In the opioid crisis, first responders are doing their part, only to see the same individuals adrift the moment they’re out of first responders’ hands: The front lines are meeting the challenge. The rear isn’t.
Flagler County Commission
Flagler Commissioners Will Hold Open 1-on-1 Interviews With Administrator Candidates
The county attorney advised Flagler county commissioners that erring on the side of openness was best in deciding whether to individually interview candidates in closed or open sessions.
Jim Cigler Is an Unlicensed Contractor. Repeat Judgments Against Him Don’t Stop Him
From Working.
Flagler County just won a judgment against Jim Cigler, an unlicensed contractor known as “The Gutter Guy,” but Cigler faced several judgments before and kept on falsely advertising his services as licensed and insured.
Costs and Concerns Muck Up Plantation Bay Utility as County Begs for $10 Million
The Flagler County Commission is asking for a state appropriation of $10 million to fix the Plantation Bay sewer plant partly from fears that a sewer tank may burst, but the decision was hasty and lacked ready analysis.
Flagler Pays $16,000 to Settle Website Access Suit, and Much More to Become ADA Compliant
As one commissioner calls it “a scam,” county government will settle a lawsuit and prepare to hire more staff to address Americans With Disability compliance with county websites.
Flagler Commission Narrows Interim Choices to 4, But Questions Remain About Interviews
Three of the four candidates are former city or county administrators. The exception is one internal county candidate. They’ll be interviewed Feb. 18, when the commission may choose among them.
Gargantuan Egos Gone, 3 Cities’ Managers And County Get Down to Unusual Business
Flagler County’s three city managers and its commission chairman led a Common Ground panel presentation reflecting the vast change-overs at the top of local government and anticipating a new way of doing business ahead.
$2 Million Repaving and Widening of Old Dixie Highway from US 1 to I-95 Starts
The widening and repaving of a 2.3-mile stretch of Old Dixie Highway, from I-95 to U.S. 1, begins Monday (Jan. 28) and will be completed in a week.
16 Apply for Flagler Interim Administrator As County Hurriedly Hires HR Director
With a few days to go for applicants, the interim Flagler County administrator opening drew two county government applicants and three more from Palm Coast.
Sheriff’s Sick Building: How To Hire A Savior
To break out of its leadership lethargy on the future of the Sheriff’s Operations Center, Flagler County government should find an obsessively independent project manager untainted by local politics or current administrations.
County Commission Steps Back From Creating Sheriff’s Building ‘Task Force,’ Opting
For More Workshops
The Flagler County Commission today took no more decisive action on the Sheriff’s Operations Center than to hold more workshop sometime in the future, though none was scheduled.
Help Wanted: Flagler County Seeking Interim Manager and Hoping to Stave Off Exodus
Deputy County Administrator Sally Sherman will lead the county’s administration for the next two weeks as the commission searches for an interim, before launching into a search for a permanent replacement for Craig Coffey.
On Captain’s BBQ at Bing’s, Commissioner Hansen Says Compromise Is On the Table
Allaying fears that his mind is made up, County Commissioner Greg Hansen said he’s willing to go for a compromise that would locate Captain’s BBQ away from the center of Bing’s Landing.
Beyond Coffey: Alternate Locations Emerge for Sheriff’s Operations Center as Calls to Abandon Troubled Building Mount
A 20,000 square-foot building built to attract new business and industry is one of the options for the sheriff’s operations center as the sheriff, employees and at least two county commissioners don’t see a path back into the troubled Operations Center anymore.
Resignations of Key Loyalists Give Administrator Coffey ‘Pause’ About His Plan to Resign
County Administrator Craig Coffey’s announcement that he was resigning was followed by that of Sally Sherman, his deputy, and Joe Mayer, HR director, and changed Coffey’s own course.
Flagler Administrator Craig Coffey Offers to Resign; Special Meeting Set for Wednesday
County Administrator Craig Coffee is seeking to resign in exchange for severance and six months’ health benefits. The commission will decide whether to accept at a 5:30 p.m. meeting Wednesday.
