SPEAKER_01 0:00

What's going on y'all? Welcome back to the Corpus Christi Originals podcast. Today I have Laura Commons with us.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hey there.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Laura Flores Commons, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Laura Flores Commons.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Okay, cool. Um, so um welcome back um to the show. So we linked up through John Hanselick. Yes, district five, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Yes, yeah, he's running for district five. Okay. Nice guy, great guy.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

And so you're doing district two.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I am running in district two, which is where we're sitting. Yes. This is district two.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Basically, um, if you think about like um spawn shoreline, yes. Uh all the way to Tammu CC, um, and then it widens almost all the way to S P I D. Yeah, that's all of District 2.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Yeah, it's the smallest district. I looked it up on the on the graph or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

I know it's kind of interesting because like to me it feels like it's huge, but it but it is. It's actually one of the smaller districts. You're right.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

That's interesting. You cover uh Tamu CC.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yeah, all of the customers.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Or the district district two does. Yes. Wow, that's a that's interesting. It's like what kind of problems they got out there. Ha ha ha, you know. I'm just thinking of that, you know what I mean, uh the uh wise, but uh so we mentioned some stuff, uh uh volunteer. You I guess do you want to maybe introduce yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Yeah, I would love to. I would love to. Um I have uh lived in Corpus Christi my whole life. Um I've lived in District 2, actually, my whole life. Really? Um I I grew up on 17th Street, um, and then we bought our first house in Lindale subdivision. Yes. Um that's uh like you know, um, you know, uh Vakey Lindell, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I grew up near Ralston, so kind of in the yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Actually, Ralston is Lindell.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Yeah, Lindell, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

So uh so then we we bought our first house there, and then of course we bought this house, and we've been in this house for more than 20 years. So that's cool. And this is Pope Place, and and you know, so so we've been in District 2 our whole lives.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Like, thanks for welcoming us in welcome, welcoming me in your house.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. And of course, I I think I told you, Hesuis, you know, I have two kids. You know, I have a a son, he he lives in um he lives in the Fort Worth area and he's an Arlington firefighter. And uh my daughter lives here and she's uh a CC uh PD police officer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's cool.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah, oh yeah. It's so like have you ran have you uh ran for city council before?

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Oh no. No. Okay, why not? Yeah, it was this is new to me. This is new to you. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Do you oh do you feel like you have to like mention like your I guess like I I guess show your resume to people. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

I think it's important.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Is that how you feel?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

I think it's I think it's important, you know. I think it's important that that you be able to show that um that you've had interest in serving the community before you decided to run. I mean, I I would like to see that in a candidate. I mean, wouldn't you? I I would also think so. You know, that that they didn't just decide, you know, oh now I'm interested in serving. Yeah. You know, I've I've been serving this community for 30 years.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Um in in one way or another, I have served this community for for over 30 years. Oh wow. Uh and and you know, in in what capacity I've had a lot of appointments. I've never um run for an elected position, but most recently I sat on the water conservation committee.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Uh, and that was to rewrite uh the water conservation plan for the city. Okay. So I sat on that. Um, and then I was also appointed to the ethics commission, which is a really important one. Um, I was an ethics commissioner that's been in the news. I think you and John actually talked about okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

What is the ethics commission? So for those of us who don't know, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

So the ethics commission was was put together. Its only function is to make sure that uh appointed officials and elected officials are acting in a uh in an ethical manner. Okay. That's their whole function. Oh wow you know, so uh so it's very important. Um, and so like any um any um concern that comes before the city, uh it goes to the city uh attorney first. And then if he finds any validity with that, then it goes to the ethics commission so that way we can review it.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Yeah, amazing. And then from there, if we find that something was done wrong, we would then make uh a suggestion or you know, uh to the council in reference to what we believe should be done in reference to you know the complaint.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

So the ethics commission is uh appoint appointed?

SPEAKER_00 4:07

They're appointed, and and what that means is um you know, each uh council member or they're they're appointed by the council, I guess I should say.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Okay, so they vote for you or whatever they put you guys in.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

So we would put in our application and then they decide who they would like to see on that commission.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Is this is this is this like a like volunteer okay. Do you is are you compensated for your time there? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

No, it's volunteer. Volunteer.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Okay, okay, right on. Wow. So you're on the X you point into that, and then the water conservation, that so so obviously let's just touch on it right now because obviously we need I think we need to talk about it, but not like in depth, like you like we mentioned earlier. We have our own opinions. I just want to share what what your thoughts are on the issue. Yeah, so water conservation, did you touch on any of the issues that are um I guess talked about?

