John Brady is a candidate for Palm Coast Mayor running against Donald Greene, incumbent Milissa Holland, Alan Lowe and Michael Schottey. Two council seats are also up this year, potentially opening the council to a majority turnover, though between the 2016 and 2018 elections, all five seats turned over. One seat is open in this election, as incumbent Bob Cuff has chosen not to run again.
Holland has been in politics since winning election to the County Commission in 2006. She was reelected in 2010, resigned to run for a state House seat in 2012–she lost to Travis Hutson, now a state senator–and won election as mayor in 2016, taking 63 percent of the vote in the primary in a four-way race, making a runoff unnecessary. All four other candidates in the race have not held public office before, though Brady ran for mayor in 2016, getting 15 percent of the vote.
This is a non-partisan, at-large election. That means all registered voters in Palm Coast, regardless of party or non-party affiliation–Democrats, Republicans, independents and others–may cast a ballot for Palm Coast mayor or council. If a candidate for mayor wins 50 percent plus one vote or more in the Aug. 18 primary, then that candidate is the outright winner and mayor, making a runoff unnecessary. But if none of the candidates manages that majority, then the top two candidates with the most votes will go on to contest the Nov. 3 general election.
The Palm Coast mayor and council members serve four years. They’re paid $9,600 a year, $11,400 for the mayor. The council members and the mayor also each get a $1,200 car allowance and a $910 communication allowance each year, so in sum council members’ total pay is $11,710, the mayor’s is $13,510.
FlaglerLive submitted identical questions to all candidates, with the understanding that additional questions might be tailored to candidates individually and some follow-up questions may be asked, with all exchanges conducted by email and on the record. The Live Interview’s aim is to elicit as much candor and transparency as possible. We have asked candidates to refrain from making campaign speeches or make lists of accomplishments. We have also asked candidates to reasonably document any claim or accusation. Undocumented claims are edited out. Answers are also edited for length, redundancy, relevance and, where possible, accuracy. If a candidate does not answer a question or appears to be evading a question, that’s noted.
But it’s ultimately up to the reader to judge the quality and sincerity of a candidate’s answers.
The Questions in Summary: Quick Links
- Basics
- Priorities
- Concerns
- Budget
- Coronavirus
- Taxes
- Aging Palm Coast
- Housing
- Economic development
- Matt Morton
- Council dynamics
- Policing
- Character
- Social media
- Rap sheet
Place and Date of Birth: Jersey City, N.J., March 22, 1942
Current job: Retired
Party Affiliation: Democratic
Financial Disclosures
Resume
Website: bradyformayorofpalmcoast.com/, Facebook
Jill Woolbright, District 1 Carol Bacha (Mother Elizabeth) Colleen Conklin, District 3 Paul Mucciolo, District 3 Maria Barbosa, District 5 Dave Sullivan, District 3 Donald O'Brien, District 5 Bob Jones, District 5 Don Greene Milissa Holland Alan Lowe Michael Schottey Sims Jones (Dist. 1) Ed Danko (Dist. 1) Nick Klufas (Dist. 3) Cornelia Manfre (Dist. 3) Zack Shapiro (Dist. 3) See The Observer's Speedy Candidate Interviews |
1. What are your top three policy priorities that you pledge will realistically be accomplished by the end of your first term. If they cost money, how do you propose to fund those priorities?
These were my responses just three weeks ago, before the resurgence of Covid-19:
- Responsible growth, hard look at the effect of high-density housing, never borrow to build.
- Fiscal responsibility: review all budgets looking to trim 10 percent from each budget. Find less expensive alternatives to high cost items.
- Citizen-driven decisions, regular town hall meetings and weekly Mayor meetings at a local business establishments.
But now the continued response of the City to the virus become number 1, and # 3 above slips away.
As far as success after year 1, if we are able to keep our numbers low by doing every thing recommended by the CDC it will be success. If no high density housing is approved by council, that will be a success. If budgets are able to be trimmed and no new taxes required that will be a success. I see none of these objectives costing any additional revenues.
Your answers are exceedingly general. How do you define “high-density housing”? The city has several regions zoned for high-density housing–apartments. Are you opposed to those? Are you opposed to the ongoing apartment construction in Town Center? If so, how do you propose to address the city’s lack of affordable housing for people who can’t afford a house in a market where the median price was $242,000 in May? On fiscal responsibility, cutting the budget is a common candidate refrain, but actual examples that candidates have been willing to cite, let alone follow through with if elected, are almost as rare as unicorns. So, making it simple: can you give us just two examples of a current line item in the budget that you’d be willing to cut by 10 percent? How would you make up the cost of lost services?
