EDITOR'S NOTE: Question 8 has been edited for clarity. The answers to the question remain unedited.
KRIS 6 asked all the candidates the same 12 questions. These are the answers that we got back from Kaylynn Paxson.
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1. If elected, what would be your three priorities?
- Create a real maintenance plan for streets and drainage, and our fresh water source.
- Identify and eliminate wasteful spending.
- Bring the focus of our city leadership back to the everyday needs and experiences of our community.
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2. The city budget has been a topic of concern this summer. What are your concerns with the budget? If elected, what steps would you take to improve it?
There were a lot of things approved in the budget that I would not have agreed with. I would not have approved a number of capital improvement items, I would have put all non-essential certificate of obligation items to a public vote for the people to decide, and I would not have approved such a large increase to top leadership. I would take steps to evaluate each department and reduce and eliminate non essential spending. I would also ensure purchases were made that were not top of the line expenses, and focus on needs.
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3. The Coastal Bend is home to several military installations, refineries, and industry. What kind of role do you see Corpus Christi playing in the next 10 years? How would you contribute to its growth?
I see Corpus Christi playing a key role in the next 10 years being a strong leader in military, industry, and output. We are in a great time of growth and development in our city, as your candidate for city council district 4, I want to help ensure we are prepared to benefit to the full potential during this time. I will focus on efforts to connect our education and workforce to our various industries to ensure our community has good employment opportunities and our local businesses have the workforce they need to survive.
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4. Plans to build a desalination plant to serve Corpus Christi residents have been discussed for years. What additional water sources do you support and how long would it take to get them operational?
I support other options for water sources, those have varying timeframes for operation. One thing we can do is explore effluent water usage to offset water use to non-consumable needs. This is an option that could be available fairly quickly. We also need to explore repairs to our original pipelines. This will require exploring funding sources and a repair plan.
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5. In July, the Corpus Christi City Council voted to give City Manager Peter Zanoni a 10-percent pay raise. That increased his yearly salary from $372,000 to $409,200. That’s a $37,200 boost in pay. If you were on the council at the time of the vote, did you vote for or against the raise and why? If you were not on the council but had the opportunity to vote on giving Zanoni a raise, how would you vote and why?
I would not have voted in favor of giving Zanoni the raise, especially at that percentage and with those perks. Leaders eat last in my philosophy, we made some serious cuts this budget that impact the lives of our community members on the daily basis. We also couldn’t approve COLAs to the staff members at the city who need them.
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6. There are several streets in need of repairs. What neighborhood streets do you think are in most need?
There are many streets in need throughout the city. We need to reevaluate the street ratings regularly to determine which streets need to be repaired first. As your candidate for District 4, there are a number of streets that need to be top priority in our specific district. Some of the worst include Pharoah St., Caribbean, and Suntan.
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7. Our viewers say the stray dog population is a problem in the city’s westside and northside. Some animal advocates say our city animal shelter is overpopulated and would like it to become a “no kill” shelter. If elected, how would solve these issues?
I support our animal services to be no-kill, I also support working with local organizations to help provide resources to our community to care for their pets. I do think we need to evaluate our adoption process and ensure that we are encouraging the process and reducing the number of animals being sheltered. Theres a lot I think we can do creatively for this process by working with our community members. This is another area that received a cut in our 2025 budget that effects the lives of our community daily.
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8. How would you encourage our local police department to be more transparent?
In addition to the map and statistics on the website, our police department could provide an overview of major incidents and trends and include how the department is handling them.
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9. Community events like Art Walk and Farmers Market have become popular over the last three years. What methods would you use to boost local businesses and with it, the local economy?
Our local economy and small businesses are an extremely important part of our city. I think we can focus on being good partners with our local small businesses and ensuring our policies are friendly and encouraging of their efforts. Fees have increased throughout the city, including fees that impact our small businesses. In being responsible with our spending we have the opportunity to keep fees low and not burdensome on these businesses. We can also aid by continuing to encourage the culture in the city to embrace our local businesses.
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10. The monthly Art Walk in Corpus Christi has become hugely popular over the last few months. If elected, what would you do to bring family friendly events like this to our city?
I think there is so much we can do to bring family-friendly events to our city – we have such a creative and talented community and we can work together to provide regular and engaging events to the public. We should work with local education centers such as the colleges, universities, and schools to get their students engaged via the different programs, and celebrate our community talent such as adding to the concerts and activities in the parks. There is a lot I think we can do in this category.
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11. Events like Art Walk, the annual Dia de Los Muertos, and St. Patrick’s Day Festival draw thousands of people to downtown Corpus Christi but many attendees say there isn’t enough parking. What is your solution to this issue?
I wholeheartedly support our local festivals such as those listed above, and I agree, parking has become a huge issue downtown. We should utilize park and ride strategies, partnering with the local RTA, and consider a large parking structure for events of these sizes.
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12. Where do you plan on being election night?
We will be at Marker 37 on election night. You can reach our campaign at 361-723-1001.
