Five neighbors. One vision.

We can save our city.

It’s time to elect authentic community champions, not more corporate lapdogs. We need new leaders on the Corpus Christi City Council that will put our health, our safety and our family budgets above industry profits.

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The problem

Big industry wants to keep running Corpus Christi.

Big industry’s endorsed candidates want to hand even more of our public resources over to a handful of giant corporations. If elected, they’ll spend over $3.6 billion to build the Inner Harbor desalination plant that’s only needed by a handful of refineries and petrochemical plants, despite the risks to our bay and the huge increase in residential water bills.

City Hall has already given away tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary tax breaks to these same big corporations, while our taxes and water bills go up year after year, and public services like roads, parks and libraries go underfunded.

Electing the Clean Slate to the City Council will help get our beloved Corpus Christi moving in the right direction again!

What they stand for

Four key priorities that put residents first.

01
Water
Oppose the $3.6 billion industrial Inner Harbor desal plant. Support the Fair Water Amendment so big corporations pay their fair share during drought. Deliver faster, safer, more affordable long-term water supply alternatives.
02
Quality of Life & Affordability
Fix our streets and upgrade our water system. Invest in our parks, libraries and senior centers. Keep City Hall running efficiently and eliminate waste to keep our taxes and utility bills low.
03
Transparent, Ethical Government
Be accessible and accountable to the community. Give easy access to city information. Prioritize public input, not more backroom special interest deals. Create an independent ethics commission.
04
Politics Last
Every Clean Slate candidate is already active in our community – teaching, volunteering, organizing and advocating – and is committed to putting real progress for our city over any political agenda.

Who they are

Leadership for the people who actually live here.

The Clean Slate candidates come from different backgrounds – a professor, a military spouse and organizer, an accountant, an educator, and a small business owner – but they are united by a shared conviction: Corpus Christi's government should work for its residents first, not for the giant corporations that have long had an outsized say at City Hall.

Each Clean Slate candidate has spent years showing up to council meetings, knocking on doors, organizing in the community, and listening to their neighbors before ever deciding to run – and each brings that same commitment to accessibility and accountability to their campaign.

At the center of their platform is water. Every Clean Slate candidate believes residential ratepayers have shouldered an unfair burden while Corpus Christi’s largest industrial water users have received unfair advantages and special deals that ordinary families don't get. Clean Slate candidates oppose the $3.6 billion industrial Inner Harbor desalination plant, and support the Fair Water Amendment to require industrial water users to pay their fair share during periods of drought. They favor faster, safer alternatives to ensure residents have a reliable long-term supply of clean, affordable water.

Beyond water, the candidates share a commitment to transparent, ethical, efficient city government: they want public input before decisions are made, easier public access to city records, and policies that keep special interests from influencing the city behind closed doors. They also share a quality-of-life agenda – repairing streets and drainage, investing in parks, libraries, and senior centers, and supporting small local owned businesses so that economic growth benefits Corpus Christi families rather than shareholders from someplace else. Clean Slate candidates are also committed to keeping residents’ taxes and utility bills low.

Finally, each candidate approaches public service as an extension of work they have already been doing in the community rather than as a first step into politics. Together, the Clean Slate represents a chance for Corpus Christi voters to choose leadership that reflects the priorities of the people who actually live here!

The solution

Vote for the Clean Slate.

