City Council appoints Ehrenkranz to mayor

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The Canyon Lake City Council appointed Jordan Ehrenkranz to the seat of mayor and Kasey Castillo mayor pro tem. The appointments come on the heels of the resignation of Larry Greene, who resigned his position as mayor and a member of City Council on Aug. 20 to care for his wife who was diagnosed with cancer. Greene was elected to a four-year term on the City Council at the Nov. 8, 2016, election and served as mayor since Dec. 12, 2018.

Ehrenkranz was re-elected in 2016. His term ends in 2020. Ehrenkranz has been a member of the City Council for 11 years. This is his third term serving as mayor. Prior to serving on the Council, Ehrenkranz was elected to the POA Board where he served five years, three of those years as president.

Ehrenkranz will serve as mayor until December, at which time the City Council will appoint a new mayor.

“It is my pleasure to once again serve as mayor to the citizens of Canyon Lake,” Ehrenkranz said. “I’m sorry our previous mayor had to resign due to personal reasons. He was a great asset to the community.”

Kasey Castillo was elected to the City Council in November 2018 and sworn into office on Dec. 5.  Her term ends in 2022.

Kasey is a managing partner at Castillo Harper, APC, and one of the founding partners of the law firm. Prior to founding the law firm, Kasey worked at a police defense firm and was a deputy district attorney IV at the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office. When she left the DA’s Office, she was assigned to the county-wide Career Criminal Prosecution Unit where she handled vertically-assigned cases in a trial-intensive assignment. She has successfully prosecuted gang cases, was a member of the Auto Theft Unit and worked in the Juvenile Delinquency Prosecution Division.

Vacancy to be filled by appointment

On Sept. 4, the City Council adopted an ordinance and a resolution that outlines how the city will handle vacancies on the City Council when they arise, including the current vacancy created by the resignation of former Mayor Larry Greene.

The current vacancy on the City Council will be filled by appointment.  The appointed individual will serve the remainder of the vacant term, ending in December 2020.

Application packets can be picked up from the city clerk’s office beginning Monday, Sept. 16.  Those interested in applying should contact Deputy City Clerk Ana Sauseda to schedule a time to meet with her and to pick up an application packet.  Applicant packets will be available on Monday, Sept. 16 and must be submitted by Thursday, Sept. 26.

Mayor Jordan Ehrenkranz has appointed an Ad Hoc Committee consisting of Mayor Pro Tem Kasey Castillo and Councilman Jeremy Smith to review the applications and to move the most qualified applicants forward in the process.  The chosen applicants will be invited to interview in front of the City Council at a special meeting, which will be open to the public, on Monday, Oct. 7.

It is anticipated that the City Council will vote to make the appointment immediately following interviews on Oct. 7. A majority vote of the remaining council members (3 out of 4) will be required in order for an appointment to be made.  The chosen applicant will be sworn-in and seated on the Council that same evening.