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Flagler School Board

17 of Ron DeSantis’s 23 School Board Picks Either Lost or Must Face Runoff

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Only six School Board candidates backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis celebrated victories in Tuesday’s Primary. Out of DeSantis’ 23 endorsed candidates, voters rejected 11 outright. Six others failed to get majority support, meaning they must face a General Election runoff. Those rejected included Derek Barrs in Flagler County, who lost to Janie Ruddy, a Democratic-backed candidate.

Ballot Review Doesn’t Change Outcome: Richardson Beats Danko, Stevens Holds 2-Vote Lead

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With afternoon recounts still pending, this morning’s review of 46 provisional ballots and questionable mail-in ballots did not change the outcome of Tuesday’s election in the closest contests. Pam Richardson’s victory over Ed Danko for County Commission held. Ray Stevens’s two-vote lead held over Dana Stancel in a Palm Coast City Council race to determine who moves onto the runoff against Andrew Werner.

Dance Wins Re-Election, Richardson and Carney Win Commission, Ramirez and Ruddy Win School Board, Norris and Manfre in Runoff

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Andy Dance won his second term on the Flagler County Commission, trouncing Fernando Melendez in the only clear runaway victory of the evening as the Supervisor of Elections announced early results of the primary. Lauren Ramirez and Janie Ruddy won school board seats, Pam Richardson beat Ed Danko for County Commission, while Mike Norris and Cornelia Manfre looked headed for a runoff, leaving David Alfin behind.

Flagler’s Election Turnout Tracks Down from 2020 But Elections Supervisor Lenhart Applauds Candidates’ Civility

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Flagler County’s election turnout is tracking lower than in the 2020 primary as a variety of factors, including new laws restricting voter freedoms, have taken full effect. As of today turnout is less than 16 percent in the primary election in Flagler, with two days of early voting plus election day left. But Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart said she was proud of local candidates, who have maintained a level of civility unseen in years.

Latest Flagler School Board Follies: Hunt Celebrates Mediocrity, Furry Abuses His Seat to Push ‘Endorsements’

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“Board member comments” at the Flagler school board have devolved almost always into a disaster, an embarrassment, a circus of ignorance, hypocrisy, stupidity or bigotry, compliments of the board’s trilobites: Sally Hunt, Will Furry and Christy Chong. No wonder they prefer illegal secret meetings. No wonder Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro can’t wait to escape the asylum. The sane ones weren’t there Tuesday to witness the latest drivel from Furry and Hunt, the first illegal, the second just creepy.

Tiger Bay Straw Poll: Richardson Trounces Danko; Derek Barrs and Lauren Ramirez Take Schools, Alfin Hangs On

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Thursday’s Flagler Tiger Bay Meet and Greet at the Palm Coast Community Center drew some 300 people and almost every local election candidate on the Aug. 20 primary ballot. A straw poll consisting of some 225 votes yielded a few arresting results, such as County Commission candidate Pam Richardson’s trouncing of an absent Ed Danko, and a not-too surprising tight race for mayor in Palm Coast.

Flagler Tiger Bay Prepares for Largest Candidate Meet-and-Greet of Primary, Waving Off Fret Over Straw Poll

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As of Monday some 40 local and state candidates had confirmed attendance at Thursday’s Tiger Bay Meet and Greet, what is expected to be the largest election gathering of the sort for Flagler County and Palm Coast politics ahead of the Aug. 20 primary. The three-hour free event starting at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Palm Coast Community Center will include a voter-registration drive organized by the Supervisor of Elections’ office, and a straw poll, which one candidate is criticizing as a “sham.” He appears isolated.

Historic Sweep: Flagler’s 5 Constitutionals Elected Without Opposition as Shelly Edmonson Wins Tax Collector’s Seat

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Clerk of Court Tom Bexley, Tax Collector-Elect Edmonson, Property Appraiser Jay Gardner, Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart and Sheriff Rick Staly were elected without opposition today, the first time an entire slate of constitutionals managed the feat in memory. Edmonson will take over for Suzanne Johnston, who decided to retire after 20 years as the tax collector.

Sally Hunt Confirms She’ll Resign, But Late Enough To Ensure DeSantis, Not Voters, Will Choose Replacement

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Flagler County School Board member Sally Hunt today confirmed that she will resign her seat before November. She did not say when precisely between now and then. She appears to be purposefully doing so late enough to have prevented an election to fill the remaining two years of her terms. Gov. Ron DeSantis would fill the seat with his own appointment, which could take months after the seat becomes vacant.

