April 22, 2025
By Brian Hews • [email protected]
The Huntington Park City Council has called for a special meeting tomorrow night, April 23, to appoint a city councilperson for the vacant seat of former Councilwoman Esmeralda Castillo.
On February 18, 2025 City Council members Arturo Flores, Eduardo “Eddie” Martinez, and Jonathan Sanabria blatantly violated government code by removing Castillo from her seat, using a reportedly trumped-up investigation by attorney and former La Mirada Councilman Andrew Sarega that claimed Castillo did not live in the city.
LCCN was first to report Castillo’s removal.
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Sarega and the Huntington Park Police Department conducted an investigation and found, without disclosing the evidence to the press, that Castillo “didn’t live in the city.”
Castillo has maintained she lives in the city and stated the investigation was in retaliation for a harassment claim she brought against the three councilmen.
Regardless of the residency claim, the documentation should have been handed over to the attorney general, who would have conducted their own investigation, resulting in a “quo warranto” proceeding.
Quo warranto is a legal proceeding used to challenge a person’s right to hold a public office, in this case, Castillo. A quo warranto action can only be brought by the California Attorney General on behalf of the public. A private party, such as Sarega, can show evidence and, with the Attorney General’s consent, also start a quo warranto proceeding.
Sarega and the City Council did neither; instead, they callously removed Castillo at their meeting on February 18, 2025.
Agenda item 1 for the April 23, 2025 meeting states that the City Council will “receive presentations from applicants seeking appointment to the vacant City Council seat; at the Council’s discretion, [they will] discuss the applications and/or ask questions of the applicants; [they will then] consider making an appointment to fill the vacant City Council seat in accordance with Government Code § 36512.”
GC 36512 states that a City Council person must be appointed within 60 days after the vacancy. Since Castillo was removed on February 18, the 60th day would have been April 20; in a Keystone Cops moment, Councilmen Arturo Flores, Eduardo “Eddie” Martinez, Jonathan Sanabria, and City Attorney Sarega missed the deadline.
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Text from GC 36512.
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Under GC 36512, if the city council does not appoint someone within the 60-day window, a special election must be scheduled to fill the vacancy. The special election must be held on the next regularly scheduled election date, at least 114 days after the council calls the election.
Albert Robles, attorney for Esmeralda Castillo, has filed a temporary restraining order, arguing that Huntington Park, under Government Code Section 36512, is required to hold a special election, which will cost residents at least $50,000.
The hearing will be held tomorrow at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles in Department 12 at 8:30 a.m. or “soon thereafter.”
LCCN contacted City Clerk Eduardo Sarmiento, who stated that he would reach out to Sarega and the City Council for comment.
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