The School Board’s Sally Hunt made the startling assertion toward the end of Tuesday evening’s board meeting, placing parents and constituents in a subordinate role to what she twice described as a a board as “super boss,” and in effect reversing the roles of elected officials and constituents: she as an elected official is the boss. She wants constituents, her subordinates, to follow the chain of command, starting at school and through the administration, before their case is elevated to her level.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Will Furry Claims Kristy Gavin’s Firing Was ‘For Cause.’ His Termination Letter Contains No Such Thing.
School Board Chairman Will Furry insisted today that the firing letter he signed on Monday and that went to Kristy Gavin, the former school board attorney, was “for cause,” as required by her contract. The one-page letter, obtained by FlaglerLive, contains no cause. The silence on the matter appears to be one more weapon in Gavin’s arsenal should she sue the district for breach of contract and wrongful termination.
Cell Towers Behind FPC’s Football Field Is Not a Health Problem, School Board Is Told, and May Be There Years
A consultant the Flagler school district hired to survey and analyze the health hazards, if any, of the monopole cell tower behind the bleachers at Flagler Palm Coast High School had a simple conclusion today: the tower is not a problem. It’s not close to being a problem. And the School Board’s options with it are limited to none as it is leasing space at least until 2046.
School District Attorney Kristy Gavin Is Fired as Board Turns to Evaluating 2 Firms for New Legal Representation
Ending weeks of uncertainty, Kristy Gavin, the Flagler County School Board’s attorney since 2006, was fired on Monday, a district spokesman confirmed today. The firing is ostensibly for cause, though it sets up a likely legal battle between Gavin and the district, which severed her contract 18 months before its end. Meanwhile this morning, the School Board evaluated two law firms interested in representing the board–GrayRobinson and the Douglas Law Firm.
County Forced to Approve $15.7 Million Stop-Gap for Dunes’ Army Corps Project, Leaving Reserves Threadbare
With its administration’s promise that it’s only for a short time–a matter of days–the Flagler County Commission this afternoon approved drawing $15.7 million out of its reserves to pay the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the county’s share of the cost of the long-awaited beach-rebuilding project south of the Flagler Beach pier. Flagler County had to do so because it had not yet received an equivalent amount from the state to cover the cost. But that leaves its reserves dangerously bare.
Objecting to County’s Control of Fees, School Board’s Massaro Not Ready to Sign Off on Carver Center Yet
Flagler County School Board member Cheryl Massaro, who had formerly run the Carver Center, is not ready to sign off on a joint agreement in the works for months with the county, the Sheriff’s Office and Bunnell on running the facility, raising new concerns about the county taking over authority for setting rental fees there.
Defense Calls Out Sharp Inaccuracies in Arrest Account of Migrant Facing Manslaughter Charge in Death of Deputy
The defense lawyer for Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant held for over eight months on an aggravated manslaughter of an officer charge in the death of a St. Johns County deputy, is calling his arrest “legally insufficient,” describing his arrest report as a series of misrepresentations and misapplications of the law, and citing the medical examiner’s report to conclude that the death of the deputy was unrelated to the arrest.
DeSantis Is Kaput
Something is terribly wrong here: Iowa, a far-off land of snow and butter, failed to give our Ronbo a win. Yet he did everything right. He visited all 99 counties. He shook hooves with every single cow. He displayed the depth of his feelings toward his wife when he gave her a warm handshake after one of the debates.
In Free Florida, the Dictionary Is Dangerous to Your Children
A few people who call themselves parents but are really frustrated bullies who want everyone else to lead the miserable lives they do, at least when they’re not engaging in threesomes, have successfully made black holes of Florida’s school and classroom libraries and further marginalized slews of children whose one solace might have been that one book.
Mustering the Barest Majority, Jury Votes 8-4 to Recommend Death for Julio Rivera in Roberto Ovalle Murder
Concluding a weeklong sentencing trial, a Volusia County jury voted 8-4 today to recommend the death penalty for Julio Rivera, the 52-year-old former fugitive who shot and killed his friend at a DeBary self-storage facility on Dec. 8, 2019. The death penalty recommendation is one Florida’s first under a new standard that does not require a jury’s unanimity.