St. Augustine/St. Johns County Win Nod for Museum of Black History; Getting It Built Is Next Challenge

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A state task force assessing possible sites for a proposed Florida Museum of Black History voted 5-4 Tuesday in favor of St. Johns County, where Martin Luther King once rallied protests against segregation in the city of St. Augustine but where the site would require extensive development, including roadbuilding. The close vote followed intense lobbying by St. Augustine/St. Johns, which branched out to support from surrounding counties, including Flagler County, where Palm Coast and the School Board lent support.

Sally Hunt Is Again a No Show, Raising Questions Among Her School Board Colleagues and Her Seat

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School Board member Sally Hunt’s “chronic” absences drew criticism from fellow-Board member Cheryl Massaro at today’s meeting, concerns about the functioning of a board that, without a majority, could see many of its actions fail (a 2-2 vote is equivalent to the death of a motion) and questions about Hunt’s seat when she resign, as she said she will.

ER Physician Paul Mucciolo Files for Conklin’s School Board Seat, Citing Need for ‘Healthy Dose of Professionalism’

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Dr. Paul Mucciolo, an emergency-medicine physician at AdventHealth Palm Coast, declared his candidacy for the District 3 seat on the Flagler County School Board to bring back “a healthy dose of professionalism” to the board, he said, and to return the school district to an A-rated organization. Mucciolo is running for the seat Colleen Conklin has held since 2000. Conklin has elected not to run again in 2024, as has Cheryl Massaro, though Massaro may not have entirely closed the door on another run. 

Will Furry Chooses Sleaze. Again.

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Will Furry, the candidate for Flagler County School Board in the race he’s contesting against Courtney VandeBunte, is running a sleazy campaign funded by deceptive PACs and rich in lies and fabrications. Yet he calls it his “journey of faith.”

Flagler Voters’ Message to Poison Peddlers

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Flagler voters made damn sure that white nationalists, bigots and liars like Joe Mullins, Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald had a short and embarrassing shelf life. If Flagler is solidly conservative, it remains sanely, moderately so for now, even for a one-party county with just three Democrats among 33 elected officials on six government boards.

Mullins Doesn’t ‘Run the County’ Anymore as Pennington Crushes Him; Hunt Beats Woolbright, Chong Beats Tucker, Hansen Wins, VandeBunte and Furry in Runoff

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It was not a good night for Flagler County’s radical, white nationalist Republicans: Joe Mullins, Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald will no longer be elected officials in the county come November as each was beaten in his her her election bid tonight. But long-time school board member Trevor Tucker also lost to newcomer Christy Chong.

The Passion of The Woolbright

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Enraptured in the language of white Christian nationalists, Jill Woolbright, the Flagler County School Board member, has turned her campaign for re-election into a crusade against her own, to eradicate “evil spirits” and clean house at the district of people who don’t look or pray like her, or share her pathological sexual obsessions. Academics can wait.

School Board’s Jill Woolbright Says She’s in ‘Satanic Warfare’ Against ‘Evil Spirits’ at School District

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Flagler County School Board incumbent Jill Woolbright, who is in a non-partisan race against Sally Hunt to be decided in the Aug. 23 election, says God placed her on the school board, that she is involved in “satanic warfare,” and that, in a reference to others on the school board and at the district office, she has “felt the evil spirits around me.”

An Open Letter to Flagler County Voters Against Extremism, Buffoonery and Their Disturbing Candidates

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The abuse of position and process (particularly by school board members) is egregious. The wasted hours in all three elected boards’ meetings (school board, county commission, Palm Coast council) on ridiculous, petty–or worse: imagined–problems has been sickening to endure, Jake Scully argues in a plea for well-researched votes in the coming elections.

Voters Approved Nonpartisan School Boards 23 Years Ago. GOP Lawmakers Want That to Change.

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Florida’s local school boards, which oversee public school districts in 67 counties, are currently nonpartisan. That goes back more than 20 years, following a ballot initiative in November 1998. At that time, voters approved allowing school board members to be nonpartisan. GOP lawmakers are pushing to overhaul those boards by requiring elections to be partisan.

Holland and Klufas Hold On, Staly Wins Re-Election, Don O’Brien and Andy Dance Win County Commission, Ed Danko, Victor Barbosa Win Council Seats

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With all early voting results counted, Sheriff Rick Staly had an insurmountable lead to win re-election to his second term, as did County Commissioner Donald O’Brien. Andy Dance, the school board member, also had an insurmountable lead to win the County Commission seat Charlie Ericksen opted not to contest.