SPEAKER_00 4:59

We we had a lot of conversations in reference to water, of course, and all the different ways that uh the water situation i is affecting us. I think what's most important for people to understand is that uh what's going on with us in reference to our water shortage um goes way beyond being able to turn on your tap and and have water because now uh the fact that we're having to find water elsewhere, other places, uh it's actually affecting our relationships with like all the other regional leaders. You know, so like you know, you think about you know Jim Wells and San Patricio County, you know, all of those other counties that we have to have a relationship with, you know, ongoing in the future, you know, they're they're not real happy with the fact that we're having to use their own. To use their water. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Yeah. So so it affects that. You know, our our water shortage also affects tourism because you have people that think they're gonna come to Corpus Christi and actually not have water. And we all know that's not that's not right, but that's what they think. You know, that's that's what they think. So, so our water situation goes so beyond just being able to turn on your tap and making sure that we have water, you know. So um, you know, we've had uh businesses that have already wanted to come to Corpus Christi and and we can't we can't have them come right now because you know we can't assure that we're gonna have water for them.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

So it's it's affected us economically. And by the way, I haven't even said this, but yeah, you know, I've been a real estate agent here in Corpus Christi for 26 years. So, you know, it has also affected real estate. You know, our um our numbers are down from last year 16%. Wow. So uh so it it affects everything. And it's not it's going to affect, it is affecting us right now.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Wow, it makes me think about like how how much the more we talk about it, the more everybody sees it and the more they have their opinions. Like you're saying, like we're being affected by people that are just watching. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like two or three.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Well, a decision needs to be made. Okay, okay. You know, what that decision is, you know, um, I I'm not stuck on any one water water project. I just want some, you know, I want the council to move forward with a water project. Something like that. That's the best thing that could happen for us, you know. So, you know, if if they're not going to support the Inner Harbor uh project, you know, that's that's fine, but we need to move forward with another project. And we need to do it ASAP because we don't we don't have eight years, 10 years to to fix our issue. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

And so okay, so once so I it seems like you're looking at from the standpoint like we need to have some type of decision made so that way our economy could keep keep moving.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

That's exactly right. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Okay. That's interesting. You're talking about the real estate industry. Um so I guess from your point of view, like what is what do you think it looks like now? Or or uh you know what I mean? Like what's your how how does it look right now from from your standpoint, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Well, I mean that that's kind of you know what I was saying, it's already affecting us in a negative way because uh, you know, our sales are down 16%. 16% is a lot.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Okay, yeah, I don't know. So so that's a lot. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

That's a lot, you know. So uh so it's worrisome, you know, and and as real estate agents, because that's that's all I talk to all day, yeah is you know, people in the real estate market. I think everybody is concerned, you know, they're concerned about that. So wow, okay I I will tell you that uh, you know, you know, we we could talk about water all day, but there's so many other uh issues and and subjects in reference to the city that deserve, you know, uh to be talked about.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Yeah, let's talk about that. So yeah, so what are some issues that that we should be paying attention to?

SPEAKER_00 8:27

Well, um, you know, CCFD and and CCPD, they're very important to our city because they're they're who keep us safe, right? Yes, yes. You know, and uh I know that CCPD is short patrol officers because I just went to, you know, one of their uh meetings and uh short patrol, you can move the whole stand.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Okay. Short patrol officers.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yeah, so in other words, they need more officers. They know and oh, okay, oh, yeah, short. And um, and you know, the the concern with that is we don't want to overwork the the officers that we have right now.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Uh because the last thing you want is a tired, you know, police officer, you know, going to a call at three in the morning, you know, and finding himself in a really, you know, uh scary predicament, you know. So so it's really important that we keep them staffed well. But you know, they're they're taking applications, they don't have enough applicants. I can't believe people uh more people aren't applying for uh CCPD. You know, my my daughter's police officer. Yes. I think I shared that. Yeah. And um, you know, their their um their health care uh benefits are impeccable.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Uh I mean they're they're fully paid for, fully paid health care. Oh, wow. Can you imagine?

