KRIS 6 asked all the candidates the same 12 questions. These are the answers that we got back from May Nardone Mendoza. ________________________1. If elected, what would be your three priorities?3 Priorities: Repairing residential and commercial streets in a timely manner properly, so that they last and we aren't constantly having to do repairs could save us millions of dollars if we do it right. Plus flooding issues on our streets continue to be a problem and a concern in my District. This needs to be addressed and solved. Public Safety for our Citizens and ensuring that our Police and Firefighters have all of the equipment and training needed to keep us and them safe. Fiscal responsibility of the City Budget, we owe that to our taxpayers.________________________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?Our City Budget has gotten way our of hand and I can't believe how high it is. I plan on using my years of experience as a multiple business owner to get our Budget back in shape. I like the idea of using a "zero-based budgeting" approach. This method is where every department's budget must be justified from scratch for each new period, rather than being based on the previous year's budget. In this approach, all expenses must be analyzed and approved as if they were new, requiring each department to prioritize its needs and justify its expenditures. This method encourages efficient allocation of resources and can help eliminate unnecessary spending, as it focuses on current needs and objectives rather than historical spending patterns. ________________________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?As a former Navy wife, I am a huge supporter of our military base. As the Immediate Past Chair of the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, I also actively worked with our Chamber's South Texas Military Task Force. This organization is instrumental in advocating for our military bases. If elected to Council, I believe it is important to have an action plan to support and retain our military bases. At a recent welcome reception for Rear Admiral John W Hewitt, he discussed with the Task Force, possibly utilizing unused land space on the base for area businesses. Partnerships like these, with open communication for plans like this, are the key to maintaining a strong military presence in our community.As a successful multiple business owner, I am Pro Business! I will continue to support the growth of Corpus Christi with Businesses, Refineries and Industry. We need to work together with our Port Industry Partners and the Port of Corpus Christi. Our Port is the nations largest energy export gateway and the third-largest export port for crude oil in the world. And with our new "Harbor Bridge" the sky is the limit on what we can provide. We need a strong Business minded Council that understands how to run a business, from Budgets and Employees, to what our Businesses need in order to locate here and be successful. Which is another reason we need Desalination Plant in our area. Of course it starts for our Citizens needs, but if done right and everyone paying their fair share, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. The Economic Growth this can provide, will also help bring in increased tax revenue to help provide some much needed relief to our current taxpayers.________________________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 Desal. The bottom line is, everyone is tired of continuous water restrictions. We need more water from different sources and will continue to use groundwater, surface water, rainwater and recycled water. But in addition to our existing water sources, we also need a drought-resistant source, like desalination. Desalination can provide a much-needed water supply in our community, if managed correctly, with environmentally safe practices. Plus, as a successful, multiple, Business Owner, I am pro growth and business. Having access to more water can help bring more business and industry to our area, which is a huge win for our City and our Economy. I had initial concerns with the daily production amounts, costs and environmental impacts with the Inner Harbor location and I have and I will continue to do my due diligence with these concerns in mind, as we move forward. But I feel more confident now with the EPA's greenlight for TCEQ's draft discharge permit and want to prevent any unnecessary delays with this project.________________________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. Thats 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?As a Business Owner myself, and the challenges of keeping qualified staff that are hard to replace, I understand that you get what you pay for. I also can understand, in part, why the Council decided to give Mr. Zanoni a raise. He had been passed up on a raise at least once that I know of and we run the risk of losing him to another City. I also believe he's been the best City Manager we've had in 25 Years and been a champion for Public Safety. But, with all of that said, during a time of economic distress, having an unbelievably high City Budget, possible cuts in City staff and city workers receiving only a 3% raise in their pay, I don't think the amount that was given to him at this time was a good idea. I do feel he deserves a raise, I just don't agree with what all was given to him at this time.________________________6. There are several streets in need of repairs. What neighborhood streets do you think are in most need?We have several streets in my entire District that are in need of much-needed repair and even replacement. We also have flooding of streets on the Island and in the Flour Bluff area. For example, Park Rd 22 from Sea Pines to Commodores and Graham Rd from the Bay to Laguna Shores, all of these roads flood with most rain events. Caribbean Street from Waldron Rd to Laguna Shores, Holly from Paul Jones to Rodd Field are a few more that need repair. We have several of these streets already listed on the Bond Program and City Budget to be repaired throughout District 4, I will make sure all of these are repaired/replaced and add all additional streets in my District in need of repairs._______________________7. Our viewers say the stray dog population is a problem in the citys 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?The Stray Dog (and Cat) problem, has continued to be an issue for our City. We need to find solutions to these problems. My entire life, starting as a Child, I have saved animals from our Streets, Pounds, and Animal Shelters and made them my pets or temporarily gave them a safe place until a home was found. This is something I care about and would like to help make better and ultimately help try and solve.I have seen the City try to address the stray dog issue with a combination of animal control initiatives, some good and some bad. But this problem continues and needs to be addressed, as it is still way out of control. We need stricter laws, especially for non-responsible or abusive pet owners and for those who dump animals and put them in danger. Stricter Fines would help fund some much-needed programs and enforcement costs and perhaps even prevent harm to these poor animals.To help solve this problem, several strategies should also be considered: Partnerships with the County Animal Control and Local Organizations: These Organizations have established networks that can be beneficial if we work together. Other strategies could include Adoption Events, Community Education & Workshops, Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Programs, increased funding for Animal Control, and Volunteer Programs at Shelters or for fostering stray animals.By combining these efforts, the community can work towards mitigating the stray dog and cat issue and promoting a culture of responsible pet ownership.