Mayor holds first of monthly coffee klatsches

Mayor Kasey Castillo is hoping her Coffee with the Mayor informal gathering Wednesday morning turns into a popular monthly event where citizens can bring up their topics of concern.

“I want to promote conversation about our wonderful community,” Kasey said and pointed to her notepad. “I’m here to jot down everything. Ask your questions or give me your opinions.”

KASEY KASTILLO – Mayor, City of Canyon Lake

Kasey plans to make these meetings monthly. She aspires to these meetings to be a place where all Canyon Lakers feel that their voices are heard.

A handful of residents showed up for the early morning event at the Canyon Lake Country Club and grabbed their complimentary coffee and sat back and listened to topics be brought up. Also in attendance was City of Canyon Lake Mayor ProTem Jeremy Smith.

Those in attendance sat at a couple of tables on the outdoor patio and voiced their concerns about security issues within the community and at the Rodeway Inn & Suites hotel by Pepes. Kasey and Jeremy addressed their concerns.

“Unfortunately, the police considered the string of stolen items from vehicles as larcenies because the cars were unlocked,” Kasey said. “We cannot change the way the police guideline these crimes, but we are hoping to create a social media campaign to remind citizens to lock their cars and doors.”

The Rodeway Inn was another matter.

“Regarding the hotel, our deputies constantly check there and run guests’ license plates,” she said. “The hotel also monitors the guests and their backgrounds.”

Kasey said deputies come to every meeting with stats that justify the city’s low crime rates.  She also said the city is going to implement a volunteer program for residents to keep watch on their community and do traffic control for big events.

Kasey and Jeremy spoke about the Fire Department and the great strides Canyon Lake has made to create its own department.

“The department is our main focus as of now,” Jeremy said. “We are fortunate to have a lot of money generated and saved in our reserves. We vowed to keep taxes low, and we are doing so.”

Residents at the meeting found the topic of marijuana dispensaries in the Canyon Lake Town Center as a hot button issue and asked if there will be one in the center.

“The answer is no,” Kasey said. “There’s an ordinance that states there will be no selling of marijuana in the city. We’re going to take this up after the pandemic, but right now, we are focusing on starting our own fire department.”

Jeremy also remarked that he felt the majority of residents were against the selling of marijuana in the city. He said he visited 160 houses to ask residents their opinions on the subject.

“I can assure you all that we are not going to make any official decisions before we have a town hall meeting,” Kasey said.

Those at the get together appeared to be joyful and appreciative of their mayor for taking the time to discuss the multiple issues that mattered the most to them.

The next meeting will be on April 7, and Director Darcy Burke from the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District will be in attendance to co-host.