Flagler County Ends Year with 3.7% Unemployment, 12th-Highest Rate in Florida
Flagler County ended 2023 with an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent and an average unemployment rate of 3.5 percent for the year, down slightly from the average of 3.6 percent in 2022. It is the 12th highest in the state. While the monthly report indicates continued healthy employment, it also hints at a couple o concerning underlying trends, with a slow-down in the growth of Flagler’s workforce and a significant jump in the number of people collecting unemployment.
Palm Coast’s Sen. Hutson Votes with Majority in Latest Bid to Scale Back Local Vacation-Rental Regulations
Almost every year since 2014, Florida lawmakers have been trying to reduce local regulatory control on the booming vacation-rental industry or shift it to the state–what’s called “pre-emption.” The state would then bar local governments from enacting many of their own regulations. A Senate panel today cleared the way for the latest such attempt, with Sen. Travis Hutson in the majority. The bill goes to the Senate floor next.
Graffiti on Bridges in Palm Coast C-Section Concern Residents and Prompt Talk of Surveillance Cameras
Residents of Palm Coast’s C-Section are concerned about recurring graffiti that’s been re-appearing on bridges on Colorado Drive and Colchester Lane, after city crews painted over a spate of graffiti there last year.
Taking Liberties: City Repertory Theatre Goes Beyond Boomer Musical with ‘Edges’
“Edges,” that song cycle (not a traditional musical, mind you) crafted by two Millennials when they were both 19 years old, is not just for Millennials. Its 17 songs about navigating the crossroads of life will appeal to all generations, say the cast and director of the City Repertory Theatre production that opens Friday Jan. 19 at the troupe’s Palm Coast venue.
Palm Coast’s Richenbacker Drive Loses Its Aitch as the City Formally Abandons Spelling No One Respected
In the annals of Palm Coast history–which dates back to the pre-history of its 1960s scrubland–this was huge: Richenbacker Drive was losing its h. Not only that. The h was surrendering to the less aristocratic k, because the street’s h never got any respect since ITT platted it as such a few decades ago: not the city, not the Post Office, not the Property Appraiser wrote it with an h. The Palm Coast City Council buried the old spelling in a unanimous vote Tuesday night.
Old Kings Village Development of Up to 210 Houses Clears Obstacle Course with Polo Club West as City Approves Rezoning
The approvals followed weeks of wrangles between the developer, the city, the county and Polo Club residents. (See previous steps here, here and here.) The council had considered the items on Dec. 5 and Jan. 2, both times getting strong pressure from Polo Club property owners–and their attorney–to delay approval, pending the resolution of sharp differences with the developer.
Don’t Wave Gay: Long In Force in Flagler Schools, Bill Would Ban Pride and ‘Ideological’ Flags from Public Buildings
The Florida House today began moving forward with a proposal that would restrict the types of flags that can be displayed at government buildings and schools, including preventing the display of LGBTQ pride flags. That ban has long been enforced in Flagler schools, based on an interpretation of local policy.
Palm Coast Woman Accused of Using Her Pitbull as a Weapon as Ex-Boyfriend Is Mauled
Jennifer Estella Flores, 34, a resident of the Palm Pointe Apartments in Palm Coast, is accused of siccing her pitbull, Wasabi, on her ex-boyfriend after the two got into an argument over his other relationships. She faces four felony charges and is being held at the county jail on $50,000 bond.
Palm Coast Building Moratorium Fails After Fierce Debate But City Agrees to Citizens Advisory Board on Flooding
An attempt by Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri to enact a 45-day moratorium on home construction in Palm Coast’s “infill” lots failed today. But the council approved creating a citizens’ advisory board focused entirely on flooding problems tied top new home construction, while also approving the accelerated enactment of a series of related regulations Pontieri was urging. Pontieri, however, voted against that measure.
