Sylvia Campos: “The truth is that is all started with a prayer…”
Sylvia Campos didn’t set out to become an elected official – her journey began with a quiet prayer at a family gathering. A lifelong Corpus Christi resident and devoted mother and grandmother, Sylvia found herself stirred into political consciousness by national events, but it was local injustices that moved her to act. After attending a City Hall meeting with friends and seeing firsthand how corporate interests often came before community needs, Sylvia decided to run for office — not once, but three times — before finally winning a seat representing District 2 on the Corpus Christi City Council. Her trek has been one of persistence, purpose, and conviction, bringing to her public service a core belief that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they stay true to their values.
The current recently sat down with Sylvia and asked her to answer five questions. Here’s what she had to say:
Was there a moment when you became interested in politics?
The truth is that it all started with a prayer. I had always voted and paid attention to the issues, but I was never really an activist. I was raising two sons, in a difficult marriage, and my primary focus had to be on them and earning a living. Then, I remember, in 2000, when the Supreme Court picked our president – and picked the one who got a half-million fewer votes – I thought, this is so wrong. I was really bothered by it, but at the time I wasn’t in any position to get active because my boys were still in high school and I needed to stay engaged with them. But then, just as they were about to graduate, I was with my sister Dora, at a family gathering. And I told her I’d been having all of these feelings about some of the things happening in our country, and I just really don’t know what to do about them. And Dora said, why don’t we pray about it? And so we did, just her and I, right then and there. It was a very simple prayer: “God, you know my heart, please let me know what you want me to do.” And I’ll tell you, it was almost immediately after that I read an article about Dennis Kucinich running for president. He was a congressman from Ohio, and it seemed like my core beliefs just aligned with everything he was talking about. He was progressive and pro-labor, he was for environmental justice, he supported free college tuition, he was a very early supporter of same-sex marriage, and he was against the war in Iraq – he even talked about creating a Department of Peace! And I thought, wow, there’s somebody out there that I can really get behind. So I called my sister and told her that I thought the answer to my prayer was “politics.” And she said, “No, that can’t be right!” But it was. The seed was planted, and I ended up becoming a coordinator of the Kucinich campaign here in Corpus Christi.
When did you become active on local issues?
My focus stayed national for quite some time, and then Julie Rogers and Isabel Araiza literally dragged me to a meeting at City Hall. Julie was monitoring the library budget, and Isabel was monitoring the budget for parks and senior centers. And the issue at that first meeting was that the City was something like $20 million short to pay for some of these services. I remember thinking, “how can we be $20 million short on these important public services when we have all this big industry paying taxes?” And the more I learned, the more concerned, and actually angry, I got. I learned about how residents and local businesses subsidize water for big industry. And about how the city gives away all this tax revenue to wealthy corporations through the industrial district agreements. It just all seemed totally backwards. So, not long after that, the three of us decided together that we would all run for City Council. It didn’t seem like such a scary thing to do it as a group. In the end they felt like they couldn’t do it, so it was just me, running for District 2. That was 2018 and I ran against the incumbent, Ben Molina. We were friendly and I did call him before I ran. I said “Ben, I respect you, you’re a nice guy, but nice is not what we need right now. We need a fighter.” So I ran, and I had no money, but I got into a run-off, and then got 40% in the run-off. Not a win, but close enough that I thought – maybe I can do this. So I ran again in 2020, again against Ben, and this time I got 48%. And then the third time was the charm – I ran in 2022, against Mark Scott, as part of the Clean Slate campaign with Jim Klein and a few others, and finally was elected.
Have you enjoyed serving on the city council?
I have days when it’s very rewarding and days when it's very challenging. Really, I'm not the kind of person that likes to be out in the front. I was just someone who was part of the community and active alongside everyone else. Collecting signatures or calling elected officials or being part of events. Just talking and listening. But I was never one to say, “you should follow me.” And honestly, it’s been more difficult not having Jim Klein there. We had a strong partnership on the council last term, and we really complimented each other. But I will say that now I feel like I’m finding some support and some commonality with some of the other council members. I think there are some good people there. I also think there are sometimes people in elected positions who like the feeling of power, the prestige of it, or maybe they have an interest in profiting from it in some way. They’re sort of in it for themselves. But I don’t do it for the ego. In my heart I’m still an activist and I’m there because I really care about trying to make a positive difference. But honestly, it’s very hard to get here, because most people just can’t afford to have a job that pays $6,000 per year. That makes it so that people of means can more easily afford to do this. But we really, truly need more people to run and serve who are in it for the right reasons.
When your time on the city council is done, what would you most like to have accomplished?
If I could help get the Inner Harbor desalination plant stopped, I would be very proud of that. That’s number one. There’s so much that’s wrong with that plant, and I’m convinced it’s going to be a catastrophe – for the ecology of the bay, for the Hillcrest neighborhood, for the ratepayers. It’s going to cost ratepayers so much money – the water bills for residents are going to go up something like 90% to pay for that plant, and the water isn’t even needed for them. It’s only needed for big industry. So it’s just the same exact thing that I saw 10 years ago when I first started paying attention to what was going on at City Hall. They take from poor and give to the rich. It’s really wrong, and I hope we can stop it. Beyond that, I would say that I would like to have made a contribution to the basics in my district. People want simple things – good streets and decent sidewalks and clean water and reliable public services. So I hope I can say when my time is done that those things improved for the people in my district.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to make a difference in their community?
A couple of things. First, I would say that you have to be willing to go to some uncomfortable places. As I said before, I’m not naturally a person who charges to the front of the crowd. There were times when I was running for office that I thought – am I really the best person to do this? Am I qualified? I questioned myself, but I felt that calling, and it made me push myself. So even if you think it’s not where you belong, don’t give up and just go back to your comfort zone. Push yourself. And second, you have to know what you stand for, and be able to stick to your convictions. That’s before you run for office, or try to put yourself into any type of community leadership role. Some people I’ve come across have the idea that they want to be in a position of power, but they don't really know much more than that. You have to know your own soul. Getting that seat at the table can’t be for personal reasons, it has to be for something outside yourself. It has to be for the greater good. I would go back to your earlier question – what would I like to have accomplished? One other thing would be that maybe someone would look at my journey and say to themselves – hey, I can do that. She’s like me. She grew up here, she wasn’t always political, she didn’t start out from a place of privilege. But she was able to get that seat at the table, and when she did, she stood up for the things she believed it. It’s doable!