A special election has been set for May 6, 2017, to fill the vacant seat for the Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Dan McQueen, former mayor, resigned on January 18 after just 37 days in office. His resignation came after being the subject of intense media scrutiny for criticizing city council and local media members on social media.

During such time, it was revealed that McQueen, who had no previous experience with public office, hired his live-in girlfriend as his chief of staff without disclosure to the city manager in direct conflict with the city’s policies.

Since McQueen’s resignation seven candidates have entered the mayoral race, including the City’s current Ethics Commissioner, Larry White.

Corpus Christi, Texas City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss new recommendations to the ethics code to further tighten rules for City Council members. The Council unanimously approved the new code during a first vote last week.

If approved on the second vote, it will be formally adopted by City Council. If adopted, the modified code would ban council members from appointing people to city committees and boards if the appointee contributed more than $2,700 to the council member’s campaign in the previous election. This would not ban the contributor from appointment, but would require a council member who did not receive contributions meeting the threshold to appoint the person.

Additionally, the prospective code broadens who falls within what is called the circle of influence and indicates a conflict of interest if a person with a specific relationship to a council member would profit from a council member’s vote. The current circle of influence includes direct family members but could be expanded to cover employers of family members and household members if the new code is adopted.