Debbie Lindsey-Opel will be sworn in as the newest member of the Corpus Christi City Council after the council returns from a two-week break following the July 4 holiday. She was appointed to fill an at-large position during a meeting June 20. Photo by Carrie Robertson Meyer/Third Coast Photo

Debbie Lindsey-Opel will be sworn in as the newest member of the Corpus Christi City Council after the council returns from a two-week break following the July 4 holiday. She was appointed to fill an at-large position during a meeting June 20. Photo by Carrie Robertson Meyer/Third Coast Photo

Debbie Lindsey-Opel will fill the vacant at-large position on the Corpus Christi City Council. She was appointed in a unanimous decision by the current eight members of the nine-member panel June 20. The council now has a full slate of members for the first time since January, when the newly elected mayor quit after only 37 days in office.
Lindsey-Opel takes over the position left vacant when Joe McComb won a special election for mayor May 2. She will be sworn in three weeks from now after the council’s two-week summer break. 
“This is the thrill of a lifetime,” Lindsey-Opel said during her final statement to the council. 
Four finalists were chosen from a field of 19 applicants. Lindsey-Opel, John Martinez, Sylvia Tryon Oliver and Kamiesh Bhikha were each interviewed publicly during the council’s regular Tuesday meeting. After an executive session, council reconvened and voted to appoint Lindsey-Opel.
During her 16-month term, she said she plans to make water, streets and public safety priorities, likening the position of an at-large member to that of the mayor.
“When you think of priorities of an at-large council member, it really is tied to the success of each of the districts,” she said. 
Council chambers were filled with vocal supporters of Oliver. Red-shirted supporters for Bhikha also made a strong showing at the meeting. 
The new council member comes with a strong business background. She is president of Three Dimensional Development, which “grows brands by ensuring organizations are top-notch internally and in their markets,” reads her Linkedin page. Before that, she was director of Public Affairs for H-E-B for eight years, supporting 72 stores in South Texas.
She has a Master of Business from Corpus Christi State University, which is now Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Her bachelor’s degree in marketing was earned at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. 
Community involvement includes serving as chair of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the Corpus Christi Business and Jobs Development Corp.