My definition of high-density housing is a unit that houses 40 or more people in a space where there would be a single family home. That is my definition and I could not find a definition anywhere that I looked. Regarding high density housing zones, I am not opposed to high density housing if put in those zones. I am opposed to high density housing in areas that are not zoned high density.
Regarding the two sets of apartments at Town Center my opposition is a non sequitur, they are built and being occupied. I thought these were built to address the housing shortage in Flagler County. I think with over 450 units coming online, we need to reevaluate the effect of these units on the housing shortage. I have had letters to the editor about the needs of seniors who are buying a home; one dies and the remaining one cannot afford to live there but can’t afford to move elsewhere. We need senior housing where rental is based on 30 percent of adjusted gross income. When proposed, 25 percent of the 88 units that are being built on Bulldog Drive was supposed to be based on this formula. All the other units both on Central Ave and Bulldog Drive are based on market value
How would I address the shortage of property available to first time buyers. I think in the economies that most of us grew up in, you first rented an apartment and started saving for a down payment. I don’t see that that opportunity does not exist now, and you site a median Price of $242,000. There are people in the community who are working with builders and trying to get the City or the County to donate land and perhaps wave a portion of the impact fees so that the cost would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000. I think that working with the various unions and the coalition involved in the in this initiative might result in a Levittown type housing development. I would commit to do what I can to encourage this initiative and hopefully play a significant role in making this a reality.
You asked about fiscal responsibility. The city budget is 291 pages and as far as a specific line item, I am not trained to be able to give a specific line item example. I’m sure you have read some of my many letters to the editor in which I address fiscal responsibility. I think you know of my opposition to the Whiteview project which in the final analysis was going to cost $4 million and is now shut down. I did mention on Facebook some specific things that I would do and here they are:
- Ask each Department head to reduce their request by 10 percent. I am very used who hearing the phrase do more with less. this may be a new concept who the Department heads in Palm Coast
- Fire the overpriced, part time, out of town Attorney Reishman which would result in a $500,000 reduction. He would be replaced by an in-house attorney at 25 percent of the money being paid to Attorney Reishman’s firm.
- Zero based budgeting, this means that even if an item is budgeted for a justification must be made when it’s time to purchase the item.
- the city needs to address needs and stop funding the wants and focus on the needs. No splash park when roads need fixed and streetlights installed and walking trails fixed just to name a few
- All vehicle purchased must be justified and I based this on the number of pickup trucks seen in the parking lot at 1:00 PM. Also, I have talked with a former employee who indicated that City over purchases pickup trucks.
As far as making up for the cost of loss services, I cannot intelligently answer that question. At this point, if elected, I would schedule a meeting with Helena Alves, the finance director, to go over this and other questions that I might have.
For clarification: there is no proposal–nor would it be legal–to build high-density housing in areas zoned for, say, single-family homes. The council would have to approve changing zoning first through two public hearings. The $545,000 budgeted for the city attorney is not to Reischmann individually, though he is the principal attorney, but to his firm, which also provides attorney services to the city’s code enforcement board, planning board and animal control hearings. The county has an in-house attorney. The budget for that division is in line with the city’s.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
2. Cite three issues or concerns that in your view the city is addressing poorly or not at all, and explain how you intend to convince the council to change course.
Citizens participation in City business: The public questions are sometimes not being addressed at Council meetings. I would put dollar amounts the Council is approving. I would also standardize requests for costly items. The method would be a process called decision analysis. I would also have my Wednesday with Mayor at local business. ( Covid 19 guidelines observed).
• Citizen awareness of activities at the Community center. I hear that there is no senior citizen center. There are many programs at the Community Center that cater to senior citizens. I would enhance the information given when citizens get their water turned on. I would ask local media to highlight these programs on a regular basis.
• Failure to address the suicide crisis and other mental health issues. I wound work with community groups that have formed to help those with mental health. I would convene a workshop of all the organizations involved in providing mental health services and provide a guide to services and request media coverage. When the sheriff comes to ask for additional funding, I would insist on the sheriff providing answers to what is being done to change the way police respond to calls where it may be something better handled by a civilian mental health counselor.