________________________8. In other cities, law enforcement agencies hold news conferences to inform residents of major incidents in their communities. Yet, the Corpus Christi Police Department rarely holds news conferences especially after officer-involved shootings or to alert the public about crime trends. How would you encourage our local police department to be more transparent?I would totally support news conferences to inform residents of officer-involved shootings and crime trends. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing and our community has repeatedly put Public Safety at the top of their list. Having transparency with the CCPD would be a positive relationship with the Residents of Corpus Christi. Especially after constant negative attacks on law enforcement throughout our Nation, it is very important to not let that happen in our City. Creating partnerships between citizens and CCPD would be beneficial for so many reasons. With public safety programs in place, like holding quarterly Town Halls in each District, will give our Citizens an opportunity to know their neighborhood Police Officers. This gives CCPD another opportunity to inform our Citizens on what is going on in their neighborhoods, what to look for, how to protect themselves and/or property and how to help. This could help prevent crimes before they happen or help solve them when they do. Especially for neighborhoods that don't already have active Neighborhood Watch Programs in their neighborhoods. This could also help create new ones, which would be a win-win for everyone to keep our Citizens and our Police Officers in our City safe.________________________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?I feel that our City has improved on having more community events such as the Art Walks, Local Markets, Craft Fairs, Food Festivals and also with our big Annual Events like Buc Days, etc. You see these Events happening pretty regularly both downtown and now on the Island. I think working with community Leaders, Chambers and Business Associations to promote these Events with their Members would be helpful. Also creating partnerships with Corporate Businesses to help Sponsor 1st time Businesses or helping to fund the promoting and advertising of these events to include how to get involved or how to participate would also be beneficial. I know as a busy Business Owner myself, I always see Events like these Pop Up and think, wow, I need to get involved in this next time. But sometimes taking the time to research or find out who to contact can be time-consuming and tedious for a small business owner. Helping local small businesses, especially in today's economy, get creative with new ways to bring in business is just what they need. Events like these help them get their name out there and help to bring in new business. Having successful small businesses that employ our citizens and generate sales tax revenue from the sales of goods and services, all contribute to a vibrant local economy.________________________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?Family Friendly Events are much needed for our community, especially those trying to find something fun and safe for the entire family to enjoy, is an important part of improving our City's Quality of Life. I have attended the Art Walk and Farmer's Markets downtown and a few on the Island. I think they are great, but I would like to continue to see them grow and have more Vendors and Businesses participate. I would repeat what I said above in question 9 to do this.I would continue to ensure that these events continue to be great family friendly events for everyone of all ages to enjoy and where visitors feel safe attending. Some parts of downtown are still very dark and I would like to continue seeing proper lighting in the downtown Corpus Christi area, especially for existing merchants that are open after 6pm.As far as the Island, we also love having community events like these in our neighborhood. We really need an adequate Community Center area to be able to hold bigger and more successful events to hold larger amounts of people. Also, I am looking forward to continuing to move forward with our Island Mobility Plan, that will help our Islanders and their families have other means of transportation to attend Island Events and different locations. We also need to do a better job for parking areas on the Island.________________________11. Events like Art Walk, the annual Dia de Los Muertos, and St. Patricks Day Festival draw thousands of people to downtown Corpus Christi but many attendees say there isnt enough parking. What is your solution to this issue?After using the RTA's Bus Transportation to and from Whataburger Field for a Buc Days Event, I feel that truly was the best solution for getting participants to and from the Event. Continuing to work with the RTA, and to have more bus routes added for different events, with several bus stops all around the downtown area, would be very helpful. Also, we should contract with the bigger, private parking garages to allow attendees to use their parking garages for Event Parking at an affordable rate. For our Islanders and Flour Bluff Residents who would probably attend more downtown events if it was easy to get to, I'd love to see something with RTA for shuttles to and from Downtown. I know several that wouldn't mind paying a nominal fee for that service, but for what we pay in property taxes, I will look into seeing how we can make that happen!________________________12. Where do you plan on being election night?I will probably start off at City Hall and then have an after-party at my Restaurant starting sometime around 8 pm at Merida's Tapas on the Island, located at 15137 SPID.You can also contact my Campaign Manager, Darlene Gregory at 361-779-4399 to see where I'm at during Election Night, as I'm sure I will be pretty busy most of the night and hard to get a hold of by phone.