SPEAKER_01 9:34

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

I mean that that that in itself uh should be enough reason to uh to apply for CCPD.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Yeah, so uh so anyway, that you know, some something there.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

You mentioned the fire department, the fire department as well.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Yeah, the the fire department as well. And something that's kind of interesting about uh the fire department is that you get, you know, right right out of the academy, you're gonna get 15 days paid vacation. You get 15 days sick pay.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

I mean, that's you know, you get 10 uh holidays off. Okay, you know, paid, paid holidays off. So, you know, if you know anyone looking for a job, please, you know, go and apply for CCPD and CCFD. My my my kids have made a very good living for themselves, you know, uh working for, you know, police departments and fire departments.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

So you're so so you're pushed like I guess this is an issue that you would like to talk about. Is it because it's close to your heart, because uh maybe your husband is involved, was involved, and you're you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Well, I think that my family has maybe a closer connection to uh to first responders because of the fact that we have so many first responders in our family. Um, but if you think about it, you know, if if CCPD is not staffed well, the less uh police officers they have on the street, the less safe we are, but the less safe they are. Oh well. You know, police officers are also not going to be safe because they don't have the backup that they need. So that's that's why absolutely it's near and dear to my heart because of my family, but it's also near and dear to my heart because it it affects all of us, you know. Uh public safety should always be uh a top priority for all of us.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

You know, yeah, we don't think about that for sure enough. Yeah. A lot of us have a bad attitude towards like police officers and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Uh and I think and and I think maybe and maybe you need to answer this, but does it have to do with with ice? You know?

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Nah, it's more just it's just like the culture, like how we grow up, the way maybe the way police officers are because like the way we see it is like not all police officers are have the best intentions. Okay. You know what I mean? Like some police officers may take advantage of their position. Yeah. Uh and I and I think some of us like side on that, err on that side instead of the good side. You know what I mean? Like, oh, all police officers are like this. Yeah. You don't want to, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Or that and and I have to say, there there is in good and bad in in any profession. Of course. You know, and and and no one's gonna be able to say that, you know, there aren't, you know, police officers that maybe aren't in the position for the right reasons. Yeah, so I understand, I understand that concern, but I I will tell you this, you know, Chief Markle is impeccable. You know, he he is a great uh chief of police, and and I don't know that he is the type of chief that would stand for for that, you know. Yeah, you know, so so I I have to have that belief, you know, that that he is good leadership and and you know would not stand for that that sort of police officer on his on his uh staff, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Yeah, of course. And like we you're right, like it's in every industry, it's everywhere. Yeah, it's uh I guess it's how how you want to live it through your experience and not somebody else's. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

And ultimately, I mean, we we don't have anybody else we can call, you know. There is nobody else we can call where when we're in trouble, you know. Uh we we have to call an ambulance. We we have to call the police if we're in an accident or we get broken into or you know, that type of thing. So so you know we we have to take care of them so they can take her take care of us.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Right on, right on. That's a good issue. That's a good issue to talk about. We don't we're it's usually water or roads or something like that. Is is there any other uh issues that uh I guess city council members or even you like would want to talk about other than those?

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Well, uh in reference to district two, I mean we also have you know, we also have, you know, uh animal care situation, you know. Uh yeah, you know, uh because we we have a lot of stray animals in district.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

There's a lot of, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Yeah, see, you you already know everybody knows that. Everybody knows that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Well, see, I I'm in district one, which is kind of butted up to district two, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

You know what I mean? So we there's an animal problem on that side.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yes, yes, there is. I mean, there's there's cats everywhere, you know? Yeah. So so that's something else that really needs some focus. And I did, I did meet with them, you know, because I I am trying to learn as much as I can about, you know, all the issues that we have, other than water.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

You're talking about the animal shelter or okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Animal care, yeah. Uh Corpus Christi Animal Care. Yeah. And and there's actually there's a lot of other programs that help with um that's so Yeah, you keep getting distracted out the window, right? Because it's like, oh, what's going on out there?

SPEAKER_01 14:06

You got a cool view.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

But anyway, um, but I I did meet with them because I wanted to kind of learn a little bit about what's going on with them and and you know, maybe what we could do differently to to fix the problem that we have. Oh yeah. Because we definitely have a problem, you know, and and these are these are living beings.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Okay, so so what are the problems?

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Well, it's just because they're out there, they're in people's yards, like what's I think it's um, you know, we we have maybe owners who allow their pets outside and and you know, they're reproducing, and and then, you know, we have all these spray, you know, uh stray animals. Yeah, or you know, um, there's actually uh a city ordinance, and a lot of people don't know this, Jesus, but there's there's a city ordinance that says that if your pet is um is older than six months, um, you know, you you're supposed to get it spayed or neutered. And and the reason for that is is so that way we don't have a lot of, you know, uh, you know, litters of of puppies and and kittens that we can't take care of, you know. Because what happens is, you know, um somebody will have a cat and let the cat out and all of a sudden they have, you know, eight kittens and they're having to give these kittens away. Well, number one, you know, who are these kittens going to? You know, and we we don't ever want, you know, cats and dogs going to people who are not going to take care of them, you know, who are not gonna be good to them. Uh so so uh what the city did is in hopes of um eliminating the number of uh stray animals we have, um, they they uh they did this city ordinance, you know. They they uh and so the idea is that if you have an animal, you know, you have to have it spayed and neutered. And and by the way, um, you know, uh you you can you can get it spayed and neutered, I think, through animal care. I don't remember what the price is, yeah, but it's very it's very minimal. It's it's not very much, yeah. And by the way, um, because they have so many animals and it's it's worth knowing, um, right now through July 25th, um, if you if you adopt uh an animal from animal care, they they don't even have an adoption fee. Wow. And they do everything for you. They they microchip the animal, they they treat it for fleas, um, they spay and neuter it. I mean, they do all of that for you, and it doesn't cost you a dime.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