Are you saying the council routinely approves items to which the cost is not laid out in the agenda’s back-up? The city’s website, its newsletters, its innumerable press releases (fewer now, thankfully) and its posted calendar all routinely detail the Community Center’s and other venues’ activities, including those for older residents, or did in pre-Covid times, keeping in mind that fewer and fewer residents get paper billing. Was that not sufficient in your view? An inordinate amount of sheriff’s deputies’ time is spent on baker Acts, where deputies secure individuals who may be thinking of harming themselves or others, then hand them off to mental health professionals, with a crisis intervention team added in Bunnell a few years ago. What specifically are you suggesting the sheriff’s office should do differently?
You will note when putting the cost on the agenda, it was listed under the heading of citizen participation in city business. It is my thinking that if the public were made aware on the agenda of the cost of an item, the public would be more willing to show up and attend the council meeting. I am not saying that the cost is not laid out for the City Council on that backup for the agenda
I have said publicly and often that I disagree with the decision-making process that takes place. I was taught and I taught a decision-making process developed by Kepner-Tregoe. This process involves the submission of a written document that lays out the problem, the background, proposed solutions, and recommendation. Under the proposed solutions there would be options and then there would be the positives of that solution and the negative of that solution. The implementation of this process would show what other alternatives were explored, and one of the proposed solutions would be doing nothing.
I agree wholeheartedly that there is a plethora of information available. The problem is many people are not getting the information. A better job should be done informing these individuals. Unfortunately, today there is no such thing as the Welcome Wagon.
I certainly do not fault the city for producing a lot of information. It is the transmission of this information that is problematic. I do think that much of the problem is with the antipathy of the citizens. People just don’t give a **** as to what is going on if their life is good.
You know that I am sensitive to the sheriff’s deputies being involved in Baker Acts. I have submitted to the Sheriff an outline for a mobile crisis unit. I think the Sheriff can use his office to convene a group consisting of Stewart Marchman, AdventHealth, and community groups that are working as volunteers to help people with emergency mental health needs. The crisis intervention team as it exists by Stewart Marchman is inadequate. This would be a costly project but would save the involvement of sheriff’s deputies in non law enforcement activities and be a more humane way of addressing the problem.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
3. The city’s budget, like all local government budgets, will likely face revenue shortfalls in the next two years. How will you make up the lost revenue? Short of new sources of revenue, what areas of the budget are ripe for cuts? Please be specific.
• Budget and revenue cuts. I will ask all Department heads to reduce their budget request by 10 percent. I will look at the existing vehicle inventory and find ways to reduce needs. I will also continue the discussion of impact fees, in particular fees for high-density housing. I will Institute zero-based budgeting, justifying purchases when it is time to purchase the item even though the budget for that item had approved the purchase.
Another thing that I will look at is a forensic audit of the utility Department. This department has been borrowing money for many years . This department should be making money and be self sufficient. I called for an audit this Department when I ran for mayor three years ago.
Would you be willing to cut the fire department’s firefighters by 10 percent–that is, remove five or six firefighters from the ranks? Would you be willing to cut the sheriff’s policing by 10 percent? Those are the two largest demands on the general fund budget. If not staff cuts, then what would you cut by 10 percent among firefighters and cops’ budgets? The utility fund is audited yearly, as is the city’s budget. The utility department has several bonds and loans, such as the bond that enabled the purchase of Florida Water a decade and a half ago and more recent loans to build or expand water or sewer plants, and shift some of the cost to future rate-payers. Rating agencies find the operation sound enough to give it top ratings, and Richard Adams’s tenure as utility director just ended with hardly a blemish in his two decades with the city. Calling for a forensic audit suggests some wrongdoing somewhere. What do you suspect, and what evidence do you have of anything suspect?
No, no and no cuts to staffing of the City fire department. Policing is under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff. The request for funds for additional deputies to patrol Palm Coast is still open to question.
The 10 percent cut that I talk about is asked for and not demanded. I am not asking for personnel cuts but looking to leave unfilled positions unfilled. Again 10 percent is not carved in stone and it is possible that some Department heads can find cuts greater than 10 percent. Having worked in various government agencies for over 40 years I know there is some fat in each budget.
I would postpone any capital expenditures that are not needed for health or safety reasons. Some examples of expenditures that I have witnessed include the contract to an agency to determine a schedule for installing streetlighting. This contract was awarded shortly after a Matanzas high school problem solving group had presented the results of a project that they had undertaken. That project pointed out streets that needed lighting. I have seen the city awards contract without justification as to why the current employees cannot accomplish what is requested of the contract agency. The City Manager should be required to show why the task at hand cannot be accomplished by City staff before any outside contract is proposed.