Hit-and-Run on U.S. 1 in Bunnell Caused Death of 2 Women and Critically Injured a Man; Driver Faces Charges
Charges are pending against Melvin Adona, a 51-year-old Palm Coast resident, in the hit-and-run collision with three pedestrians early Sunday that caused the death of two women and critically injured a Bunnell man on U.S. 1, just north of State Road 100.
Proposed Building Moratorium Addressing Flooding Concerns: An Exchange Between Home Builders and Pontieri
Members of the Flagler Home Builders Association have been writing Palm Coast City Council members to urge them to vote No on a construction moratorium City Council member Theresa Pontieri has proposed for 60 to 90 days on so-called “infill” lots in the city’s sections platted by ITT. What follows is an exchange that took place today between a home builder and Pontieri on the proposal. The council meets Tuesday and may take up the issue then, depending on other developments.
Welcome to the Old South, The Myth that Refuses to Die
In Florida, we prefer not to discuss ‘slavery’ unless we are enlightening the ignorant about how it was Not That Bad. You have only to read Miss Margaret Mitchell’s brilliant and perfectly accurate novel to see the Truth of this.
Elise Stefanik’s Immoral Compass, and Ours
When Rep. Elise Stefanik grilled then-Harvard President Claudine Gay about her “moral clarity” about genocide and bullying on campus, Israel was in its eighth week of the most genocidal assault on Palestinians in the history of Arab-Jewish wars predating even the creation of Israel in 1948. None of it was relevant to Stefanik, because when Israel is the subject matter, there are no two sides to the story. There are no interpretations. There is no discussion. None permissible, anyway. There is only dogma. Anything else is heresy.
New Company Cleared to Take Over Ocean Palm Golf Course, Ending Tortuous Years with City
Almost nine years into what’s left of its rollercoaster relationship with Flagler Golf Management, the company that’s run the city’s 34-acre, nine-hole Ocean Palm golf course, the Flagler Beach City Commission is nearing assigning that lease to a new company, entirely severing its ties with FGM and starting relatively fresh.
School Board Hobbles Toward Firing Its Attorney and Hiring New Ones, Mostly in Secrecy, as Lawsuit Looms
Though School Board attorney Kristy Gavin remained on the job, her firing is imminent, but the required “causes” for that firing have yet to materialize. Meanwhile, the board is evaluating replacement attorneys, keeping those applicants’ proposals secret.
Sheriff’s Deputies Investigating a Death in Palm Coast’s L-Section, Likely Self-Inflicted
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a death outside of a house in Palm Coast’s L Section, on Lewis Drive, this morning. The death was very likely self-inflicted, Sheriff Rick Staly said.
Redefined Food, a Local Business, Wins Contract at Palm Coast’s Southern Recreation Center
The Palm Coast City Council has awarded Redefined Food Co., a 5-year-old business based at City Marketplace in Palm Coast, the lease to run the food and drink concession at the most anticipated new community destination since the original Community Center on Palm Coast Parkway had its own grand re-opening, with a much bigger footprint, in the spring of 2018.
Flagler Beach’s Eric Cooley Opts to Run for 3rd Term After All, ‘To Get All This Through’
After months of signaling that he would step down, Eric Cooley, the two-term Flagler Beach city commissioner and the commission’s current chairman, announced today that he is running for a third term in the March election, to “see through” too many initiatives begun on his watch.
FPC Freshman K’imani Gerven-McCoy’s Anthem Opening Legislative Session Draws 29-Second Ovation
K’imani Gerven-McCoy spent her first day back from the winter break a little differently than other Flagler Schools students: she twice sang the National Anthem at the opening sessions of both the Florida House and a joint session of the Legislature, ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s State of the State address.
Charlie Esposito, Who Built Up Palm Coast’s Volunteer Firefighters and Fire Police, Dies at 95
Charlie Esposito had built up Palm Coast’s volunteer corps before Palm Coast became a city in 1999, doing the same for the city’s Fire Police, and establishing safety and training protocols, including for the county’s emergency helicopter, that are still followed today.
