Mayor Ashton Hayward has sent out a memo to city employees that he has chosen Colleen Castile, the former head of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Secretary of the Department of Community Affairs, to serve as interim city administrator. Castile solidifies Hayward’s GOP connections, having served in the Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration. She has her own consulting firm in Tallahassee, Colleen M. Castille, Inc. She worked for The Fiorentino Group from 2007 to December 2012.
According to her Linkedin profile, Ms. Castille’s work experience has been either in state government or as a consultant. She appears to have no municipal or county government experience.
Here is the official release sent minutes ago:
Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward announced today that he has appointed former state agency director Colleen M. Castille as interim city administrator, effective Monday, July 15.
“Colleen is exceedingly qualified and I can’t thank her enough for coming aboard on such short notice,†said Mayor Hayward. “I know she will hit the ground running and do her best to make this transition as smooth as possible until we have a new permanent administrator in place.â€
Ms. Castille is a former secretary of both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA), serving under Governor Jeb Bush. As DEP Secretary, Castille managed 4,700 employees and administered a $2.6 billion annual budget. In her prior position as DCA Secretary, she advised the Governor on all on all local and state policy and budget matters regarding growth management, housing and emergency management. Since leaving the DEP in 2007, Castille has worked in the private sector as a consultant to businesses and government.
Prior to her appointment as DCA Secretary, Castille held several positions within the Florida executive branch, including chief cabinet aide to both Education Commissioner Frank Brogan and Governor Jeb Bush, and senior cabinet aide to Insurance Commissioner and Treasurer Tom Gallagher.
Castille holds a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Florida State University. She serves on the board of directors for the Leroy Collins Institute at Florida State University as well as the Space Coast Energy Consortium.