We just got we just got a dog from there.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Did you really got the chip?

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Uh I think the fee was waived. I think it was sponsored by uh some attorney or law. That's awesome. Something or other.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

But yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Layla's our dog's name. She's a she's a rot mix. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. She's she's awesome. Uh yeah, and but we we've been where we're at for a while, and there's a ton of cats over there. I know. Um, but and we even took a couple of them in, we would feed them and stuff. We got them neutered and just let them stay there at a house. They passed away already.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

And uh, but yeah, we I mean we love animals and stuff like that. I just didn't realize how much of an issue or or that it is an issue.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

You and I know that just by going outside and just seeing all the animals that are out there.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

It makes me think of the raccoons. You have you seen the raccoons out there?

SPEAKER_00 16:59

There's we have raccoons.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Yes, we do.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

If you go raccoons, we do.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

I okay, I know about the possums. I didn't know about the phone.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Let me say my my my grandmother lives in the the Quarenta neighborhood in Mohawk.

SPEAKER_03 17:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

And there was a there was a dead raccoon. Um my cousin was like, yeah, when you start seeing raccoons in the hood, there's nothing. No, but they're yeah, they're out there, like it's it's I mean, yeah. I was on a recent interview, the lady was talking about birds, you know what I mean. Okay, well, this is the birdiest city, uh huh.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Oh yeah, yeah, the birdiest city. It is the birdiest city. But I didn't know this. Did you know that animal care actually takes in all kinds of animals? Are you serious? It's not just about it's not just about dogs and cats. They they actually they told me while we were there, they've taken in pigs. Wow. They've taken in goats, they've taken in birds. That's what reminded me. You said birds, and you know, they've had to take in birds too, you know. So so I didn't know that, but you know, they you know, they they um are going to rescue all kinds of animals, not just cats and dogs.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

I mean, the raccoons, uh, it doesn't seem like they're like like the cats, like where they're everywhere you can see them. They're only in like certain areas, like uh that's interesting. Yeah, like if not if you okay, on the way to Portland, there's a pier in the endpoint, I think it's called.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Uh-huh. Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Well, in that area, they're like in the trap. People feed them. Like there's people's videos on TikTok of people feeding them. Like they're like, hey, check out these pants, these uh not pandas.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Okay, he can be mean.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Raccoons and stuff. Yeah, those.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

I'm surprised that people are feeding them.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

I mean, they can be yeah, they're out there. You know what I mean? I we've seen them a couple times, and it's it's they're out there. It's funny. Yeah. Even like at the plant, I work at the plant. You see skunks sometimes at the plant.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Oh, yeah, skunks I've ever heard about. Yeah. Actually, I gotta say, block walking has been pretty interesting. I'll tell you a little story. Um, you know, I've been block walking for months now, and uh I I went with a friend of mine to a house and and you know, I we walked away from the house and and I was like, man, it smells like a skunk around. There's a skunk somewhere. And my friend was like, Laura, that's no skunk. That's not a skunk. That's funny. He was like, that's not a skunk. I was like, okay, funny.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Yeah, uh man. So you so you so you still so why'd you decide to run for uh city council district two?

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Um well I think I might have already mentioned this, but you know, I I've been volunteering for the city for a really long time.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Yeah, so you were for working for CASA for uh you so you spent nine years on the board of Casa of the Costa Bank.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yes, yeah. Um and then I'm on the Ronald McDonald House board right now. Uh I sit as secretary, I'm the secretary for Ronald McDonald House. And then I also sit on the American Heart Association uh board. That's because of my husband.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Why are you doing all this though? How how come?

