CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coastal Bend native David Peña and incumbent City Councilman Gil Hernandez are running to fill Corpus Christi's District 5 council seat.
Peña owns several businesses in the Corpus Christi area and says his career skills will transfer over to the council position.
"I manage three budgets, three business budgets -- plus a personal budget -- and we manage to keep everyone on pay roll and within our budgets," he said.
Councilman Hernandez said there's still a lot of work to be done and that's why he hasn't stepped away from the position.
"It's good to see the hard work that I've put in over the last six years come into fruition, and I just want to see if I can finish that out." Hernandez said.
When asked about their main priorities if elected, Peña said residential streets are on the top of his list.
"Some of the important ones are going to be streets. I think a lot of the older neighborhoods are neglected, have been neglected. I think the focus is currently on the new growth and we're neglecting some of older neighborhoods that need to be looked at and prioritized," Peña said.
For Hernandez, water is one area he would like to focus on.
"So in terms of prioritize, obviously streets, storm water, and also making sure we have a reliable source of water." he said.
Both candidates also weighed in on the issue of desalination and the proposed locations for projects to be located.
"If the permitting shows it's safe, and they want to take responsibility for saying it's safe, then I'm for it. We need the water," Peña said.
"You can't just think about what we need here now," Hernandez said. "You got to think long term and what we will need 20, 30, 40 years down the road and I will think it will be a better solution as opposed to the Inner Harbor side."