CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With so much attention being paid to national politics, Mayor Joe McComb says the questions about his political future started swirling.
"People just kept asking. I just thought, 'Well, I'll just let my plans be known.' and people that were or were not thinking about what my plans are -- they'll know," McComb told KRIS 6 News.
He says he will run again for a number of reasons. One of his main motivating factors is Corpus Christi's new city manager Peter Zanoni \who recently finished his 100th day on the job.
"I feel like we ... have an obligation to try to give him as much consistency for the next couple of years as we can, in terms of the council that brought him here, to really let him get his feet planted," the mayor told KRIS 6 News.
McComb says Zanoni is off to a good start, increasing funding in his budget proposal for street repairs and public safety -- issues that he'll continue to fight for, if he's re-elected. Another one is homelessness. The budget proposal creates a new office to tackle the problem.
"(We will) coordinate all of the services that are out there and try to get these people in the service that can give them the best chance for hope and the rebirth of their life," McComb explained.
Challenges aside, McComb says there are plenty of good things happening in our city.
"The economy in Corpus Christi is strong. We've got a lot of activity at the Port of Corpus Christi. A&m-Corpus Christi, Del Mar -- they seem to just be going like gang busters. The new Harbor Bridge is coming in. That's kind of exciting to be there so it's a great time to be in Corpus Christi," he said.
I love what i'm doing and I enjoy it and so I think it will just be a continuation of my commitment to public service."
McComb would be running for his second full term as mayor. He won his first term in a runoff election in December of last year. Before that, McComb won a special mayoral election in 2017, after Dan McQueen resigned after just 37 days in office.
McComb will officially announce his re-election bid at 5 p.m. Thursday atthe Texas Surf Museum.
