FlaglerLive | May 13, 2013
Bunnell established its 800-acre downtown redevelopment zone in 2007, assuming that most tax revenue generated there could then be reinvested in the area to reinvigorate it. Instead, property values fell $26 million in the zone, forcing the city to rethink the CRA’s viability.
FlaglerLive | May 3, 2013
Sid Nowell, citing health and other matters, will formalize his resignation at the Bunnell City Commission meeting Monday evening, giving Commissioner Eklbert Tucker a new opening to hire Lonnie Groot as his replacement–a move Tucker said he intends to make.
FlaglerLive | April 8, 2013
As Bill Baxley took his seat on the Bunnell City Commission Monday, he represented a swing vote that shifts power away from Mayor Catherine Robinson, who unsuccessfully tried to keep Jenny Crain-Brady as the vice mayor. That honor went to John Rogers.
FlaglerLive | March 22, 2013
If questions lingered over Flagler County’s and Bunnell’s expensive and controversial acquisition of the Plantation bay utility, Plantation Bay residents dispelled them Thursday by enthusiastically giving their endorsement to the deal, though county and city commissioners are still facing questions from constituents beyond the development.
FlaglerLive | March 21, 2013
Bunnell City Manager Armando Martinez had tried in 2011 to move closer to home in Brevard County, and now is more compelled to do so as his political backing has severely weakened on the Bunnell City Commission.
FlaglerLive | March 5, 2013
Bunnell’s three-way election for the city commission was expected to be close as incumbent Daisy Henry drove in many of her voters herself, while incumbent Elbert Tucker and challenger Bill Baxley looked on from across the road.
FlaglerLive | January 16, 2013
As in 2010, Mayor Catherine Robinson is facing no opposition, with Friday’s qualifying deadline fast approaching. Commission incumbents Elbert Tucker and Daisy Henry have qualified, with just one additional candidate, Bill Baxley, in the mix.
FlaglerLive | January 2, 2013
In an at-times tense joint meeting between the Flagler County Commission and Bunnell’s commission, the two sides agreed to cede the old courthouse to Bunnell for a city hall, but the courthouse annex would remain in county ownership, and be turned over to the sheriff as a new headquarters.
FlaglerLive | November 9, 2012
Bunnell Manager Armando Martinez had already received a 5 percent “cost of living” raise, but was eligible for a merit raise, bringing his salary to $104,470. A split commission blocked the increase.
FlaglerLive | September 26, 2012
Bunnell City Manager Armando Martinez names either his finance director or his grants director as the acting manager when he’s away. Commissioner Elbert Tucker says it’s a violation of the city charter, which spells out who’s in charge when the manager isn’t: the city clerk, the chief of police then the mayor, in that order.
FlaglerLive | April 2, 2012
Bunnell’s commissioners have known since 2004 that the city’s water could be toxic but have only recently developed plans for a new system; that plan isn’t paid for, and won’t be functional for one to two years, if that. Residents are unhappy.
FlaglerLive | January 11, 2012
Bunnell City Manager Armando Martinez’s request for a $60,000 salary for the next police chief was batted down (to $50,000) while a proposal to pay for next year’s staff Christmas party with city scrap metal proceeds drew resistance.
FlaglerLive | December 16, 2011
Bunnell Police Chief Arthur Jones will leave his post at the end of April after three years as a tempering force in a small but tumultuous department, and as the city’s first black police chief.
FlaglerLive | November 29, 2011
Bunnell voted to open its government meetings with one or more prayers, an idea proposed by Commissioner Elbert Tucker. The city attorney offered cautionary guidance rather than objections.
FlaglerLive | August 19, 2011
Sheriff Don Fleming’s stance on internet cafes and other such gambling halls has wide implications for Palm Coast and Bunnell, both of which are wrestling with ordinances that would regulate the establishments.
FlaglerLive | August 10, 2011
Some define internet cafes as gambling. Some define it as business. Some define it as nobody’s business but their own. A 3-2 vote of the Bunnell City Commission sent the matter to the sheriff with a question: if it’s gambling, would he arrest its practitioners?
FlaglerLive | August 3, 2011
Bunnell City Commissioner Elbert Tucker filed a series of ethics charges against Jimmy Flynt last August. Flynt faces fines of up to $10,000 on each of the three violations. Several others were thrown out.
FlaglerLive | July 21, 2011
Bunnell City Commissioner Elbert Tucker proposed reducing the police department’s ranks to cut back its $1 million burden on a $4 million general fund budget. The rest of the commission smacked him down.
FlaglerLive | February 14, 2011
State Attorney R.J. Larizza echoed comments by Public Defender Jim Purdy and Bunnell Commissioner Elbert Tucker on the economics of spy cameras, though a majority of the commission appears sold on the idea.
FlaglerLive | February 8, 2011
The eight cameras would allegedly deter crime in the drug-prone south side, though the city has no evidence they’d be effective. The commission is debating costs, but is sold on the idea as one way to buttress the short-staffed police department.
FlaglerLive | January 25, 2011
The Florida Constitution forbids public employees from holding two public officer jobs simultaneously. Martinez had argued that he was a cop but not a “public officer” as such. The city attorney disagreed.
FlaglerLive | January 8, 2011
Martinez is city manager and public safety director, at an extra cost of $11,000 to taxpayers. Yet the state constitution is clear: “No person shall hold at the same time more than one office under the government of the state and the counties and municipalities therein.”
FlaglerLive | September 13, 2010
By doubling their salaries to $9,600 a year, Bunnell commissioners matched the salaries of council members in Palm Coast, a city with 30 times the population of Bunnell.
FlaglerLive | August 23, 2010
A severe budget crunch, but also a severe State Attorney’s report on the city’s police department, bring back an old idea.
FlaglerLive | June 7, 2010
Absent a miracle with the old Flagler County Courthouse, the Bunnell city administration may have no home it can call its own for a few more years yet.
FlaglerLive | May 27, 2010
A meeting on what to do with the old Flagler County Courthouse turned into a bitter clash between Commissioner Milissa Holland and County Administrator Craig Coffey.
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