You are correct that the Government Finance Officers Association awards a Distinguished Budget Award to the City. The city does pay a fee to be a member of that Association. I would rather I have an unbiased organization review the budget. There is no question in my mind that the budget meets all accounting standards, but my question is about all the funds that get transferred in and out of different departments. I have seen figures that indicate money is transferred from the utility fund and never repaid. I do not know if these figures are accurate, but I do know there is a tremendous amount of money being transferred.
As an example, I have asked for information on the Palm Harbor golf course. I have received some information that would indicate a profit of $20,000. The City has reported the golf course is losing money. I would like to see a profit and loss statement for the end of last fiscal year.
I do not have any evidence of wrongdoing but the multiple transferring of funds does lead me to be suspicious.
Clarification: Streetlighting costs are not similar to other contract awards. When the city–any city served by Florida Power and Light–decides to expand its street lighting, FPL builds and maintains the infrastructure at its own expense but charges the city for the additional lighting, month after month. We did not refer to the Government Finance Officers Association in our follow-up, but pointed out that the city is audited annually, by an independent auditor. The claim that utility funds have been transferred out and never repaid, unattached to costs owed by the utility department (which, for example, pays the city for certain services) is not documented.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
4. Evaluate the city’s response to the coronavirus emergency. Tell us how you’d vote on a mask mandate, and explain your answer, citing appropriate authorities.
I am pleased with Mayor Holland’s response. I would add involving the Director of Medicine at Advent Health in the group. I would make all City properties available as Mayor Holland did. I would ask all retired medical professionals to sign a volunteer registry. Yes to requiring a mask in all business and indoor events. I am not sure by what authority but I would wear one as an example. This ordinance would be hard to enforce but maybe if we passed an ordinance that required all business establishments to require patrons to wear a mask and provide for fining businesses that don’t make patrons wear a mask, we can accomplish the same end.
If an employee tests positive and must quarantine away from work, with no capabilities of remote work, or if an employee falls ill from Covid-19, with longer periods required for hospitalization or sick leave, must that employee use up his or her own sick and personal leave time? What should the city’s role be in that regard?
No, an employee should not have to use his or her sick or personal leave. Covid-19 is a disaster no less so than a hurricane and that employee is a victim and should be treated as such. The City should continue what it is doing now in response to Covid-19. I would add making all facilities available to Advent Health or any medical organization fighting this virus. Additionally, I would invite the Director of Medicine at Advent to the weekly meetings. Also, I would establish a voluntary register of retired medical professionals who might volunteer if the needs get out of the hands of the current staff. Now some of these steps may already be under way and I am just not aware of their existence. The response to this virus should be an all hands on deck response.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
5. Palm Coast has the authority to impose a public service tax on your utility bill of up to 10 percent, and a franchise fee on utilities, which would be passed to customers, of up to 10 percent. The money may be spent at the council’s discretion. Many counties and cities around the state partially or fully levy one or both the taxes. Palm Coast considered imposing a 6 percent electric franchise fee and a 2 percent public service tax in 2012, but reversed course in the face of strong public opposition. Either of the new taxes, proponents argue, would diversify the city’s revenue stream. Either could be used to generate revenue that would otherwise have to be generated by property taxes, though the public service tax and the franchise fee are regressive in comparison. Where do you stand on either new tax becoming part of Palm Coast’s taxing structure?
No to any tax increase no matter how it can be used. As mentioned before we need to look at the expense side first. Any tax increase hurts the people who can’t afford to pay additional taxes, the seniors, the young starting a family and people on a fixed income.
Does that mean you will not approve any budget that does not go back to the rollback rate?
No. My objective is to cut expenses to enable the rollback rate but as an outsider it is hard to make a promise I cannot keep. I do promise to find and eliminate waste spending.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
6. Just in the last 10 years, Palm Coast has grown by 15,000 people, but it has grown older, with people 65 and older representing nearly 28 percent of the population, up from 23 percent in 2010. That’s a substantial increase, almost all of it as the proportion of school-age children has diminished: the school district’s population has remained at around 13,000 for 10 years. Should Palm Coast encourage that accelerating retirement-community trend? What would you do to ensure that Palm Coast is addressing the needs of its growing elderly population. Alternately, what would you do to reverse the trend, if you’re more interested in broadening the working-age population base?
