By Arturo Castañares
Editor-at-Large

Former appointed Port District Commissioner Rafael Castellanos, who resigned from the Board suddenly earlier this year, is now in the running to be the special agency’s new Chief Executive Officer making up to $450,000 a year even after saying he had not applied for the job. 

The San Diego Unified Port District is searching for a new leader because CEO Joe Stuyvesant resigned in January after having been on administrative leave for over six months, and inside sources now confirm Castellanos is being promoted by his former colleagues.

Rafael Castellanos, who served as one of San Diego’s three Commissioners on the Board of the San Diego Unified Port District, resigned unexpectedly just four days later after 11 years on the seven-member board of unpaid political appointees. 

Rafael Castellanos

 

Castellanos said at the time that he was refocusing on his legal career and caring for his ailing father, not angling to get hired to the Port's top position.

“The last few years have been incredibly difficult because of serious family health issues, which resulted in my mother’s passing last year and my father’s continuing struggle with Alzheimer’s,” Castellanos told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I’m looking forward to returning full time to my law practice and continuing to care for my father.”

Two months ago, Castellanos told La Prensa San Diego that he “did not” apply for the open position. 

But sources within the Port now confirm that Castellanos is being pushed for the plum job by a majority of his former colleagues.

No former Port Commission has ever been hired to serve as CEO in the agency's 62-year history.

Before Castellanos resigned, he had been rumored to have been seeking the top staff job at the Port after Stuyvesant was put on an indefinite leave of absence in July 2023. 

The Port commissioners held several closed session meetings related to Stuyvesant’s status while Castellanos was still on the Board, but declined to release any explanation of his suspension. 

Critics complained that the Port was violating state law by discussing his potential hiring while he was a Commissioner and had influence on the discussions.

Then, in September 2023, while Castellanos was still on the Board, the Port paid a Sacramento-based law firm to request a legal opinion from the Fair Political Practices Commission asking if Castellanos could be hired “by the San Diego Unified Port District as its Chief Executive Officer, or for any other position.”

The FPPC, which enforces the states political campaign and conflict of interest laws, explained at the time that Castellanos could be hired if he “resigns from office before the commencement of the Board’s hiring process” and “does not participate or attempt to influence any decisions regarding a vacancy.” 

But the watchdog agency went on to warn the Port that they could still violate the law if “Board members did engage in preliminary discussions regarding filling the CEO position, or if the Board does so while Chair Castellanos is a board member, Section 1090 will prohibit the contract.” 

Government Code Section 1090 prohibits public officials from participating in the planning, making, or approval of any contract where he or she has a direct or indirect conflict of interest.

It is not clear who at the Port authorized the law firm to inquire about their ability to hire Castellanos, but the legal opinion was requested while he was still a Port Commissioner.

Neither the Port nor Castellanos made the FPPC letter public at the time, so only Port Commissioners and staff knew the details of the legal dilemma.

On January 21, 2024, the Port announced the resignation of Stuyvesant after having been on a leave of absence for six months. 

Joe Stuyvesant

 

The Port spent over $740,000 on costs associated with Stuyvesant’s departure, including paying him the equivalent of one year of his $351,000 salary plus an additional $20,000 payment, a $40,000 payment to Stuyvesant’s lawyer, and $330,000 to outside lawyers who conducted an internal investigation related to Stuysevant. 

Castellanos was still a Commissioner and presumably knew about and was involved in the decision to pay Stuyvesant to leave his position.

The Port never released any results of the investigation or details of what led to Stuysevant’s departure. 

Then, just four days later, Castellanos suddenly resigned effective immediately during the last year of his third four-year term.

“On behalf of the Board of Port Commissioners, farewell and following seas to you, Rafa. We wish all the best for you and your family,” Port Board Chairman Frank Urtasun wrote in an official Port of San Diego statement in January. 

The Port Commissioners had already appointed former Port CEO Randa Coniglio as acting-CEO in July 2023 when Stuyvesant went on a leave of absence. Coniglio, who had retired in February 2020 and was later replaced by Stuyvesant, will continue to serve until a permanent replacement is selected. 

A few months later, in May of this year, the Port announced a new search process to select the next CEO, posting a listing for the open position that seems tailored to fit Castellanos. 

The listing, which boasts an annual salary range of $350,000.00 to $425,000, states that “the next CEO will need to be both a diplomat and expert facilitator of those dynamics to bring the Port’s stakeholders together in order to move these big, innovative projects forward.”

“Exceptional business acumen, including managing large organizations through growth and change, with the ability to plan and act ahead of potential impacts; brings sound risk management skills; politically savvy,” the job listing states as part of candidates' preferred skill sets.

Although the job posting only states that the CEO “will provide direct supervision to 11 team members,” the Port CEO actually oversees more than 640 employees and annual revenues of over $315 million. 

Castellanos, who is a real estate and business lawyer, has never directly managed a large organization similar in size to the Port, although he did serve as a Port Commissioner during the tenure of three past CEOs and was involved in the hiring of both Coniglio and Stuyvesant.

The Port has not released any details on any other candidates who have applied or been recruited for the current position, or when a selection will be made.

A two-Commissioner sub-committee is heading up the CEO search process, with Chula Vista Commission Ann Moore and San Diego Commissioner Danielle Moore overseeing the hired consultant. Both Commissioners are lawyers and served alongside Castellanos before his resignation.

Ann Moore	Danielle Moore

Immediately before being selected as the Port’s CEO in 2021, Stuyvesant had served as the Executive Director of Navy Region Southwest, which oversees the operation and management of Naval shore installations in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. 

Stuyvesant, who was chosen from among hundreds of applicants after a vigorous nationwide search conducted for months in 2020, had served 30 years in the US Navy as a pilot; as the Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily; and as Commander, AI Asad Air Base Command Group, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, among other postings.

In addition to Stuyvesant, the Port has had three other CEOs since 2010, including Coniglio, who was retired after 20 years at the Port, including nearly five as CEO; Wayne Darbeau, who served four years before resigning after it was discovered he had asked Port tenant companies to hire his son; and retired US Coast Guard Vice Admiral Charles Wurster who resigned abruptly in 2010 after only 18 months on the job.

The San Diego Unified Port District Board of Commissioners is comprised of seven members appointed by the City Councils of the four cities that touch San Diego Bay, including Commissioners Michael Zucchet, Danielle Moore, and Sid Voorakkara from San Diego, and Commissioners Ann Moore from Chula Vista, Frank Urtasun from Coronado, Dan Malcolm from Imperial Beach, and Dr. Gil Ungab from National City.

Frank Urtasun	Michael Zucchet	Dan Malcolm

 

All but two of the current Commissioners served together with Castellanos; only National City Commissioner Ungab and San Diego Commissioner Voorakkara, who replaced Castellanos, have been appointed since Castellanos resigned.

Dr. Gil Ungab	Sid Voorakkara

 

Commissioners are unpaid but receive a $1,100 monthly stipend for attending meetings, full healthcare benefits, and paid travel to foreign countries as part of trips to promote Port business. 

Created by state law in 1962, the Port District is the trustee of coastal tidelands that are public state property under the control of the California Lands Commission.

In addition to administering land leases for hotels and businesses on state tidelands, the Port District also manages port operations of cargo ships loaded and unloaded in San Diego and National City.