b'C o m m u n i t yKemah Boardwalk developed by Landrys south of Houston on Galveston Bay The Corpus Christi Boardwalk? How close were we to an entertainment zone on the Bayfront.Before Tilman Fertitta evolved into the tell-it-like-it-is Houston billionaire that he is today (complete with a CNBC business reality show and ownership of the Houston Rockets), he led Landrys meteoric rise by creating multi-property entertainment zones. The first two were to be built around the same time in Kemah, a tiny waterfront village near Clear Lake and Seabrook south of Houston, and in Corpus Christi on one of the marina landmasses. Fertitta was denied the deal with the City after refusing to hire a select local contractor for the proj-ect and took $100 million intended for Corpus Christi and invested in downtown San Antonio.Angeles, Chicago and New York are making their mark on the states capital. In recent weeks, the Austin Police Department, as a consequence of a city council vote to cut its funding, announced that its officers would be unavailable for calls that do not involve an urgent threat to life and limbbad news for a city already dealing with a historic homelessness problem.In 2020, candidate Guajardo was endorsed by both the police and firefighters unions in Corpus Christi, and she has supported and voted for increased police funding for a department that is already many officers short of what a city our size should employ. Beyond public safety, Gua-jardo has taken on measures that are controversial to some but have become standard practice in the larger cities in Texas that understand the importance of beautification to attracting new businesses and residents. Her measure to ban parking in residential front yards has been taken as a God-send for the THE YEAR IT ALL CHANGED Pharoah Valley subdivision, and the mayors proposal to require developers to include shade 2020 will forever be remembered as the great pivot, said Corpus Christi Mayor, Paulettetrees on lots in new neighborhoods will impact thousands of homesites in the city over the next Guajardo, when asked about the prospects for continued growth of the city she leads. Corpusfew yearsand most Corpus Christians seem to agree that straightforward rules that beautify Christi offers a low cost of living and doing business, compared to San Antonio and Austin, andprivate property are good for growth and good for the economy.we still have fewer of the big city problems. We must take pride in our neighborhoods. We must take pride in our city, said Mayor Guajar-Austin, which had a population roughly equal to Corpus Christis in 1970, is now home to al- do, in response to those who oppose the Citys actions, citing government overreach or the cost most a million people within its city limits, and about a million and a half in its metro area. Theof compliance. The parking ordinance is really a measure in education, first and foremost, she negative impact of lenient policies on homelessness and law enforcement that have plagued Loscontinued, we are not in the business of harassing residents or imposing fines; its really about 40 THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'