Who comes, comes, and so be it. Discourage an age group from coming? No. Programs for seniors: see above relative to the Community Center. There is a need for expanding medical services not only for the seniors. Women need to go elsewhere to deliver a baby. People have to wait months for an appointment with a family doctor. Also, as mentioned above psychiatric services a woefully inadequate.
But what’s your role as mayor in birthing a maternity ward in Palm Coast or affecting wait times for appointments with physicians?
Birthing a maternity ward in Palm Coast very clever use of words. I will support all efforts who provide competition to Advent Health and if this means another hospital wants to come to Palm Coast and provide a maternity ward, I will support that effort. Medical care is a business and the business survives by making a profit. I think Advent Health needs competition and competition will improve many things in the medical field, including wait time for appointments. Also, I would like to see if the proposed Med Nex will improve medical care here in Palm Coast and Flagler County.
Medical care is a business, but it is also a regulated process in key respects, with birthing centers licensed through the Agency for Health Care Administration, which licenses those centers based on need. There have been efforts to repeal the process, opening up entirely to market forces. As a mayor you’d have little to do with that other than as a voice in legislators’ ears. But are you saying that you favor that repeal?
I am saying no to repealing proof of medical necessity. I would like for there to be competition to Advent but I would not like to see something started and then ended because there was not enough business to sustain it.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
7. Some apartment complexes have gone up in the past two years, but the city still faces an affordable housing shortfall as housing prices have risen steadily. How do you propose to diversify Palm Coast’s housing options? By what criteria would you approve or reject apartment complexes? Would you approve raising the density and height of multi-family, or apartment, structures in select areas of the city zoned for the purpose?
I am against high density housing if the city has to borrow money to improve the sewer treatment plant. Also with the new apartments I think we should wait to see if all the units are rented and there is still a housing shortage here in Palm Coast. I was talking to three ladies by the new apartments and two of them were renting in the new apartments and were from Omaha, Nebraska. The one lady had two children and the other lady had six children. The other lady was visiting and was going to try to rent a unit because her husband loved to fish and she thought the fishing was good here in Palm Coast. This is an example of two individual families living in units that was supposed to allay the housing shortage for the people of this area.
Not clear how the story of the three ladies applies to the question, which you haven;t answered in its essence: if you’re opposed to additional housing, how do you propose to provide for more affordable housing options for those who can’t buy homes? What has high-density housing got with the utility department’s borrowing to build for capacity? In an earlier question you said no one should be discouraged from coming to Palm Coast. You seem quite willing to discourage people from moving into apartment complexes. Why the difference?
The point of the story is that I thought the purpose of these new apartments was to deal with the Palm Coast/Flagler County housing deficit. Are the citizens of Palm Coast/ Flagler County as aware of these apartments as are these out of town people? The issue of families not being able to purchase a home has been answered in a previous question.
The population increase was cited as the reason for the utility department’s borrowing money. Clearly the more people flushing a toilet, the more need for sewerage. If we must borrow money to meet future needs, can we not expect the people who are going to profit by building housing units to pay a greater cost? Why should we have to borrow so builders can build?
I am not encouraging or discouraging people from moving who Palm Coast whether it be in a rental unit in an apartment or any private home. My only concern Is that it not cost the current population in loans to improve any city service. Also, I would suggest a reevaluation of the housing shortage after these apartment complexes are completed and occupied.
Clarification: The utility’s borrowing to pay for expansion of sewer or water plants is in fact designed to ensure that builders and future residents pay their fair share, as opposed to current residents, though current residents are not spared. Borrowing costs are paid down through utility impact fees, which are levied on new construction and new connections. Those fees are over $9,000 for a single-family house. The catch, if there is one, is that existing customers end up holding the bag in case projected growth does not materialize but costs of capital expansion must still be paid, as was the case a few years ago after the Great Recession.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
8. Everyone talks economic development. Few elected officials do more than talk. How have you been, or how will you be, different, starting with your definition of economic development?
