Pines to choose commissioner Tuesday after contentious race

With property tax rolls at rock bottom and municipal leaders struggling to control costs and rescue failed real estate investments, there's a lot at stake in Tuesday's special election for Pembroke Pines city commissioner.

But those issues are not what candidates Angelo Castillo and Michell ``Mike'' Rubinstein are arguing about in the final stretch of the campaign. Instead, they're engaged in old-fashioned mudslinging.

The election was forced by Castillo's resignation from the Pines Commission to run for the Broward Board of Commissioners. He lost the Democratic primary in August, and is now running to finish the three years remaining on his term.

Rubinstein, a past Pines commissioner and frequent candidate, is the sole challenger.

Rubinstein has attempted to make an issue of the estimated $80,000 cost of Tuesday's special election, blaming Castillo for not resigning early enough so his seat could have been filled in the November general election.

District 4 voters may be experiencing election fatigue. They are about to go to the polls for the fourth time in less than a year -- and voter turnout was underwhelming in March, when Castillo won his third term. Only 1,904 of District 4's nearly 27,000 registered voters -- 7 percent -- cast ballots. Castillo got 1,662 of them, or nearly 87 percent.

Both candidates have a reputation for loquaciousness on the dais and frequent sparring matches with city administrators.

Castillo has voted in the minority on several key issues, including the city's 2010-11 budget and a hike in water and utility fees. He has advocated for a commission auditor, which Pines voters approved in November, and questioned the inconsistent manner in which the city had put contracts out to bid.

Rubinstein has favored many of the same positions as Castillo. Elected to the commission in 1982, 1984 and 1995, he often challenged colleagues and city administrators on routine items, winning a loyal following in the community.

Rubinstein resigned his seat in 1996 after a political opponent filed a lawsuit claiming he did not meet the city's residency requirement for commissioners. Rubinstein never challenged the accusation, but called the city's charter unconstitutional.

In the current campaign, Rubinstein has been on the attack. In late November, he filed a complaint with the Broward state attorney's office alleging Castillo had violated state ethics laws because his employer once accepted a donation from Calvin, Giordano & Associates, a Fort Lauderdale engineering and construction firm that runs the city's building services department and has bid on numerous projects. Castillo works for Broward House, a nonprofit that helps people living with HIV.

Rubenstein's complaint also mentions an ``anonymous'' contributor to the 9-11 Memorial Foundation, a charity created by city commissioners in October 2009 to raise money for a building to house sculptures and a steel girder from one of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

That contributor was Calvin Giordano, according to statements Castillo made to the Herald in March 2010. The amount pledged was $50,000, Castillo said, though it is unclear how much of that has been paid.

The state attorney's office confirmed receipt of Rubinstein's complaint but had no comment on its merits or whether investigators would pursue it.

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