b'With direct boating passage to the Gulf of Mexico via Packery Channel, with no overhead bridge barri-er, one would think it could be Fort Lauderdale on the Texas Coast, but no such vision has come close to fruition. Infrastructure on Lake Padre has been done, with bulkheads and new roads, but little activity has been seen there in more than a year.In Corpus Christi, there is an assumed understanding that the old guard, old money, power people in the city, Just dont want to see it grow. There is some truth to that, but you find over time that the real answer is more often, Theyll let it grow, as long as they get their own slice upfront, in the form of construction contracts, land purchases, and the hiring of the citys gatekeepers and their buddies. When a former board member of a regional taxing authority put her name in to replace the then-chairman, she was asked by a fellow director, Why are you doing that? You dont need anything. That says it all.When I was granted an in-person interview with Henry Cisneros, the ultimate question at the top of my mind was how he wrangled control of the City of San Antonio from the career insiders who, in fact, were deciding priorities and direction for the Cityand in some cases, the cost for entryat the cost of what was best for the citizens who paid them. Did he threaten them through a chief-of-staff-type proxy? Did he point to corruption uncovered elsewhere in the county? I seem to remember the frog-marching of some variety of public officials in Bexar County, when I was a kid watching the news. Serious levels of public corruption may, in fact, come to light very soon in Corpus Christiits been happening in small towns throughout the Coastal Bend on a regular basis, recently.Having benefited from an hours one-on-one education by one of the worlds proven experts in city leadership, one of the most successful U.S. mayors of the 20th Century, and one to whom we should be grateful for knowing our city so well, the answer to the question ended up being so much simpler.The people voted not for the person, but for an agenda, and you are paid to follow their agenda, was Henry Cisneros message to San Antonio City staffand the peoples agenda is never to enrich public officials, elected or career, with the taxpayers money. It is always, with zero exceptions, to make your city a better place to live by growing the economy, providing more opportunity for the next genera-tion, and creating a city where your kids, and their kids will want to staybecause it is a place whereTop: Driscoll Childrens Hospital in Corpus Christi, and; Above: Texas A&M everyone has a chance to prosper, not just a chosen few. University Corpus Christi, possible foundations for a medical school.56THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'