Castillo keeps Pines District 4; newcomer Good takes District 1
Angelo Castillo kept the District 4 Pines commission seat he has held for 13 years. But the other commissioner seeking to return, Ismael Monroig, lost to political newcomer Thomas Good in the District 1 race.
“Anytime you’re in a race and have two other qualified candidates, you work as hard as you can … yes, this is unexpected,” said Good, moments after the final vote tally came in at 8:31 p.m. Tuesday.
He won 674 votes to Monroig’s 519. Monroig had held the seat since last October. Ted Victor finished third with 219. “I spent a lot of time walking the community and listening to residents, and I’ll make sure their voices are heard,” said Good, 58, an engineer who is environmental services director for the city of Deerfield Beach.
Castillo won almost 70 percent of all votes cast in District 4, claiming 2,104 votes to David Tringo’s 926 votes.
“I’m very humbled for the turnout and thankful to have the mandate to continue serving the people,” said Castillo, 59, an executive manager with the Broward Sheriff’s Office. “This is a pretty clear mandate that what we’re doing for the city is right and need to continue.” District 4 covers the southwest portion of the city; District 1 includes the southeast.
The mayor is elected at-large, but each of the four commissioners is elected by voters from a single geographical district. The four districts are roughly divided by Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard.
The commission will have several issues to weigh in the coming year and beyond.
Congestion is increasing, brought on by a steady population increase.
Pines is on a path to overtake Fort Lauderdale as the most populous city in Broward County — with more businesses, schools and shopping areas that attract workers, students and customers.
The city recently raised water rates by 24 percent to help pay for improvements to its drinking water delivery system.
The quality of the city’s drinking water has been a hot-button issue since routine testing in Nov. 2016 revealed elevated levels of trihalomethane, a disinfectant by-product. In high levels and with prolonged exposure, it can cause health issues, according to the state’s health department.
Castillo has defended the city’s water quality, saying it was never unsafe, based on a report by a utilities consulting firm.
The city is also embroiled in litigation with CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America.
It has been more than five years since CoreCivic sued the city, claiming that the city’s failure to provide water and sewer service derailed a planned federal detention center proposed in Southwest Ranches.
Earlier this month the State Supreme Court refused to consider the case and upheld a ruling by an appellate court that the city had a legal obligation to provide those utilities. The CCA could seek damages exceeding $100 million.
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