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Well, that's that's what I was gonna tell you. Like uh, you know, the American Heart Association has ceased. That's because you know, my my husband passed away from a heart attack, you know. Um so uh, you know, that that's what got me involved with uh the American Heart Association because I mean he was he was a great guy, you know, and and you know, when you lose someone like that after 28 years of marriage, you know, you want to honor them somehow, you know. So so that that is my family's way of honoring him, is that we've always been involved somehow with American Heart Association. And he actually started it because um he had his first heart attack uh when uh well in 2016.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Um, and uh he got involved with American Heart Association because of his heart attack. Uh and uh so he started uh a heart walk team. And uh so when he passed away three years later, he had another heart attack, passed away. We kept that heart walk team going, and that's kind of kind of how our family got involved with uh the American Heart Association. And so then I I I uh wound up on the board, but um, but I mean I I do it because I I love it. But I I will tell you, I will tell you this. Um I've always been involved uh in the community, but but when my husband passed away, um, I cannot tell you uh how wonderful this community was. You know, um we we got food from people we didn't even know. Like people were bringing us food and we didn't know them, you know, and people were praying for us and we didn't even know who they were, you know? And and and people say this all the time. You can say whatever the heck you want about Corpus Christi, but Corpus Christi is compassionate, you know? There's a lot of com compassion in Corpus Christi. And and when when he passed away and you know, the community treated our family the way they did, you know, that that was uh then it kind of revved it up because it was like, you know, I have to give back. You know, yeah. So um, you know, I have to give back to uh this community because they took very good care of my family.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yeah. Yeah. So you you ask why, you know, why I'm I'm so involved, and and and that is a lot of it, you know, and and and plus I love this place, you know. I I you know, I don't I don't care what kind of problems we're having, this place is phenomenal. I mean, how how many other places can you think of that have beaches like we do? You know, uh and and you know, we have CAD, you know, uh the Corps Christi Army Depot and and the uh NAS, you know. Uh I mean we have a lot to be proud of here. Our our port, you know, is is huge. It's the third largest in the world, if I remember correctly. I mean, whoa. know yeah so we we have a lot to be proud of ocean drive you know alone i mean who doesn't like driving down ocean drive you know so so you know i've i've always been involved that way but um you know i i think that there are a lot of concerns you know with uh the council right now uh you know oh yeah we want to mention that actually yeah I mean I I you know I know um it just doesn't feel like it's functioning in a way that is working in our best interest as uh you know as citizens anymore um and and I think that you know was kind of the catalyst to to move me forward in reference to this position.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

So do you so okay so can't like if you were to get elected or people were to say it say it changed out. We got new people in there. Yeah do you think that that it would actually make a difference and we would actually get stuff done?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Well yeah because part of the reason that we're not getting anything done right now is because no one can get along on the council. Well those are those are personality issues you know so I mean absolutely we we would most likely be able to get more done because right now what we're we're what we're seeing is you know we're seeing two teams on a council that should only be one team. Oh well there should only be one team on that council and they should all be working in our best interest you know as citizens you know but but right now it's two teams and they just they're at each other's throats. Yeah and how does that how does that work in our best interest how it can work yeah yeah yeah so so do I think that uh it would probably move in a more positive direction 100% I mean there there at this point Hessies there is no place to go but up. So you're talking like you're talking teamwork like actually just being part of a team and yes we need to collaborate together you know and and and actually that's a really good message for your viewers right now is you know there's this this thing not even just in Corpus Christi but in the state and and nationally where everybody wants to be like on a team right like and and it's your team against my team and everybody's you know you actually talked about it I think before we even went on the air you know that you know that's not your thing you just want info you just want to learn and I love that by the way but that's the way it should be we should all be working together. We don't we don't have anything to gain by being at each other's throats or or tearing each other down.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

You know we're going to have different um opinions no but be respectful of uh each other's opinions and by the way maybe we even listen to each other's opinions because if you have an opposing opinion which by the way you already said you said you know there's there's a whole other aspect in reference to how people see CCPD and CCFD right well I have to hear that because if I don't I'm never going to understand you know uh how anybody could be you know uh unsupportive yeah of a first responders yeah for sure like be uh liquid and like learn be willing to learn new things I guess you could say yeah absolutely and it seems it seems like like even if you're on city council like you're you're being thrown all this information to and like I don't know I've never been up there just looking from the outside in like maybe you could get like atrophy like oh my gosh there's so much information coming from different directions.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Absolutely you know I mean what do I do you know absolutely I mean we get that I get that going to baskin robins they got 31 flavors I'm like oh my gosh which one I don't know you know what I mean you're like this is too much this is too much yeah exactly exactly yeah it's like you know what so when I first started learning Jesus somebody told me man Lord it's it's gonna be like drinking from a fire hose and they weren't kidding you know that is exactly like you try to learn about water let me tell you something you learn something about water today and then tomorrow it's different you're like oh my gosh like it's hard to keep up you know so yes it seems like you have to be in you have to actually do your homework too 100% 100% and let me tell you something if if a candidate is not doing their homework now I mean do you really want them you know on your council and to and my thing is like how do you know that they are doing their homework how do you know who to vote for yeah and then like people don't even go don't even go and vote you know what I mean yeah have you been voting like like as long as you could I have been voting I have a great voting record and by the way you should look at that when you're looking at your candidates if if they didn't think it was important enough you know to vote why would we be voting for them? Yeah and I'm so glad you brought that up that is a great point to say I'm for I'm 40 years old.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