Changing Position, Key Commissioner Says Sheriff’s Building is Not Repairable and Calls For New HQ Elsewhere
Flagler County Commissioner Dave Sullivan says he won’t spend another nickel on the sick Sheriff’s Operations Center and calls for building a new structure somewhere else.
At Bing’s Landing, an Alternate, Compromise Location Emerges For Captain’s BBQ
The County Commission today heard new options on the expansion of Captain’s BBQ at Bing’s Landing in the Hammock, a plan that drew some support from the public, though rancor and controversy still simmers.
Cuts Into Sheriff Building’s Structure Point to Alarming Issues, Including Bat Droppings and “Substantial Moisture”
Two days of testing and cuts into walls and floors at the troubled Sheriff’s Operations Center are adding to a tally of concerns, with revelations of old wood and insulation, bat droppings and widespread floor moisture.
Flagler Firefighters’ Union Members Vote For Firing Their Boss, Administrator Craig Coffey
The firefighters’ union’s vote was expected but significant in that its membership’s contract is dependent on negotiations with Coffey’s management team, and vulnerable to retaliation.
Let Craig Coffey Resign. With Severance.
Craig Coffey’s loss of credibility has been painful. It doesn’t need to be cruel. Rather than a public flogging on Jan. 14, he should be allowed to resign with a measure of dignity–and severance.
Before Barbecue: How Flagler County Saved Bing’s From Development
Bing’s Landing before the current controversy over Captain’s BBQ’s proposed expansion could have been sold off to developers. It wasn’t, thanks to one woman’s vision. Her daughter tells the story.
Teacher, Police and Fire Unions Join Call to Fire Craig Coffey, With Help From Milissa Holland
The county’s public sector unions in a powerful joint approach aided by Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland have joined calls to fire County Administrator Craig Coffey.
Like Palm Coast, County Government Plans To Send Small Drone Fleet Airborne
County government plans to spend $20,000 to acquire several drones and use them for public safety, land and infrastructure surveys and incident management, but the county has yet to develop rules and policies.
With Judge’s Help, Sheriff’s Insurance Carrier Corners Employees Over Workers’ Comp Claims as Fate of Building Looms
Some 30 Flagler County Sheriff’s employees have been in a dispiriting battle with their own agency’s insurance carrier and the judge ruling on their workers’ compensation claims, portending little hope that they may prevail.
Ethics Commission Finds Probable Cause School Board’s Janet McDonald and Husband Dennis Violated Law on Disclosures
A state ethics investigation found that both Dennis and Janet McDonald inaccurately reported assets on disclosure forms ahead of election runs. The late Frank Meeker, a county commissioner, filed the ethics complaints shortly before his death in 2016.
Flagler’s Beach ‘Renourishment’ Is Exorbitant Futility
Whether it’s the Corps of Engineers’ plan for 2.6 miles of Flagler Beach sands or Flagler County’s ongoing dune-rebuilding over 12 miles, there’s no money to sustain either, yet officials are mortgaging the county’s future on a blank check.
Flagler Will Try a Different, Riskier Strategy to Protect Its Short-Term Rental Regulations
Flagler County government may lobby lawmakers less intensely than they have over the past three years on vacation-rental regulations, hoping instead that the county is carved out of a potential statewide retreat on such regulations.
Judge Orders Sheriff’s Operations Center Tested for Toxins Again, On Behalf of Employees
Sheriff’s employees have been seeking for months to have an independent round of testing for toxins inside the troubled, evacuated Sheriff’s Operations Center. That will take place on Dec. 13.
Many Questions Remain as County and City Approve $100 Million, 50-Year Beach-Protection Plan in Flagler Beach
Flagler County will be on the hook for nearly half the almost $100-million cost of the project over its 50-year span, with the federal government responsible for the rest.
Sheriff Staly: County Administrator ‘Destroyed Our Working Relationship and It Is
Not Recoverable’
Sheriff Rick Staly stopped just short of explicitly asking for the resignation of County Administrator Craig Coffey in an address to the County Commission, but in effect, he was calling for nothing less.