Dr. Isabel Araiza
City Council · District 2
Dr. Isabel Araiza was born and raised in Corpus Christi. As part of CCISD's court-ordered integration, she was bussed to Parkdale Elementary rather than attending her neighborhood school. She graduated from Carroll High School, earned a BA in English and Political Science from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and holds a PhD in Sociology from Boston College. She taught at Texas A&M as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of Sociology from 2004–2022, and since 2022 has been an Assistant Professor at Del Mar College and Coordinator of its Mexican American Studies Program. Isabel’s civic engagement deepened in 2016, when she co-founded the grassroots group For the Greater Good after the city's third water boil notice in ten months; the group has since pushed the city on infrastructure planning, industry accountability, and ending the drought surcharge exemption. She has served on the City's Crime Control and Prevention Board since 2022, recently co-led the Fair Water Amendment petition drive, and ran for mayor in 2024, placing third. She is married to Ricardo Ortiz, and they have three daughters. Isabel’s priorities include investing in neighborhood parks, libraries, and senior centers; repairing streets and sidewalks; pursuing science-based, affordable water security; requiring the city's largest water users to conserve like everyone else; and building a city budget that puts residents first.
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Stacie Garrecht
City Council · District 4
A military wife, mother, grandmother, and small business owner, Stacie Garrecht has lived in District 4 for 20 years, raising her family through difficult health challenges. In January 2025 she founded Indivisible Coastal Bend, a grassroots group that has organized numerous public actions, including some of the largest civic rallies the region has seen. She is running to give residents a voice at City Hall and bring a fresh perspective. Stacie’s priorities include treating water as a public right rather than a corporate privilege; transparency and accountability in city government; supporting small businesses and diversifying the economy beyond petrochemicals; fixing neglected infrastructure like potholes and drainage; investing in parks, green spaces, and libraries; xeriscaping incentives to conserve residential water; and completing the community pool on the island. She describes herself as "not a typical politician" but someone ready to listen, show up, and fight for the residents of District 4.
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Merida Gonzalez Forrest
City Council · District 5
A lifelong Corpus Christi resident, Merida Gonzalez Forrest graduated from Mary Carroll High School, earned an Associate of Arts in Business Administration from Del Mar College, and a Bachelor's in Accounting from Texas State University. She spent seven years in accounting in Austin before returning home. Her career includes serving as Sales Tax Coordinator for Whataburger Corporate, managing 78 monthly filings across nine states; an accounting role at Airgas Southwest reconciling a $15+ million inventory account; and later work in public accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and campaign finance compliance. She has regularly attended City Council meetings, volunteered with The Free Store, and participated in the region's Homelessness Point-in-Time Count. Merida has watched her own elementary school, middle school, and high school close or be demolished, which she says drives her focus on keeping families and jobs in Corpus Christi. She is running for the seat being vacated by term-limited Gil Hernandez. Her priorities include water security and affordability, opposition to the Inner Harbor desalination project in favor of offshore alternatives and aquifer storage, renewing public safety funding, practical homelessness solutions, and government transparency, including an independent ethics commission.
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Dr. Nancy Vera
City Council · At-Large
A fourth-generation Corpus Christian, Dr. Nancy Vera graduated from Foy H. Moody High School, earned her Bachelor's from Corpus Christi State University, and received a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2007. She taught English and Language Arts for 20 years at Carroll/Mary Carroll High School and spent a decade in Dallas as an educator representative for state and national teachers' associations before returning to Corpus Christi in 2001. She currently serves as President of the 1,400-member Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers and President of the Coastal Bend Cesar Chavez Committee. Her civic record includes serving as LULAC District 11 Women's Director, Vice President of the South Texas Human Rights Center, and a board member of the Corpus Christi Police Department's Training Advisory Committee. Honors include the 2014 National LULAC Woman of the Year award and induction into the LULAC Woman's Hall of Fame. Outside of civic life, Nancy enjoys classical and traditional Mexican folk music, writing, and community organizing. Her priorities include representation for working families, environmental protections for clean air, water, and bays, ending corporate tax giveaways, and increased funding for education and social services.
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Joshua Fraedrick
City Council · At-Large
A small business owner and longtime Corpus Christi resident, Josh Fraedrick has built his life and career locally alongside his partner, Jessica. He holds a diploma from Mary Carroll High School and completed coursework in Electrical Engineering and Physics at Del Mar College. He currently owns CC-TX Lawn Care and holds a management role at Nueces Brewing Company, giving him hands-on experience in budgeting, payroll, purchasing, and operations. For nearly two years he has attended almost every City Council meeting, studying agendas and budgets and speaking during public comment. He ran for mayor in 2024 on a platform of transparency, street repair, and water protection, and is a member of Texas Democratic Women and Environmental Democrats. Josh’s priorities include fixing basic infrastructure like roads and drainage; a measured, evidence-based water strategy that strongly opposes the Inner Harbor desalination site while remaining open to evaluating the Barney Davis alternative; government transparency and accountability; and practical, compassionate solutions to homelessness.
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