The lat the the first time I voted for actual city council was the lat the past two times. Yeah because something got you interested something got me interested and before I didn't even I don't care like I don't even think about that I'm just thinking about my own life.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Right it isn't until you like actually see that maybe possibly you can have an influence I guess it wasn't until I started paying taxes maybe yeah I actually had a job I have a family I'm like wait a minute they're taking out so much taxes why why is this and then you then you start like well can I make a difference in my vote you know what I mean that's right that's that's my perspective from you know yeah well number one number one you you can have an influence and you already are right that's why we're here because you have an audience but the other thing is is um you you said something very interesting what you said is you know what do I care about the council I'm just worried about my own life but let me tell you something everything the council does is affecting your life every day you you think the president's uh you know election is important let me tell you something the council the council's votes uh and how you know what what they're voting on and stuff is is actually affecting you every single day yeah every single day you know that everything that uh that is going on with us in reference to water it's going to affect our water bill yes you know so so it is important that people pay attention you know yeah so most definitely yeah for sure yeah it like it the as much I guess uh attention that we put on the big elections like the the president we should put that much on on our 100% you know um because it's here like you're saying and it does affect us our house our the housing prices are going up like you could talk about that issue yeah like we were looking at a house and my wife's like dang that house I don't it shouldn't even be worth that much like why is it going up you know what I mean economy yeah gets gets uh uh in the conversation as well you know yeah people are struggling to uh buy groceries yeah and pay their electric bill and pay their water bill and and you know it's scary because our water bills are going to go up and and there are a lot of people in corpus christie that are living paycheck to paycheck and and it might be easy for some of us to adjust and go okay we're gonna have to pay another $50 for our water bill but that's that's not the same for everybody. There are a lot of people in Corpus Christi that that live paycheck to paycheck and they're gonna have to make some serious adjustments to pay that water bill. Yeah. And and so we have to make good decisions now to make sure that we take care of everybody in the community and that they're able to to you know deal with this change in reference to you know our bills.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Oh yeah for sure yeah and it makes me think about the businesses that might be in in district two as well like how it affects them I put a post recently like do you know which district you live in which by the way I wanted to give you kudos for your posts uh you actually showed where district two was that was cool yeah a lot of us we don't yeah no a lot of us don't know what hey hey you know what I'm sorry but by the way that that map just changed I think about two years ago three years ago something like that so how would everybody know what district two is if it just changed two or three years ago you know so so thank you I appreciate that yeah no you're welcome yeah it and like and I and and it made me think because one person put where they live the district and they put where their business is which district their business is yeah so which district what how they vote too um maybe can affect their their business as well like it's going to you know what I mean imagine you have imagine you have a business and now you're having to pay a water bill for your business too what what if you're a restaurant can you imagine how much water that is and can you imagine your your water bill going up 50% like like they're saying holy smokes if you're if you're a a small business owner I'm a small business owner and luckily you know my my business didn't have a whole lot to do in reference to water.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Yeah but if you're a small business owner and all of a sudden your water bill is going up 50% that's tough. Tough so you know the council right now is making some really hard decisions they're having to make some really hard decisions um you know and it and it's going to affect all of us. So everybody everybody should be um you know paying attention to uh to what's going on at council I think so too yeah and and I will say because you you you asked Jesus you know um who should we be voting for or what should we be looking for in a candidate. I want to stress that you know the last two or three years you know there's there's been a lot of uh issues in reference to the council you know being able to make decisions together and it's it it has affected us it's it's affecting us now it's going to affect us we we need to get back to work just just boring work.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Just work.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Yes uh and you know city council was never meant to be entertainment. Yes you know and um good point and uh we we really need people there that just want to put their head down and get the work done. So what what I would ask and and what I want everyone to consider that that's watching your show is you know we want people who have not been involved in drama. We need people who truly just want the best interest of the citizens of this town and that are just going to put their head down and get the work done. That's that's what we need. You know um city council was never uh never about you know uh supposed to be about YouTube and and entertainment and and you know uh stuff like that. It just you know it shouldn't be. That's a great point.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

That's a great point. It seems like I don't know yeah that's a good point.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Yeah let's see do you have anything you want to mention?

