CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As we head into the second week of early voting, 3NEWS sat down with both candidates in the race for Dist. 2.
We asked both incumbent Sylvia Campos and challenger Ben Molina, who has represented the area in the past, to put aside some of the larger, citywide issues for a moment, and focus on the issues Dist. 2 is specifically facing.
Here’s what they had to say:
"During my time on city council, my focus was on animal control," Molina said. "Änd since I've been away, that focus has shifted. And, so, the focus will always be our streets and our infrastructure, animal control. And then of course, economic development is very, very important to me. I am pro-growth; I am pro-business."
Campos said a huge priority of hers is, not only the streets and animal control, but sidewalks.
"The sidewalks are a big issue because since we're -- we have most of the older neighborhoods, you know," she said. "There has been no repair, and every time that a resident calls -- it's in the ordinance right now that the resident is responsible for that sidewalk. Well, we're going to have to change that," she said.
While on the topics of streets, both candidates addressed how they plan to keep small businesses from being impacted by large construction projects in the area.
Both candidates said it's going to start with communication.
"Not just with the business owners to let them know the project is taking place and how long it's going to take place and what the schedule is like," Molina said. "But also with the community. We need to let them know that these businesses are still open while the street is under construction. And we need to encourage our residents, our citizens to help those businesses out. You know, partake go and shop at these local businesses. It's important because we want to make sure that they are able to stay open and continue adding to the quality of life here in Corpus Christi."
"It is like anything else, it's business to business," Campos said. I mean, you know, some can withstand, like, a long time, but others cannot. So I think it's a matter of them calling us and making sure that, you know, what is it that we can do? If they, if they've gone down a significant amount, then we need to definitely check into it and see what the city can offer."
Early voting ends Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.