UPDATED: Salinas officials ask District Attorney to prosecute City Councilman Jose Castañeda.

Embattled Salinas City Councilman Jose Castañeda has a new problem to worry about: District Attorney Dean Flippo's office is now looking into whether to charge him for the litany of other problems he's got. 

Compared to possible prosecution, those problems seem relatively small. But they are numerous.  

In a July 31 letter to Flippo, Salinas City Attorney Chris Callihan and Mayor Joe Gunter laid it all out: Castañeda has failed to file required economic interest disclosure forms and campaign finance reporting forms, and failed to complete a mandatory ethics training for elected officials. 

California Fair Political Practices Commission Political Reform Consultant Adrianne Korchmaros sent Castañeda a June 29 letter ordering him to file proper campaign finance paperwork within 30 days; that deadline came and went, and Castañeda asked for an extension, prompting Callihan and Gunter to write their letter. (The new deadline is Thursday, Aug. 6.)

"Given Councilmember Castañeda's ongoing knowing and willful violation of the Political Reform Act, this letter is our request that your office review this matter for prosecution," they wrote.

Assistant District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni confirms the DA's office received the letter Monday afternoon.

"We are looking into the matter at the request of the city of Salinas," Pacioni says.  

Castañeda's attorney, Anthony Prince, says the city's request for a criminal investigation is a distraction. "I think the citizens of Salinas are not being served by a City Council that's obsessed [with pursuing Castañeda]," Prince says. "It's clear to us that what is happening is they want to silence Jose Castañeda." 

That's partly because of some of Castañeda's other problems: His colleagues on City Council are holding a censure hearing Aug. 18 on whether to formally reprimand him; he owes an outstanding $5,000 civil penalty for a lawsuit the city of Salinas lodged against him, ultimately forcing him to resign from his seat on the Alisal Union School District board; and he faces a misdemeanor charge in Monterey County Superior Court for driving on a suspended license, which he is contesting. 

The Monterey County Civil Grand Jury slammed Castañeda in a recent report for failure to pay his $5,000 fine and file the required paperwork, and suggested the city go after him for it. 

"It is unfortunate that we must make this request," Callihan and Gunter wrote. "However, the city and the FPPC's warnings and attempts to gain councilmember Castañeda's compliance have been unsuccessful. 

"Councilmember Castañeda must be held to the same standard as all other elected officials to which these reporting and filing obligations apply." 

Prince says Castañeda will file all the required paperwork by 5pm Thursday, the new FPPC deadline. He's also requested the FPPC waive its penalty fines due to extenuating circumstances, though he declined to share specifics about what those circumstances are.

To Prince, the city's request to the DA rings hollow. "If the City Council is truly interested in criminal prosecutions, they could look into the five police shootings last year. Five people were killed," he says.

"They could look into housing issues, look for landlords violating laws regarding habitability. 

"If they want to see justice done, why don't they ask the DA to look into that?"