Deja vu all over again. Former Mayor Dan McQueen, who resigned after only 37 days in office, has decided to run for the position again. He filed for a spot on the ballot Monday, Aug. 20, after a mysterious Sunday Facebook post stating he was kicking off his campaign — he just didn’t say what campaign.
McQueen favors Facebook as a means of communication. He announced his resignation as mayor via Facebook in January 2017. He was elected mayor in November 2016, defeating incumbent Mayor Nelda Martinez, who was running for her third term as the city’s leader.
Deadline for filing for mayor or any of the eight positions on City Council was 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20. Also filing for mayor were incumbent Mayor Joe McComb, Ray Madrigal, and Aislynn Campbell — at least as of 3 p.m. on deadline day.

SHORT-TERM MAYOR

McQueen’s entire 37 days were fairly fraught with troubles. Within 36 hours of his swearing-in, the city’s new council faced the worst water crisis in its history, which is saying something. The previous 18 months, the city was plagued with three boil-water orders of varying lengths. This time, most of Corpus Christi was unable to use or even touch its water due to a possible chemical spill in the industrial district. The ban on using water lasted four days at the height of the holiday shopping season in December.
The story made national news, especially when McQueen began attacking the local media for “beating me up.” He also butted heads with city staffers and other members of the council for his lack of communication about what was happening and public verbal admonishments to staffers.
Then, the going really got tough for McQueen. The hiring of a close friend as chief of staff was questioned, especially since he and the woman shared the same address. After the election, Shari Douglas changed her address to a P.O. box. McQueen refused to answer any questions about the allegations of nepotism, and Douglas soon resigned.
KRIS 6 TV began to dig into McQueen’s background, questioning his qualifications as an engineer and businessman. Although he claimed to have graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, the university reported it had no record of the degree. McQueen quickly took the reference to that degree off his LinkdIn page.
The TV station also unearthed some facts that did not bode well for McQueen’s claims to be a top businessman. Reporters discovered he was sued in 2007 for breaking a lease in San Antonio. At the time of the disclosure, he still owed $25,000 on the property, which he rented for a karate school. He was fined twice for failing to turn over documents related to that lawsuit, and one of his attorneys quit citing “difficulty communicating” with McQueen.
McQueen took to Facebook to voice his displeasure. He then announced his resignation.
“Consider this my resignation,” read the post. “I resign immediately. The city can no longer deal with such differing views and divisiveness. I step down from my position as mayor in order to allow the council and city to regain focus on success.”
His latest Facebook post, dated Sunday, Aug. 19, strongly suggested he would be running for a seat on the council, he just didn’t say which position.
“We have to focus on making Corpus Shine if we expect National respect and Increase business,” the post reads (capitalization shown is as it appears in post). “Required for city safety, jobs, quality and structure. One year after Harvey, God kept our city safe. Now we need to give glory and show our strength to the world. I will be kicking off my campaign Monday; you are welcome to join me at City Hall.”
This is not the first campaign McQueen has launched since his resignation in January 2017. He briefly campaigned as a Republican challenger to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
He also self-published a book titled “37 Day Mayor: Truth, Fake-News, America’s Future.” The magazine-like cover featured several blurbs:
• Lies about MY: Career, Education Finance & Family! Do YOU Pay them?
• CONSPIRACY Top 7 Cronyism Indicators
• America’s Destruction by Media
He tried to fund the campaign with the “McQueen MotorCycle Cafe Essay & Rib Contest”  in which he promised a 12,000-square-foot commercial building in downtown Corpus Christi to the best essay writer with the best rib recipe. Entries had to be accompanied by a $250 fee.
All of that was in August 2017. By November, he had withdrawn from the race. He claimed he was working on a new book: “SECURITY— Avoiding the Breach.”
“It is time I focus on my hometown and the technological programs that will be needed in creating jobs,” he wrote to a reporter via Facebook messenger.