Flagler Beach City Election Already Shaping Into Most Contested In 19 Years, Signaling Disquiet

Two seats are up: those of incumbents Deborah Phillips and Ken Bryan. Both are running again. Today, two candidates filed papers with the city clerk to run: former Commissioner Rick Belhumeur, who was unseated after two terms last year by James Sherman in a three-way race, and Scott Spradley the attorney who’s chaired two city committees, is vice-chairman of its planning board, and wrote the greatly popular Spradley’s Beachside Blog during Hurricane Ian on this site. Doug “Bruno” O’Connor hasn’t filed yet but confirmed to FlaglerLive that he is running. And Robert Cunningham, a seven-year resident, pulled papers to run. He was appointed to the city’s Personnel Advisory Review Board–which seldom meets–in September.

The number of candidates may be a reflection of unsettled times in Flagler Beach. The last time an election drew more candidates was in the 2004 election, when terms lasted two years, not three, and when Rosemary Bates, Randy Busch and Bob Mish were elected amid turmoil that got worse: the following year, the three were the subject of a DVD called “Flagler Beach 3 to 2,” documenting what its producer, Dan Bayerl, believed was contempt for the public and a cabal-like commission. All three commissioners were replaced in 2006 as Flagler Beach’s female equivalent of an Antonine period began with Joy McGrew, Jane Mealy and Linda Provencher.

“It definitely looks like it’s because they’re dissatisfied with how the city is being run,” said Provencher of this year’s slate. Provencher decided not to run for mayor again in 2021 after getting reelected either to commission seats or the mayorship, often without opposition. “Usually we’re trying to get people to run. From talking to some of the people running, especially Scott, I’ve known him the longest, they’re just not happy with the way things are going.” Provencher had suggested to Spradley that he wait until next year to run for mayor or for a commission seat. But with numerous initiatives piling up in the city, and mixed messages–Provencher said Bryan had signaled for a long time that he wasn’t running, only to charge his mind more recently–Spradley opted to run.

It’s not been as theatrical as 2004 and 2005, but it was a turbulent past year for City Manager William Whitson, who was essentially placed on probation last summer and whose evaluation in August was mediocre. There’s been more conflict among commissioners and the mayor than in about a decade, back when Steve Settle and Jane Mealy, or Settle and Kim Carney would butt heads, and when the battle over hiring Bruce Campbell split the commission.




Nowadays the conflict has been between backers of Whitson–Bryan and Mealy–and his critics–Commissioner Eric Cooley and Mayor Suzie Johnston, with Johnston at one point reduced to tears by Bryan and Phillips, who charged that she was overstepping her bounds by the extent of her involvement in commission discussions. The city attorney later explained that she was not. Phillips and Commissioner James Sherman have not been thrilled with Whitson, but they’ve mostly hung fire after Phillips motioned for the probation.

Hurricanes Ian and Nicole largely masked rather than ended the conflicts, now that the city is focused on recovery. But that recovery entails huge tasks. The demolition and reconstruction of the pier is paramount, with money yet to be lined up. The city has not even considered options about devising protections for the north end of the pier’s shoreline, which stands entirely ripped of any protective dunes. The city is standing by as the county continues the uncertainty–after two years–over securing one last remaining easement to allow the U.S. Corps of Engineers to rebuild 2.6 miles of beaches at the south of the pier. And a new big hotel is planned for the center of town. It was to start construction in the summer or fall. It is almost winter, though storms have undoubtedly shaken expected schedules.

The mountain of tasks contrasts with two signal failures on Whitson’s watch: the inability to line up a fireworks show for the last July 4, and the oversight that kept the city from applying for a three-quarter million dollar capital grant. Both were minor challenges compared to what’s ahead, and both have been at the heart of the criticism toward Whitson or the commission, along with criticism about the city’s poor communications and its lack of answers regarding such chronic problems as flooding on the south side of town. Those issues again arose during a post-Ian town hall, as Bryan and Whitson tried to paint a more positive image of the city’s responsiveness than the audience allowed. (See: “At Post-Ian Town Hall, Flagler Beach Projects Resilience, Public Is More Guarded.”




“That absolutely played a role in my decision to run,” Spradley said of the fireworks problem. The July 4 committee he’d chaired had concluded in January the fireworks were essential, expecting the city administration to follow through on securing them for that Independence Day. Speaking of both that committee and the parking committee to which he was vice-chair a few years earlier, he said, “those committees spend a lot of time meeting, getting input from residents, doing studies, creating reports, and then making a recommendation based on all of those things, not the least of which is resident input, and then we drop it into the hands of the commission.” Previously, the commission did a good job following advisory committees’ lead, he said. “I felt that the July 4 committee made some pronounced recommendations that were accepted by the commission. But everything fell apart after that, and that really was the beginning of my wanting to be on a commission to help ensure that that sort of thing doesn’t happen again.”

