The Corpus Christi City Council voted to dissolve its partnership with Nueces County as co-operators of the local public health district Oct. 19.
When the vote was taken last Tuesday, Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni endorsed the measure, saying it would align Corpus Christi — Texas' eighth-largest city based on population — with the state's other large cities which also have their own public health departments. The argument in favor of separating would allow the city to focus on its residents, while the county's department focuses on rural areas.
What was not widely known at that time was that tension already existed between city and county leaders, and between city and public health district leaders.
Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales said during the weekly city-county joint COVID-19 news briefing that she was caught off by the vote, and also said so in a letter sent to Zanoni which was dated Friday.
Monday, ahead of the next city council meeting, KRIS 6 News spoke with several city council members to ask whether their votes would have been different knowing what they know now.
Their responses: an overwhelming 'no.'
They were asked independently of each other, and those who answered were not informed other council members were being asked.
Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo, District 4 councilman Greg Smith and District 5 councilman Gil Hernandez said their votes would not have changed.
District 3 councilman Roland Barrera also said he would have cast the same vote, adding that he had proposed the idea to Zanoni several months ago.
District 1 councilman Billy Lerma also stands by his vote.
"We will provide better health services to the citizens of Corpus Christi," he said in a text message.
What is it that we know now, exactly?
It was revealed after the vote that Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez had sent a letter giving Zanoni notice of her intent to file a complaint alleging gender-and age-based discrimination on Oct. 7.
It was also revealed that salaried public health district employees, as well as others, had been made hourly employees in order to collect overtime pay during the COVID-19 pandemic. That move allowed employees collected hundreds of thousands of dollars they would have been ineligible for as salaried employees.
Several county commissioners KRIS 6 News has spoken to have said they were unaware of how much money those employees were making because the employees are technically city employees, and their overtime didn't come to the commissioners court for approval. The county pays 40 percent of some of those salaries, including Rodriguez's and the assistant public health director's.
Several county commissioners KRIS 6 News has spoken to have said they were unaware of how much money those employees were making because the employees are technically city employees, and their overtime didn't come to the commissioners court for approval. The county pays 40 percent of some of those salaries, including Rodriguez's and the assistant public health director's.
As the pandemic was considered a public-health crisis, it was considered an all-hands-on-deck event which required help from other city and county departments.
In the coming days and weeks, KRIS 6 News also will look into which non-health-department employees also were made eligible to receive overtime pay and their roles in responding to the pandemic.
Specialty producer Rachel Denny Clow contributed to this story.