The first step in this process is changing the image of Palm Coast. The recent ban on Dollar Stores has not helped change the image of Palm Coast. If elected I want to mount a vigorous campaign to let the business community know we are open for new businesses. This may mean that members of City Council have to travel to meet executives of companies that we feel would be a good fit for Palm Coast. I have been talking to people at various call centers and have found that some call centers located in the United States are connected to high end business. There are over 400 insurance agents answering phones in Minneapolis Minnesota. I think we join with the County in economic development an seek the aid of the state of Florida. I believe that we offer incentive to businesses based upon their performance. I would set some boundaries to measure performance. One measure would be that the business is paying their employees well above the minimum wage.
The late Frank Meeker and Jack Howell, to name two council members past and present, and much of the membership of the now-defunct county economic development board all spoke of traveling to meet executives or at least developing various means of attracting executives to the area, with little to show for it. Can you cite a single example where you’d make a difference?
Jack Howell. Who could resist our charming personalities. No, the serious answer is we need to change the imagine of Palm Coast/Flagler County and I would recruit a representative of the County Commission and the school board to reach out in person to targeted businesses in the north. I’ve talked on Facebook about some high end call centers, one of which is located in Minneapolis and another one in Austin, Texas. I am sure we could develop a list of high-end call centers to be recruited.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
9. Evaluate the transition from ex-City Manager Jim Landon to City Manager Matt Morton: what was lost, what was gained, what could have been done better, what has been done better?
We lost a vast source of knowledge when Jim Landon was fired and now with the Coastal Cloud situation there seems to be–pardon the pun–a cloud with his firing. Jim Landon knew how to keep the trains on time. We gain a new approach although this new approach has a down side with the termination of so many employees. If Landon was as bad as the Mayor said, why wasn’t he fired for cause and save the taxpayer the hefty separation payments to Landon? I have complained through the years in letters to the editor that the City Council failed their responsibility to supervise Landon. It is refreshing to see the City Council supervising City Manager Matt Morton.
Mussolini also made the trains run on time: would you rather have a more iron-fisted style of management? Is turn-over unusual when a new administration replaces one that’s been in place 11 years? Other than the supervision of the new manager, you’re not telling us what could be done better in this new regime.
I am no Mussolini. throughout my career I have supervised and managed many individuals. I did have one guiding principle and that was never to ask anybody to do something that I would not do myself. I am chuckling at the iron-fisted style of management. No person in my work life or home life could ever accused me of being I iron-fisted. The turnover in the last two years in the upper management of the city of Palm Coast is very unusual. It denotes a very sick organization and an organization that has leadership issues. A new regime will have to regain the trust of the population. This will be done by having an open and honest administration with clear lines of authority.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
10. Mayor Milissa Holland, Council member Nick Klufas and to a lesser extent Council member Bob Cuff were elected on promises of change and novel visions four years ago. Evaluate their performance, their successes and shortcomings, and tell us if you think they’ve lived up to their promise. What will you bring to the council that they don’t? If you’re one of the incumbents, evaluate your own successes and shortcomings, with specifics, telling us why you’re better suited to continue than any of your challengers.
New vison, I don’t see it. What happened to FiberNet? What happened to bringing new business? Well, finally a Wawa. The new vison was to fire Landon and bring over a thousand housing units and not one business to use the FiberNet. I don’t think the citizens see change and the only change will be the decreased value of their property. What change that benefits the citizens has taken place?
Property values have risen between 5 and 9 percent in each of the last seven years. The market value of your own house is 27 percent higher than what you paid for it in 2011, according to the property appraiser’s website. How and where have property values decreased? FiberNet does seem to be missing in action, but how do you see the University of North Florida’s expansion in Palm Coast?
I do not know where any property values have decreased in Palm Coast. I would be anxious to learn if there is an area where the property values have declined. As far as far as FiberNet is concerned I don’t have enough information to answer this question. I also think it is missing in action, or inaction.
The University of North Florida’s expansion into Palm Coast at this point seems to be a $1.5 million dollar investment the benefits of which are still to be determined. I would hope that the benefit is more than having a plaque with somebody’s name on it. I would hope that there are more high paying jobs for the people of Palm Coast and the expansion brings additional medical providers, especially providers of behavioral health.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
11. Palm Coast relies on the sheriff for policing. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of that contract, and tell us what specifically you would change about it. Are some areas of Palm Coast less effectively policed than others? Do you favor an independent police department for the city, now or in the near future?
