City Manager Announces New Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – City Manager Peter Zanoni has appointed a new Assistant City Manager and a Chief Financial Officer. The appointments include Mr. Steven Viera and Ms. Constance P. Sanchez.

Assistant City Manager Steven Viera

Assistant City Manager Steven Viera oversees four departments including Development Services, Planning & Environmental Services, the Airport and the Health District. Mr. Viera has over 19 years of Public Service experience and has held various positions within the City of Corpus Christi Human Resources department. Before his recent appointment, Mr. Viera served as the City’s Director of Human Resources overseeing all functions of Human Resources that impact 3,000+ employees and over 500 retirees. These areas include recruitment, benefits, employee relations, classification and compensation, collective bargaining and learning and organizational development.

As one of the City of Corpus Christi’s top executives, Mr. Viera is well known as an advocate of creating innovative ways to engage employees, establishing the culture, systems and training that will develop leaders and empower City employees to solve problems. His strategy for effective leadership is anchored by his progressive approach towards continuous improvement.  He is dedicated to the transformation of cultures, building organizational infrastructure, and engaging employees proactively. Employees at the City enjoy working with him because of his incredible talent in challenging the status quo to deliver high impact initiatives to ensure teams are highly engaged, productive, and aligned with all business objectives.

Mr. Viera is highly skilled in partnering with elected and appointed officials, developing forward-looking results based strategic plans as well as guiding the development of competency-based learning and organizational development programs throughout the City.

Prior to the City of Corpus Christi, Mr. Viera has a wealth of knowledge in human resource experience from Del Mar College and State Farm Insurance. The foundation for his notable accomplishments begin with his Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) and following, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) both from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

Mr. Viera has been formally recognized for his efforts in inspiring exceptional people practices and has won multiple awards including most recently, being named the 2017 “Human Resources Practitioner of the Year”, the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy’ award presented by the Coastal Bend Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the Municipal Excellence Awards for Management Innovations presented from the Texas Municipal League in 2017.

Mr. Viera lives in Corpus Christi, Texas with his wife of 20 years, Jeannette, and their son and two daughters. He enjoys spending time with his family and seeking adventure in the outdoors.

Chief Financial Officer Constance P. Sanchez

Constance P. Sanchez was appointed Chief Financial Officer on August 13, 2019. Departments under her purview include Finance & Business Analysis, Management & Budget, Contracts & Procurement and Information Technology.

Before her official appointment, Ms. Sanchez served as Director of Financial Services, as which she was responsible for all areas of the City’s financial management. These include financial reporting, accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, grants, treasury, revenue and collections, purchasing, and the utility business office.

Constance P. Sanchez joined the City of Corpus Christi in 1991, where she worked in the Internal Audit Department as an Assistant City Auditor and then as Auditor. In 2000, she transferred to Financial Services. In this department, she was appointed Chief Accountant, Assistant Director of Financial Services, Deputy Director of Financial Services, and Interim Director of Financial Services.

Ms. Sanchez is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA), and the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas. Ms. Sanchez was valedictorian of her high school class. She received an Associate of Arts degree in Business Administration from Del Mar College (graduating summa cum laude) and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Corpus Christi State University (graduating magna cum laude). Ms. Sanchez is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Public Manager. 

Ms. Sanchez is a lifelong resident of Corpus Christi. She has been married to her husband, Gilbert, for 21 years. She has two children, a son, Demetri, 17, and a daughter, Sophia, 16.

Viera Constance Graphic