Flagler county’s defensiveness regarding the new smoking policy underscores the shaky legal ground the local government stands on, and the likelihood of a legal and possibly costly challenge ahead.
Flagler County Commission
In a Surprising Shift, County Commission Finds Money for 2 Jail-Diversion Programs After All
Flagler County commissioners Thursday evening agreed to take on a $100,000 mental-health jail diversion program previously paid for by the state, and a $60,000 pre-trial release program they had opposed in earlier workshops. Both shifts took place during a hearing devoted to approving next year’s tax property rate.
Flagler Health Department Launches “Gospel” to Combat Twin Killers: Tobacco and Obesity
Two initiatives will be the centerpiece of the Flagler Health Department’s strategy in the coming year: Tobacco Free Flagler and an effort to reduce the incidence of overweight and obese residents through more awareness of good nutrition, BMI and healthier activities.
Flagler Tourism Office Rebuffs Consolidation With County, Hinting at More Autonomy Instead
County Commissioner George Hanns and Administrator Craig Coffey had talked of absorbing the tourism office–currently a branch of the chamber of commerce–into county government. It won’t happen. Rather, Tourism Director Georgia Turner is talking of having a stand-alone tourism office in a few years.
County Rejects Roma Court for Sheriff’s Office as “Unworkable,” Citing 10 Issues
County Administrator Craig Coffey ended the Roma Court option’s prospects with a 10-point memo listing a series of structural and logistical concerns about the 57,000 square-foot property on Palm Coast Parkway, about half of which would have been leased to the county for the sheriff’s uses in a 15-year arrangement.
In a First, Flagler County Will Prohibit Legal Tobacco Use On and Off the Job For New Hires
It is the first time a local government has made new employment conditional on the prohibition of use of a legal substance, though numerous governments and private employers are increasingly taking the same approach, and Palm Cast and the school board may soon hop on board.
County Celebrates Carl Laundrie and His Rescuers 10 Days After Near-Fatal Wreck in “The Drink”
Firefighter-paramedics from every agency save people every day, but when the same employer signs the checks of the person saved–PIO Carl Laundrie–and his saviors, the intersection lends itself to the sort of recognition the county commission organized at the top of its meeting Monday evening.
Team Feed Flagler Kicks Off Food Drives at Local Events
Team Feed Flagler, the annual community Thanksgiving meal and food drive led and chiefly sponsored by Flagler County government, has scheduled several drop-off locations for donated food over the next three months. Chart included.
Nickel and Diming County Foregoes Program That Would Have Reduced Jail Population
The Flagler County judge and sheriff had supported a proposed pre-trial release program that would have kept low-grade, non-violent offenders out of jail, saving them money in the short term and the county money in the long term, but the county commission eliminated the proposal as part of a $400,000 cut from next year’s budget proposal.
Carl Laundrie Recovering Well After Harrowing 24 Hours as Doctors Investigate
Carl Laundrie, the long-time public information officer for Flagler County government, was awake and conversant, and eating normal food, after nearly drowning when his SUV swerved into a pond near the county’s Emergency Operations Center in Bunnell Friday afternoon.