SPEAKER_00 32:18

I guess the uh the other thing that uh we haven't talked about is is parks and recreation. Okay yes yes yes yeah and um you know I I know that people think oh parks and recreation it's about parks but it it's about so much more than just parks. Jesus you know um you know they have after school care you know for for parents who can't afford you know mainstream child care. Yes and it's also about senior centers. My my mom actually used to go to Lyndell senior center you know so that's actually close to Ralston. So you know she she used to go there and and it kept her active you know until until she passed away.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

She used to play uh chair volleyball we used to go watch her play chair volleyball so uh but so cool so parks and rec is is important for so many different reasons and and another is it it keeps children our kids involved in positive uh activities okay instead of being on the streets doing things that maybe they shouldn't so you know that's something else that we don't talk about enough uh parks and rec I cannot tell you how many things they do in this town they they're you know every everything like every time you see an event parks and rec is involved in that amazing so uh you know that that's another reason that parks and recreation is very uh important uh it it really affects uh you know public safety and and uh keeping um not only not only our children but also uh the adults in this town uh involved in positive activities yeah I take I take my kids to collier pool often oh that's a great pool I I I was parks and rick they would hold contests one I won like the backstroke and I learned how to swim at collier no actually through Delmar I took a class my oh yeah my my parents put me in all kinds of sports awesome but like collier pool learn how to I mean that we would compete there tennis like you're that's on the money right there because people kids are just if they're left by themselves yeah you know what I mean that that's when that's the internet where we'll raise them what yeah the internet where that's right that's right yeah so so we want them involved with uh you know as many uh activities as as as we can get them involved in and parks a rec uh is is part of that for sure so so so uh what are some of the things I guess what I'm trying to figure out what to ask as far as parks and recs goes uh like uh keep it upkeep with the park or like more more programs or more money going into it or like I think it's making sure that uh the programs that they have are funded.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

You know, for instance that after school care program that they have dear lord we don't want that to ever go away because that really helps our parents here in Corpus Christi. But but uh it all it actually does go back to making sure that like for instance the parks that do get used Jesus said that they have safe equipment. You know you know uh Cole Park I was just at Cole Park yesterday that's a perfect example who who hasn't spent time at Cole Park right you know I I was a kid there I I've taken my grandkids there.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

I was just there yesterday you know so so we have to make sure that those parks are welcoming uh not only for our citizens although their priority but also tourism you know we we want you know people to come here and and go oh look at this beautiful park you know let's take our kids there if you know yeah yeah so so like I I don't think we talk about this I'm idle at least in the the circles that I'm around um uh tourism like how important is that because it seems like uh and I was just recently talking to someone from visit corpus christi she was saying like a huge percentage of people come to visit corpus I think and that's I think in 2025 I'm scared to even say this but if I remember the number correctly I think in 2025 tourism volume 1.2 billion I think it was 1.2 billion so we're yes okay huge so we're talking the the the economy it's helping the economy the people that come and visit yeah and and when we say that what we mean is you know every time somebody decides to come here for a vacation they are spending money at our restaurants our our our restaurants that are owned by small businesses uh small business owners okay so they're spending money at our restaurants they're spending money at our bars they're spending money at hotels and that brings money into our community and that's money that we can put back into our community.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

Right right so okay I'll tell you something that I I would uh really like to see and uh visit Corpus Christi says this all the time but uh you know man I I wish we had more for our Selena fans you know uh because we have a lot of people that come to this town because Selena lived here wouldn't it be nice to just have a little bit more to to share with them you know you know I know we have uh our Selena statue you know at uh the seawall yes but it would be great if we had a little bit more for them you know and and luckily we have the Selena Museum.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

Yeah so okay so what part does the city play in maybe having um I guess more things for for tourists to do or do they have enough to do already you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 37:13

I know there's there's probably never enough for them to do I mean I have to say you know I think we are all very proud and I know you've already been uh but the Texas State Aquarium it's it's gorgeous it's beautiful. I mean I've I've been to other aquariums and I I will go to our aquarium over and over again with my grandkids because it's just it's fun you know and it's beautiful. So that's something you know for us to be proud of um but that can we still have uh you know other things to offer tourists absolutely you know um maybe you know uh people talk about cruise ships all the time but you know that's that's pretty you know far down the road especially since we have you know our water issues right now um but you know would it be great to have you know cruise ships? Well heck yeah heck yeah it'd be great to have cruise ships here you know um but I think that we can still build on on you know what we've done but like you know shaded areas on the seawall uh shaded areas for our beaches you know wouldn't that be great yeah you know because it gets hot out there you know so just to be able to go somewhere that's a little bit more shaded and and sit there for a bit you know or or take our our parents out there that can't handle the the heat you know and and you know maybe have a shaded area for them. So cool there's still things that we can do for for parks and rec that that would make a our community even better.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Cool. If if elected what's the first thing what's the first thing you would work on you'd have to fix water. Water.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

