risley plans to retire as of Aug. 2, he wrote, later crediting Zanoni as doing “an amazing job navigating the divisiveness on City Council and obtaining the best efforts of your subordinates.”
The city will “immediately begin a recruitment process,” the city manager said.
“The role of City Attorney is especially a challenging one to fulfill, even under normal operations,” Zanoni wrote in a June 17 message to the Caller-Times.
“The demands of the job require careful attention to the nine-member City Council and the City Manager, all of whom are clients of the City Attorney,” he wrote. “Miles will be missed, and our City must be appreciative of his leadership over the past decade.”
Risley has served as city attorney for 12 years, and was previously employed at the city of Wichita and the city of Victoria, according to previous Caller-Times reporting.
Heather Hurlbert, a former assistant city manager, resigned last year.
In a letter announcing her decision, she noted, in part, an environment that was making “it challenging to lead our teams and make decisions that professionally we think are best for the organization.”
The removal hearing
The City Council has been preparing for a removal hearing of Guajardo, prompted by a petition signed by six registered voters.
The document accuses her of misconduct or malfeasance related to the award of $2 million in tax incentives to developers of a downtown Homewood Suites hotel.
The petitioners assert that in 2024, she improperly put on a council agenda, and subsequently voted in favor of, an item for the funding, while being aware that developers had been alleged to have altered a screenshot as part of a presentation.
Articles of impeachment later alleged the mayor had perjured herself in a deposition given as part of a lawsuit filed by competing developer Ajit David.
Both Guajardo and the developers, Elevate QOF, have denied wrongdoing in the matter.
A law enforcement investigation, in addition to an outside legal review, did not find criminal wrongdoing.
Advocates of a removal hearing have said it’s not about criminal claims but ethical questions that had not been addressed in the earlier investigations.
A hearing that will determine whether Guajardo keeps office is scheduled for July. It is believed that staff members from the City Attorney’s Office may be called as witnesses.
The lawsuits
Meanwhile, two lawsuits related to the tax incentives and removal hearing are pending in the court system.
David’s lawsuit seeks to undo the ordinance that the council had approved to award the tax incentives to Elevate QOF.
In a June 17 hearing, Judge Sandra Watts ordered that depositions of Philip Ramirez — among the Elevate QOF developers — and Guajardo be continued, as had been requested by David’s attorney.
The depositions are to be taken prior to a ruling on jurisdiction, she said.
The case may be stayed, depending on whether defendants’ attorneys appeal an opinion issued by the 13th Court of Appeals that, in effect, allows for the depositions to be taken before Watts rules on the plea to jurisdiction.
A federal case is also pending.
In it, Guajardo sued the city of Corpus Christi and five council members who have been moving forward with the process of a removal hearing.
The case cites due process concerns, Guajardo’s attorneys requesting the district judge issue an injunction that would pause the proceedings.
City attorneys and council members’ attorneys have disputed a need for an injunction and denied any due process issues.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi city attorney to retire, citing ‘deep divisions’
Reporting by Kirsten Crow, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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By Kirsten Crow, Corpus Christi Caller Times | USA TODAY Network
