USA TODAY
By Kirsten Crow and Matt Woolbrigh
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — A Texas mayor in office for 37 days resigned Wednesday via Facebook after social-media posts and other outbursts that expressed ire at fellow council members, city staffers and the media.
Dan McQueen, 57, a Navy veteran but political newcomer who won 55%-45% over incumbent Mayor Nelda Martinez in the November election, didn’t weather his first crisis in office well: a leak from a chemical plant tank that contaminated the Gulf Coast city’s water supply two days after he was sworn in Dec. 13. In council meetings, he was heavy handed with council members and disrespectful of their efforts to meet their obligation to keep constituents informed.
And his frustrations built as local media tried to investigate his background, largely unknown because his victory over Martinez, who had been in office since 2012 and had defeated him for a two-year term in 2014, was a surprise.