CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Assistant City Manager Steve Viera was in charge of a number of departments including the Health District. The City’s Chief Financial Officer Constance Sanchez has worked for the city for over 30 years and oversaw departments such as Animal Care Services and Municipal Court. Sanchez and Viera are no longer with the City of Corpus Christi after both retired on Thursday.
3NEWS spoke with Sanchez about her ousting over the phone.
"I was told that there was a reorganization in the City Manager's Office and that the chief financial officer was going to be moved to the Finance Department and I felt after being an employee for the City for 33 years that that was a move down and not a move up, so I took the option to retire from the City," Sanchez said.
Viera and Sanchez were two of the seven members of City Manager Peter Zanoni’s management team. One that is working on the budget and the sales tax issue.
We asked council members for their reaction and a number of them were surprised by the move.
"It is rather abrupt, maybe not the best time of the year for this to be happening as well because of the budget talks, talks about the 2024 bond and the sales tax re-issue and that sort of thing, but we’ll roll up our sleeves and do what we can,” Councilman Jim Klein said.
The city manager says the City will conduct a nationwide search for their replacements. After all, the City is now a $1.5 billion-a-year operation.
"We do have a strong team in our budget office, we do have a team in our finance department, strong team there as well, and so we continue, work continues the business runs, the business continues," City Manager Peter Zanoni said. "When two people decide to retire out of 4,000 we shouldn’t be concerned."
In the meantime, the city manager has drawn up a new organizational chart, and some of the duties and responsibilities have been split up among the remaining management team members. Also, the city manager's assistant, Sony Peronel, has been elevated to interim assistant city manager.
Zanoni told 3NEWS that there are actually now 4100, employees working for the City.