Miami Shores Council appoints Wesley Castellanos to vacant seat
The Miami Shores Village Council on Tuesday appointed and swore in a former chairman of the city’s Historic Preservation Board to the council seat vacated by Crystal Wagar. It was the council’s second appointment in a matter of weeks.
Wesley Castellanos, a registered architect and general contractor who founded the Miami-based Castellanos Design Studio, immediately began serving in office upon his appointment.
“My goal will be, I promise you, to make Miami Shores more beautiful than what it is now,” Castellanos said after beating out four other applicants.
“I can promise that I will do my absolute best to listen closely to the residents and choose what is right for us,” Castellanos wrote in a statement to the Miami Herald. He said he does intend to run to keep his spot on the Village Council in the city’s April 11 election. Three seats are open, including the two vacated by Wagar and Katia Saint Fleur; Councilwoman Alice Burch’s seat is also up for grabs as she is termed out.
Castellanos filled the seat vacated by Wagar, who resigned ahead of a new Florida law that would prohibit certain elected officials from lobbying for six years after they leave office. The law went into effect Dec. 31.
Read more: Miami Shores council member resigns ahead of new Florida lobbying law taking effect
Wagar, who is a registered lobbyist with The Southern Group, is also one of five Florida politicians who filed a lawsuit seeking to temporarily block the new law from taking effect. But, Miami U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom denied the request at a Dec. 29 emergency hearing. The court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 27.
The Constitutional Prohibition Against Lobbying by a Public Officer implements a constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2018 that prohibits lobbying by certain public officials while in office. It extends the period of time that certain elected officials are prohibited from lobbying after leaving office from two years to six years.
Castellanos’ appointment comes three weeks after the council appointed Timothy Crutchfield, an attorney at North Miami-based law firm Mintz Truppman, P.A. Crutchfield served on the Miami Shores Planning and Zoning Board from 1999 to 2005. He replaced former Councilmember Katia Saint Fleur, who resigned Dec. 6. Castellanos had previously applied for that vacant seat.
Crutchfield will be in office for the remainder of Saint Fleur’s term, but said he has no plans to run in the election on April 11.
The councilmember appointments come within a month of the village council voting to give tentative approval to its comprehensive plan. The plan has caused division among residents and some village councilmembers over potential multifamily housing in a largely single-family home community.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 3:48 PM.
