b'up to speak in favor, ranging from well-known elected officials like Nueces Countywould become a preview of the next, epic City Council meeting. He has earned a high Judge Barbara Canales, to out-of-town property owners, directors from the Lexing- level of unpopularity with some on City staff, as the loudest watchdog on Council.ton and the Aquarium, and both new residents of Corpus Christi and those who haveHernandez called on the Citys contract engineer, Chip Urban, who was assigned been here for generations. One newly invested property owner on North Beach, Jeffto work with City staff and the Task Force in identifying and solving the flooding Blackard of McKinney, Texas, spoke toward the end of the Public Comment period. problems on North Beach, specifically to ask if he knew about the aforementioned In his lambasting of the Mayor, a competitive fire that few in Corpus Christi hadMarch 2015 memo from Mark Van Vleck to the City Manager declaring that there witnessed, emerged from Jeff Blackard, who is known for his calm, sanguine publicwere no storm drainage problems on the peninsula. Urban acknowledged being demeanor. He conveyed how bad his experience trying to build in Corpus Christi hadshown the memo by the Task Force (meaning Blackard), and as a back-and-forth been, how he had been hit up for payoffs, been deprived of City engineering reportswith Hernandez began to developWHACK! WHACK! WHACK!on North Beach, and especially how the Mayor has been disinterested and dishon- The command and Authori-tah that come with the position of Mayorabove est in his dealings with the Task Force. Blackard held up a poster-sized graph thatand beyond his one vote on Councilroared forth with the docent tone of Oak on illustrated the decline of habitable structures on North Beach from over 600 in theOak (again?)as McComb gaveled a halt to the mayhem unfolding before him.1950s, to a little more than 100 today. These are closing arguments! Were not here to skew (skewer? stew?) the In less than six minutes that ended in a loud round of applause and a standingstaff! We can have this discussionwe need to close this out! Finish your clos-ovation from the gallery inside City Council chambers, Jeff Blackard unleashed theing comments about your supportyour wide supportyour 100% supportbut accumulated frustration of no less than a dozen other, quite-viable developers, butwe dont want to go after the staff, said Mayor McComb, who felt compelled to more importantly, thousands of Coastal Benders who together see the rebuilding offurther reinforce his point by adding, I think thats totally inappropriate for what North Beach as something that could be great for all of usand could finally end athis agenda calls for. Despite the Mayors very loud opposition to Councilman (Left)Video broadcast on KRIS-TV News shows City Utilities Department crews using metal detectors and homemade divining rods to locate paved-over manhole covers on North Beach; (Right)A North Beach storm sewer line almost completely impacted with mud, debris and even seaweed, entering the system from the bay.dark half-century of stagnation and decay of the city many of us are lucky enough toHernandezs criticism of Van Vleck, he nonetheless persisted.remember as The Sparkling City by the Sea. We assigned the North Beach Task Force to do this work, then we dont support The mental image of our esteemed Mayor McComb, perhaps enjoying a heavythem. How do we hold them accountable about them being able to do thisand then dark liquor with his political fixer in the Oak-paneled den of his tastefully opu- we dont give them the information they need? Its that simple, said Hernandez in lent Country Club estate, tapping his fingers together like Mr. Burns, contriving hisresponse to Mayor McCombs command to stand down.scheme for getting rid of that meddling Jeffory who is asking too many questionsPoked once too many, the Mayor chided at Hernandez, Either make a closing and digging too damned deepsettles on the I dont see you strategery. Apparentlycomment, or Im going to gavel the meeting shut! With that, the fireworks sim-comforted in the knowledge that a TIRZ on North Beach means nothing if nothing ismered and the procedural advantage of being Mayor, above and beyond his one vote, ever built, there was no loss in voting for ityou know, to make the public think hewas demonstrated in real time.really cares about North Beach and wants to see the city growwhile slamming theThere was a practical point that Hernandez was making, above adding to the hammer down on the Task Force as fast as he could. mountain of evidence in support of Van Vlecks incompetence, which can often serve Appearing on Channel 6 the afternoon before the TIRZ debate at City Council, theas a defense for those who repeatedly get caught with their intellectual pants down. Mayor said, The Council will drive this processthe Task Force, with this report, IIf his honest, professional analysis, as a trained and certified engineer, led him to think will complete its responsibility. This was Mayor McCombs first overt attemptthe conclusion that a storm drainage problem did not exist on North Beach in 2015, to disband the Task Forcea.k.a. Jeff Blackardand end the Citys discussion aboutverified by Van Vlecks official report to his superior, then he is certain to come to fixing North Beach. One, quick vote for a tax district where next-to-no taxes are beingthe same conclusion now, when asked for his assessment of storm drainage on North generated anyway, and Slam, Bam, Thank You MaamAdis Seior Blackard! Beach. The difference in 2019 was that Mark Van Vleck would not be on his own in-Those in support of redeveloping North Beach were hopeful that, although avestigating and analyzing the peninsulas chronic flooding problems, or why the City TIRZ vote was not on the agenda for the October 15th meeting, a vote could be calledof Corpus Christis storm sewer system, a public utility, was not functioning. This in progress, and At-Large Councilman Rudy Garza and District Five Councilman Giltime, he would be joined in his analysis by a team of professional engineers (really Hernandez motioned for it, but did not secure the votes needed to get it done. Her- good ones), led by Chip Urban of Urban Engineering, working in his capacity as con-nandez, however, dug deep into the storm drainage problems on North Beach in whattract engineer to the City and for the North Beach Task Force.50 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEQ2.2020 TheCoastalBend.com'