Yeah you would you would have to you know if if that's not already uh you know in the works by the time you know I I get on uh the council that has to be uh the first thing that we fix I'm just I'm just realizing how important that is because like there's so much entertainment around it like you say it it affects everything yes everything I think about our parks that we were just talking about well we have to have water yes to to water those parks you know we have to have water fountains at those parks you know it affects there is nothing that water does not affect so yeah it's it's way beyond just tap water yes yes yes wow yeah that's that's that's perspective right there we don't and I don't think we think that far down you know we we just think you know oh you know we need our tap to turn on and and there's got to be water there it's not just that it's it's way beyond that. Yeah and people think you know people think what do we care about real estate no everybody should care about you know stuff like that because what that says is we don't have people moving to Corpus Christi. Yeah um and it says maybe we have people that are moving out of Corpus Christi.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Um we what happens is small business owners lose income and you start to have businesses that close you know it it affects everybody yeah the more bodies the more dollars obviously that are that are here in in the economy um so there could be the argument of like well where are these people gonna work if they do move into town what what's what's your take on that right yeah yeah yeah do you have an uh what what's your take on that because what what part like um I guess j I guess like the jobs like if people move where are they gonna work like what types of jobs would they have would they be in in working at the refineries creating their own businesses you mean if they move here yes oh well right now I mean we we have you know luckily we we do have industry and we do have C CAD you know but but I have to say um you know the water the water concern is a concern to uh to to all business owners but I will uh touch on some of that we really kind of haven't talked about Jesus but you know I I met with um the machinist union um and what they uh who they represent is your electricians your plumbers uh you know your welders that who's is who they represent and um you know there there is a concern that uh the Corpus Christi Army depot C CAD uh could close um because they in the last few years you know went from having six thousand employees to now only have a a thousand employees right so so you know that that uh that number keeps getting smaller and smaller and there's concern there um and their concern you know is you know we we need to make sure that we have all these great trade schools right and we have been very good at uh at promoting those trade schools we've been a lot better about that and which is a good thing because you know not not everybody's path is college after high school I mean it it wasn't mine unfortunately I I didn't graduate uh college you know um but so but the great thing about corpus christi is if you go to a trade school and you learn a trade you can make really good money here um and but we have to have jobs for for them you know so it's very important that we you know uh support keeping CCAT open for instance you know the Corpus Christi Army depot the naval air station because those jobs those are their jobs yes you know those are their jobs yeah for sure well yeah no I'm a truck driver uh and there's it seems like I guess I'm thinking like welders or even electricians a lot of them maybe they work they have to we have to work out of town but then they drive back you know what I mean so I that's that's that's kind of maybe the the train of thought that I'm taking like is people do move to town yeah where uh where where would they work? Would they work out of town? Because I there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff involved in that anyways yeah and I just maybe maybe just wanted your take on it you know what I mean yeah that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

So I I will say that I just sold a house to um to a trucker. Okay. And he bought a $400,000 house. You guys are doing pretty well so you know thank God for those jobs.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

Oh yeah yeah for sure yeah definitely man with this good conversation uh Laura is there anything you want to mention um um I I think we kind of covered everything that I can think of um I I appreciate you having me oh yeah thank you very much yeah it was nice to get to know you awesome likewise yeah likewise yeah appreciate it very much you're welcome thanks for welcoming me into your home I'm trying to figure out if I have any other questions oh if you have any other questions I'm here yeah so voting time is November you're district two uh um what else do I got oh if anybody wants a sign I mean please let me know you know uh uh you can you can email me at Laurafordistrict two at gmail.com or you can go to my website laurefordistrict two dot com uh either way but uh I would love to get you assigned so yes excellent and so and that's so that's how we find you Laura uh what was the website uh the website is Laurafordistrict two dot com or you can email me at Laurafordistrive at gmail.com Laura for district two dot com you guys give them a follow I'll leave a link in the description and thanks a lot for joining the Corpus Christi originals podcast um uh stay tuned for some more candidate uh interviews we'll see you guys later thanks see you later Laura