The Sheriff is funded by Flagler County. The Sheriff requests additional funding from Palm Coast with the understanding that deputies are being assigned to Palm Coast. The last request made by the Sheriff to the city was rejected. It is my belief that funding should be from one source and in this case it would be Flagler County. In fact, even if a deputy is assigned to Palm Coast and an emergency is occurring elsewhere, that deputy would respond. If the Sheriff is to request funding, I would question with regard to new theories on policing. The new policy is breaking out non law enforcement calls to be responded by mental health counselors. Also, I would ask the Sheriff what steps he is taking to bring more minorities into policing.
(As a point of fact: the city last year only rejected an additional number of cops. It did not reject the sheriff’s budget request from the city as a whole. This year the two sides appear to be compromising on adding few additional cops.) Are you saying Palm Coast should not be paying for additional services from the sheriff–that it should be whatever the county pays, and leave it at that? Do you consider policing in Palm Coast to be effective, and would you favor a city police department?
Yes, I am saying one source of funding for the sheriff, and that would be the County. I consider policing in Palm Coast to be effective as evidenced by low crime rate which the sheriff announces every chance he gets. The concept that we would have deputies only assigned to Palm Coast is a fallacy since there is this thing called mutual aid, so if there is a big problem in Bunnell those Palm Coast deputies would be headed there and vise versa. A separate police department? No opinion. I am told there was a study done a long time ago and it was deemed too costly. With all that is going on, leave as it is. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
12. Elected office is no stranger to bluster. Tell us about you as a person: your character, your temperament, your foibles. Tell us who do you admire most in office today among elected officials in Flagler County—the person you’d consider a model of leadership.
I have been a helpful person all my life. You know that I am a happy person and will engage in self-deprecation to amuse people. Most people like me. I am honest and truthful. Also, I am adorable. My role model is Jack Howell because he is a man of action and says what is on his mind but sometimes needs a filter.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
13. Should you be held to account for what you display on your social media pages any differently than for what you would say anywhere public? Do you have different standards of behavior between the way you’d conduct yourself as an elected official—in a meeting, at an official function—as opposed to on your social media platforms?
Yes I will be accountable for what I say on social media. As you know, I have opined on many issues and I stand behind everything I said. I will conduct myself in a professional manner if elected.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
14. Have you ever been charged with a felony or a misdemeanor anywhere in Flagler, Florida or the United States (other than a speeding ticket), or faced a civil action other than a divorce, but including bankruptcies, or faced any investigative or disciplinary action through a professional board such as the bar or a medical board? If so, please explain, including cases where charges or claims did not lead to conviction or disciplinary action.
Nothing.
See the other candidates’ answers:
Don Greene | Milissa Holland | Alan Lowe | Michael Schottey
Mike Cocchiola says
John Brady will make a fine mayor. He knows the city and its citizens. He is honest, honorable and ethical to the nth degree. We know that if John were to become mayor he would serve with distinction.
Mike Clemensns says
Same old zero-based, cut 10%, limit growth management approach. Can’t we please get candidates with future-focused vision leadership for Palm Coast. We must see PC as a vibrant city which supports its citizens in all ways, even if they are from OK or Nebraska!
Fiscal says
First, no planning or budgeting background. Second, way too old.
PB says
I for one appreciate this article. Please keep them coming.
Johnny B says
Yes. Thank you Flagler Live. I hope to see an interview like this with each candidate.
Stretchem says
This old man is confused. A Democat? Not hardly. Not even close.
So done with really really old white men attempting to run things in a modern, progressive and diverse America. FiberNet? “I need more information on that.” Of course you do.
CB from PC says
Too old…now that is discriminatory. Excluding Brady because he is “really really old white men” now that is also racist.
Actually, he is unqualified as he has no political office experience dealing with developers, no quantifiable accomplishment of job creation/attracting new business,
and he has certainly not appeared on the forefront of local issues.
Seems like a decent guy, but does not have a convincing action plan to lift PC out of the BAU stagnant morass. Still not convinced that the UNF situation will create jobs for locals.
BW says
I think is a nice person, but not the best person for this position. We heard the same unspecific and “need more information” stuff 4 years ago. Things like sending Council Members on the road for business growth? Who’s paying for that and are they really the right ones to do that? I think these things point to John really being out of touch. We need to move forward versus standing still but people don’t understand. The Council sets vision and doesn’t run the City. We hire staff to do that. John just has no real vision and focuses on pointing out problems that he thinks exist versus reality.
C’mon man says
This guy lost my vote. Palm coast requireS more policing And manpower then the rural county areas. Palm coast Should and needs to pay a fair share of the enforcement
Keep this info coming Flaglerlive and thank you