The Brendan Depa I Have Come To Know
Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School special education student who pleaded guilty to the beating of Joan Naydich, his paraprofessional, last February, will be sentenced on Jan. 31. Gene Lopes is a retired special education teacher who has spent the last several months tutoring Depa at the Flagler County jail. Here’s his experience.
In a Major Shift, Flagler Beach Government Would Subsidize First Friday Events With Up to $30,000 a Year
Flagler Beach government is going all out to subsidize the showcasing of city businesses at the monthly First Friday event while also ensuring that the event’s manager, Vern Shank, who has complained of running a shoestring operation, makes more money and stays viable. The City Commission Thursday will consider a subsidy package that amounts to up to $30,000 a year for the operation Shank has run since 2021.
Palm Coast Will Spend $94,000 To Study Lower Speed Limits on City Streets, and Again Study Florida Park Drive
Palm Coast will spend close to $100,000 on a pair of traffic studies–one to investigate whether speed limits may be lowered on many residential streets from the current 30 miles power hour, the other to investigate speeds and how traffic-calming medians could help improve traffic flow on Florida Park Drive, the most studied roadway this side of the Appian Way.
Reports of Flooded Properties Attributed to New Homes Rise to 148 as City Pledges Help, But No Sure Solutions
City staffers have visited 75 of the affected properties so far in hopes o analyzing problems and proposing fixes. They are hoping to have visited all 148 by the end of January, assuming the tally doesn’t grow much further. But while the city has addressed building rules that should reduce flooding problems in the future, it does not have a comprehensive, retroactive fix for existing residents who see their yards turn to ponds after rain events.
Tornado Watch in Effect for Flagler Until 6 PM; School District and Palm Coast Cancel Activities
Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord is urging caution and alertness in preparation for a day of stronger-than-usual winds around midday Tuesday, then a squall lines of storms Tuesday evening, especially between 5 and 7 p.m. Relative to the Panhandle, the unsettled weather won;t be as severe in Flagler County, but the most important thing will be to be informed through an alert system, Lord said, as there is a small potential for tornadoes and hail.
Bulow RV Park Has 6 Months to Solve Compliance Crisis, Pledging Not to Evict Anyone. But a Solution is Elusive.
There will be no evictions at Bulow RV Park at least through the end of July. The Flagler County Commission extracted that concession from Bulow park management this afternoon in exchange for a stay on enforcing county regulations against dozens of RV sites that have become unregulated, permanent home, in violation of both county code and park rules. But park management doubts six months will be sufficient for a permanent solution, and county officials are finding their powers so limited that should evictions resume, there won’t much they can do.
Lawmakers File Bills to Prohibit Youths Under 16 From Having Social Media Accounts, and End Existing Ones
The bills would require social-media platforms to bar minors under 16 from creating social-media accounts and use “reasonable age verification” methods to check the ages of people when accounts are created. The bills also would require social-media platforms to terminate existing accounts that are “reasonably known” by the platforms to be held by minors younger than 16 and would allow parents to request that minors’ accounts be terminated.
C.J. Nelson, Father to 22-Year-Old Accused in Shooting Death of Toddler, Faces Tampering and Obstruction Charges
In mid-November, 22-year-old C.J. Nelson Jr. was charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of his 18-month-old niece. Today, Nelson’s father, C.J. Nelson Sr., 46, was arrested on two charges of tampering with evidence in connection with the shooting, and two charges of providing false information to police during the investigation.
Prosecution Considers Man Who Fondled Girl at Walmart Too Dangerous To Be Let Out on Bond
The prosecution argued before a judge today that Robert Goldstein, the 64-year-old Palm Coast resident who briefly fondled an 11-year-old girl at Walmart while her mother was not looking, is too dangerous to be let out of jail on bond pending trial. But a decision is not expected until Jan. 17, giving Goldstein time to bail out.
With 3,500 Petitions from Flagler Voters, Abortion-Right Ballot Measure Meets Signature Requirements
Some 910,946 valid signatures have been tallied for a constitutional amendment proposal that would protect the right to an abortion in Florida until the viability of a fetus. That topped a requirement of submitting 891,523 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Flagler County alone submitted 4,800 petitions, 3,543 of them valid.
