Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb announced Thursday that council-appointed Port Commissioner Wayne Squires has resigned.
"He wished he could have served out his term but he understands moving on will be the best thing for the Port and the City and he's happy to do that," McComb said.
The conference was called after discrepancies in Squires' education background were brought to light in a 6 Investigates story aired on Wednesday.
Watch the original 6 investigates story that led to Squires resignation
"The council is appreciative of his service," McComb said. "The Port is better for it and the city is better for it. It's just unfortunate circumstances came to this conclusion."
His term was set to expire in 2021.
The Port of Corpus Christi's website shows the commission's vice-chairman Wayne Squires graduating from Pennsylvania State University -- also known as Penn State -- with an engineering degree, but when the university was contacted for verification, it denied having awarded Squires a degree.
When Squires was appointed to the Port of Corpus Christi board in 2015, he claimed be a Penn State graduate.
An online bio on the Port of Corpus Christi website also listed Squires as a Penn State grad.
Penn State told 6 Investigates that Squires attended the university from the fall of 1973 to the fall of '79, and was last enrolled in the petroleum and natural gas engineering program, however, he did not graduate..
McComb said once the 6 Investigates story aired, Squires decided to step down.
Port commissioner is an unpaid position, and a college degree is not required.
In the course of investigating this story, it was discovered that potential appointees are not vetted by the city.
When asked why not, McComb said background checks are expensive, and there can be as many as 100 candidates.
However, McComb did say he will meet with the city attorney to look at possible policy changes.
UPDATE: Squires' bio appeared on the Port of Corpus Christi website at 3:34 p.m. Thursday when this story was originally written. It has since been taken down.
