CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The 10News I-Team looked to speak to the man hoping to become Chula Vista's next mayor, but learned that he is tough to get a hold of when tough questions are being asked.

Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda has asked for and received mayoral endorsements from the San Diego Trades Union and the San Diego County Democratic Party. The I-Team wanted to ask how Castaneda planned to run the county's second-largest city and deal with its $130 million-plus budget,

The I-Team discovered Castaneda had not filed federal taxes since 2006, and the federal government has filed a $49,000 tax lien against him.

"What about your taxes, have you paid your taxes since 2006?" asked I-Team reporter Mitch Blacher.

"Paid my taxes? What are you talking about? Yes, I paid my taxes," said Castaneda.

Castaneda's divorce records, signed in March 2009, said he "last filed taxes for 2006," and he signed under "penalty of perjury that the information on this form is correct."

He later admitted he got behind on his taxes in 2006 only after he successfully defended himself against charges brought by the district attorney on a real estate deal. However, the I-Team checked and learned Castaneda wouldn't have fought those charges in 2006 because they were not filed until 2007.

"You're a publicly elected official, someone who is supposedly going to run for the highest elected office in the city. Don't you think there are some reasonable questions to be asked of you?" asked Blacher.

"And I don't have a problem with that. I think there have been a lot of reasonable questions," said Castaneda.

The I-Team asked him about 83 citizen complaints being reviewed by the city of Chula Vista that accused Castaneda of cheating to get elected. One complaint claimed he donated nearly $14,000 to his own city council campaign, funneling money through his private company so no one could find out where they money came from.

Several other allegations said Castaneda accepted more money from individual donors than allowed by law. One complaint alleged Castaneda "falsified documents" to hide his "manipulative behavior."

"If you want to go ahead and report that, all this stuff is out there, all these allegations, that's fine," said Castaneda. "But I'm not even going to deal with that at this point."

Blacher said, "If you want to come out here and chat, feel free, I'm more than willing to talk to you and include a lot of this in the story."

"Yeah, you know what, I'll call you later. I promise you, I'll do it," said Castaneda.

However, Castaneda ignored the I-Team's repeated requests for three days. He also never showed up to public meetings he was supposed to attend.

"I have the press call me all the time. If I don't want to talk about something, I just don't return the phone call," said Castaneda.

The I-Team showed up at Castaneda's home and offered him opportunities to talk in a formal setting. The I-Team sent his staff copies of public documents used for this report so he could prepare, but Castaneda did not want to talk. Finally, just before the story deadline, the I-Team caught up with him at a public event he did show up to.

"I told you I'd call you when I was ready," said Castaneda.

"Are you going to call us?" asked Blacher.

"Yeah."

"My deadline is approaching."

"OK."

The I-Team has offered Castaneda another opportunity to speak in a follow-up story.