A Sharply Divided Palm Coast City Council Fails to Appoint a New City Manager In Series of Messy Votes

Last Updated: 8:37 p.m.

As with so much in the recent history of the council, tonight’s attempt to appoint a permanent city manager was messy, it lacked unity, and it ended in deadlock as the council voted in zigzags against both Paul Trombino and Richard Hough in a half dozen 3-2 votes.

The council opted to ask both candidates to write white papers on budgeting by next week to allow for yet another vote. Whether either candidate will agree is unclear, especially after this evening’s deliberations.

There was appreciation for both candidates. There was also reluctance. Council members Ty Miller, Dave Sullivan and Theresa Pontieri each had reservations about making an appointment, but each was also willing to do so, if that’s what the council wanted: not the most rousing way to appoint a new manager, and not the most encouraging message to send either candidate.

Miller and Pontieri voted against both candidates and didn’t change track. Council member Charles Gambaro voted only for Trombino. Mayor Mike Norris had motioned for Hough, then switched to Trambino when votes for Hough failed.

Sullivan, who attended the meeting on a problematic zoom connection that at one point caused him to vote for Trombino when he thought he was voting for Hough, switched votes several times. Even after he agreed to reconsider his vote against Trombino, when it looked like Trombino would finally get the nod, Sullivan voted against Trombino yet again. He did so because he said a unanimous vote appointing a new manager was crucial, and no such vote was forthcoming.

A rather grim Doug Thomas, the SGR consultant the city hired to shepherd the recruiting process, let the council know that he would contact the candidates to coordinate the white papers and their reappearances before the council next week, assuming they agree. It was Pontieri’s hesitancy about what she saw as a paucity of budgeting experience with either man, that led to her suggestion that they write the white papers.




For Palm Coast, this evening’s deadlock, and particularly the No votes from Pontieri and Miller, reflects a refusal to settle, especially without unanimity. It is also a consequence of the council’s recent history of turmoil, with a mayor just investigated for improprieties regarding the chamber and deep divisions between council members roiling the application process, which drew barely three dozen candidates. Of the five finalists, three dropped out before the interviews, one of them, astoundingly, preferring to take a city manager job near the arctic circle, in a tiny town unreachable by road and in the dark six months of the year, rather than continue to seek the Palm Coast job. And he had been the only candidate with near-unanimous support from the council.

Miller was concerned about the number of candidates who dropped out–or didn’t apply–because of the instability. “I question whether we’ve hit that mark of a rock star,” he said, though he was willing to make a choice this evening, if that’s what the council wanted to do.

Pontieri saw integrity, work ethic, and competence in both candidates. But she was concerned with the lack of budget experience in both candidates. “Particularly the state that we’re at in our city right now, where I do feel we’re at an inflection point, economically, if we don’t make some very strong and smart economic decisions,” Pontieri said, “we could be setting ourselves up for a rough time ahead, and I don’t want that.”




It’s not just budgeting, but the learning curve ahead for two out-of-state candidates who must learn the state’s Sunshine law, and other Florida-centric issues. For example, she was struck by Hough misinterpreting the ratio of personnel versus other costs in the city budget.

“This type of decision should be 5-0,” she said. “It’s very important that we set up a city manager for success. And if any of us expresses a lack of confidence and their ability to manage the city. I don’t know that we’re setting them up for success, and I don’t know that that’s fair to them.”

Doug Thomas, the consultant the city hired to shepherd the city through the recruiting, tried to convince Pontieri that both candidates have the necessary budgeting experience, including a $17 billion budget managed by Trombino at one point. She wasn’t convinced.

One of the many surprises of the evening came from Gambaro. His natural choice would have been Hough, the candidate who spent all but the last seven years in the military. He is now the public works director in Walworth County, Wis.




“It’s no surprise for me, but you know, when I see a candidate that has military experience, I tend to gravitate towards them, and for a lot of different reasons,” Gambaro, who has spent most of his career in the military, said. “But I got to tell you, in this case, I’m not.” It was not an easy thing for Gambaro to say, he conceded later. He was opting for Trombino. Gambaro spoke of Trombino’s extensive experience in emergency management, his leading the Iowa transportation department (“he was a CEO and confirmed twice by the Iowa Senate”), his extensive credentials as a civil engineer, his nomination by President Trump to lead the federal transportation department in 2017, and so on.

“We need somebody that’s been a CEO,” Gambaro said.

Much of the reluctance on council members’ part was echoed from the floor as people in the audience saw too much settling afoot. “They’re impressive people, but are they the ones you really want? Are you settling because you’re desperate to have a city manager? I hope not,” said Dave Ferguson, who earlier this month was passed over as a finalist for appointment to the seat that went to Sullivan. Ferguson had served on the council a decade ago. “I wasn’t impressed with them as being the guy. They could do it. They might learn how to do it, just like the current acting city manager and the previous acting city manager. They learned and they carried the ball.”

“There’s only one person that’s doing the right job every day for us,” one public speaker said, pointing to Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston. Eddie Lang, another resident, said likewise. “I don’t think you have a rock star,” he said of the two candidates. “The person with the most experience for the city manager is our interim.”




Even Sullivan said his preference was to appoint Johnston. His endorsement for Hough was a cavalcade of caveats. “If I were forced to make a decision tonight, I would tend to go with Richard Hough, at this point,” Sullivan said. He didn’t mention experience. He mentioned only one skill: “Public presentation and ability to instill confidence, that would be the primary reason I would probably tend to go to Mr. Huff at this point, because I think that’s an important part of the job.”

Hough got several votes from the gallery, too.

Norris complimented both candidates. His votes reflected his words: he was willing to switch for an appointment’s sake. But he was first to make a motion, passing the gavel to Pontieri so he could do so for Hough. His reason was a bit odd: “Because of Mr. Huff’s status as being a retired military member, you’re saving a whole lot of money,” Norris said. “Mr. Huff is not going to go for all those benefits in his packet, because he doesn’t need them.”

“Obviously cost effectiveness is a factor,” Miller, himself a veteran, said, “but I really don’t think that viewing this from a lens of who’s going to cost us less is the best way to do it.”