20 Years Later, 1.7-Mile, $14.5 Million Commerce Parkway from SR100 Is a Go. Just Don’t Call It a ‘Bypass’ Anymore.
The concept of a new Bunnell road from State Road 100 to U.S. 1 has been talked about for 20 years. It’s been debated, opposed, embraced and finally funded. Monday, it’ll clear its last hurdle when the County Commission approves a $9.5 million contract to build the 1.7-mile, two-lane road going south from Commerce Parkway, past the Sheriff’s Operations Center and the future sites of the south branch of the Flagler County Public Library and Bunnell’s City Hall. The project will take between 18 months and two years.
Proposed Old Kings Village’s 205-Home Subdivision Still Clashing With Polo Club West’s Cling to Old Florida
The clash has as much to do with the opaque minutiae of land-use regulations as it does with something anyone in Palm Coast and Flagler County can relate to: what kind of community do residents want for themselves, and how far should the city go to change zoning and land use designations that result in two vastly different subdivisions–one densely packed with homes, one not, with a rapidly increasing population adding its own pressures on diminishing green spaces.
21-Year-Old Man Is Found Dead at Belle Terre Park of Apparent Overdose
Calvin Alexander Stull, 21, who had bicycled into Belle Terre Park the previous day was found dead Wednesday morning, of an apparent drug overdose. The park is adjacent to Wadsworth Elementary school, but school is not in session this week.
A Note To My Grandson
Well dear Felix, this is the day chosen for you–as so much has been since before your conception, as almost everything will be for the next dozen years, as most things will be after that–to be born into this, not quite our world: you arrived as scheduled a little after 7 this morning, your time.
Raising Alarms, Pontieri Calls for Moratorium on Flood-Prone Construction Until Regulations Are Rewritten
Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri unexpectedly called for a 60 to 90-day moratorium on construction on so-called in-fill lots, the traditional quarter-acre lots that ITT platted, or until until the city’s revised construction regulations are enacted. The regulations address issues that have caused flooding on existing lots. Pontieri’s proposal, to be considered for adoption on Jan. 16, drew a startled response from the Flagler County Home Builders Association and caution from some council members.
Face-Recognition Software Leads to Man Accused in Pair of Disturbing Incidents Involving a Woman and a Girl
Robert Elliot Goldstein, a 64-year-old Palm Coast resident, is at the Flagler County jail on felony charges stemming from a pair of disturbing assaults that took place within 72 hours, one involving a health care worker at AdventHealth Palm Coast, the other involving an 11-year-old girl Goldstein allegedly accosted and fondled at Walmart.
After Raucous Hearing, Palm Coast Votes Again to Limit Cascades Development in Seminole Woods to 416 Homes
Nearing midnight Tuesday the Palm Coast City Council voted unanimously again to limit development on the Cascades development in Seminole Woods to 416 single-family homes following an often raucous hearing before an overflow and untempered crowd. Much of the discussion–or arguments–hinged on whose fault it was that the issue required the extraordinary re-hearing, after the council had seemingly settled the matter in a pair of votes last September and November.
School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin Still On the Job, With ‘Progress’ and Uncertainty on Resolution
School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin was still on the job this morning–as a School Board attorney. But uncertainty remains, even though the board has approved a new job description that would theoretically allow Gavin to step into a new role as staff attorney, or general counsel, answering to the superintendent.
Flagler Beach’s New Year’s Fireworks Celebration Draws 500 People and Hula Hoops of Raves
Flagler Beach may have ignited a new tradition for itself and the county as some 500 people turned up at Veterans Park and around the pier in the waning minutes of 2023 Sunday for the city’s inaugural surf board drop and New Year’s fireworks.
Can We Still Find Common Ground?
Many Americans today worry that our nation is losing its national identity. Some claim loudly that the core of that identity requires better policing of our borders and preventing other races or religions or ethnicities from supplanting white Christian America. But that is not what defines our national identity. It’s the ideals we share, the good we hold in common.