Between his experience with the city, his presence at commission meetings and his analytical thought process, Spradley brings to his run an already clear set of aims: the commission’s accountability to residents (“there’s room for improvement there,” he says), more clarity on budgetary issues so the city is not left lurching between surprises, as with the recent controversy over the Funky Pelican’s dumpster pad, and better two-way communication between the city and residents. “In my role as an attorney, it’s been my profession for 35 years, that’s what I do for a living is listen to people and give them advice and evaluate what they have to say. And just as in my law practice, I don’t always have good news and what my clients love to hear, I do tell them what I think is the correct advice and the correct answer. The same would be true if I become elected.”

Spradley won’t say for now whether he’s running to replace a commissioner or to affect the city’s administrative leadership, nor–in the midst of hurricane recovery–was he willing to be critical as the city gets through a crisis. “I will be better able to comment on the field once it’s set,” Spradley said. “I consider all those commissioners, all five of them and the mayor, to be friends of mine, and simply through working with them over the years and some of them on a social level. So there there is some pain if I wind up running against two incumbents. But I feel that now’s the time, I feel that I can do do a good job.”



Provencher, the former mayor whose voice still carries significant weight in the city, has already decided to endorse Spradley. She had endorsed Johnston before stepping down. “I plan on endorsing him, I’ve known him probably 13 years, he really puts a lot of thoughts into things, it’s not like a knee jerk reaction, he listens to both sides,” Provencher said, “he gets along with everybody, he really wants to be involved and making some of the major decisions” as the town keeps growing. “He comes from a good place.”

Both Phillips and Bryan confirmed they are running. “I have learned so much during the past three years, I want to expand on that knowledge,” Phillips said. “One term is not enough. To me it is exciting to have others join the race like Scott. Ken and I, as well as all the other commissioners and mayor, get along well and respect each other, so it would be nice to continue that on the dais.” Of her tenure, Phillips said she plans to continue “redoing Flagler Beach parks one at a time and continue to be engaged with all that is happening in our small town. Let the best woman win.”

For Belhumeur, there’s no secret about his reasons–or rather reason–to run again: he is openly critical of Whitson. Belhumeur’s was among the votes to hire Whitson a year and a half ago. “We made a mistake,” he says, “we were bamboozled. That’s the best way I can describe it. We put our faith in this group that was going to help us hire a good city manager. And I really thought that that’s how it was going to go.” The city got the help of former Port Orange City Manager Ken Parker to conduct the search. Whitson had been Parker’s protege in Port Orange, working with him either years there, and got the final nod. Belhumeur has been critical of Whitson taking credit for landing a series of grants that were, in fact, secured by his predecessor, the late Larry Newsom, and only came through on his watch.

When asked about Spradley’s decision to run, Belhumeur said: “Just terrific. Absolutely terrific. Scott thinks a lot along the same lines as I do.”

Cunningham did not return a call before this article published. Bryan only confirmed he was running. O’Connor, who served two years as a town commissioner in Beverly Beach before building a house in Flagler Beach, had made his intentions to run clear two years ago, once he had the minimum one-year residency requirement logged. “Ive been attending the meetings for the last 18 months,” he said, “and between the arguing of the board members, the crisis of the city, the future of the city with all the construction that’s going to hopefully go on, I just feel that I could be an asset to this town. I listen to people. I’m a people person. So that’s what I think this city needs is a person who listens and basically does things to help people.”




Asked if he was dissatisfied with the commission, with particular commissioners or with the city manager, O’Connor replied: “I’m going to say all of the above. I don’t want to point out anyone yet. It’s too early during by campaign. So I think they know. I speak a lot at the meetings and a lot of my questions typically don’t get answered. I get the one-word answer, ‘yes,’ a couple of words, ‘we’ll look into that,’ but the next meeting you don’t get the answer.” Communication is not where it should be, he said, citing that, coming construction, accountability and “treat residents with respect” as his goals.

Candidates may file to run in the March 7 election by petition through December 16 at noon. All candidates must pay $95 for a state qualifying fee. But if they secure 45 signed petitions, certified by the Supervisor of Elections, they avoid having to pay a city qualifying fee of $570. If they fail to get those petitions, the qualifying window reopens between Jan. 13 and Jan. 20, when they must pay that fee.

The election is not by districts or by seats. So while Bryan’s and Phillips’s seats are up, the top two vote-getters in the March 7 election will be seated. See details here.