Craig Coffey Isn’t Fired, But Meeting Is Set to Decide His Fate As Sheriff and Others
Blister His Management
Though Commissioner Joe Mullins’s motion to fire Craig Coffey failed, the commission unanimously approved setting a Jan. 14 meeting to discuss his possible firing.
In Big Victory for Bing’s Proponents, Commission Votes 4-0 To “Sidetrack” Lease With Captain’s BBQ
The commission, led by Dave Sullivan, who switched sides, agreed to reconsider the lease with Captain’s BBQ at Bing’s Landing through more vetting and analysis.
Is Craig Coffey Getting Fired?
Word of His Demise May Be Premature.
Newly-elected Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins has pledged to fire Administrator Craig Coffey, and may try to do so at Monday’s meeting, but the outcome is anything but certain.
Flagler’s Legislative Delegation Is Taking Requests: Hutson and Renner Hear Wish Lists Dec. 7
House Rep. Paul Renner and Sen. Travis Hutson, who represent Flagler in Tallahassee, are holding their annual legislative meeting for Flagler governments and residents on Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. in Bunnell.
Protesters Gather at Bing’s Landing, But Captain’s BBQ Owner Willing To ‘Hit the Drawing Board Again’
The hastily-arranged protest outside Bing’s Landing Sunday drew between two and three dozen people looking to challenge Flagler County government’s new lease with Captain’s BBQ.
Ambition and Pledges of Openness Frame Swearings-In at County Commission and Palm Coast Council
Joe Mullins was sworn-in as a county commissioner and Donald O’Brien elected chairman while Jack Howell and Eddie Branquinho took their seats on the Palm Coast council today.
Divided County Commission Approves Captain’s BBQ Lease That Will Reshape Bing’s Landing
The vote followed more than three hours from 41 people, almost split between supporters and opponents of a lease that would reshape Bing’s Landing.
Entering Hotel Business, Flagler Government Dedicates 3 ‘Cottages’ at Princess Place
For Tourism and Science
The three cottages will be rented out to tourists and to environmental researchers for $125 to $150 a night, with 10 more planned for the River-to-Sea Preserve next year.
How Flagler County Is Readying to Upend Bing’s Landing Park to Benefit Private Restaurant–and Political Donors
Flagler County government will allow Captain’s BBQ to build a larger restaurant in the middle of Bing’s Landing, at its own expense but with large subsidies from the county.
ASPCA in Flagler Shows Lurid World of Animal Cruelty and Its Kin to Domestic Violence and Other Crimes
The ASPCA, the Flagler Humane Society and other local agencies hosted a two-day training conference in Bunnell for cops and animal control officers from around the state to improve animal-abuse prosecutions.
Palm Coast and County Resolve Sour Development Conflict, Signaling Falgout’s More Cooperative ‘Playbook’
The Airport Commons development opposite the future Wawa had led Palm Coast to threaten to sue the county, until the city’s Beau Falgout replaced Jim Landon. Then it became all about resolving issues.
In Flagler Commemoration of Veterans Day, Memories of Armistice Day and Vietnam
Hal Kushner, a physician who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and Joe Kowalsky, who won this year’s Veteran of the Year Award, highlighted Flagler’s Veterans Day ceremony.
Patricia P. Sullivan, Former Chairwoman of Flagler Republican Party, Dies at 78
Patricia P. Sullivan, a former chairwoman of the Flagler County Republican Party married 52 years to Flagler County Commissioner Dave Sullivan, died Thursday at home following a long illness.
Hansen, Mullins Win County Commission, Howell and Branquinho Win Palm Coast, McDonald Re-Elected to School Board
The races for Flagler County Commission and Palm Coast council were not close in a mid-term election that saw turnout rise to an astounding 64 percent.
Buying Their Election: Mullins and Hansen Shatter Spending Records for Flagler County Commission Seats
The nearly $200,000 Joe Mullins and Greg Hansen have spent so far puts them on pace to match or outspend all 26 other county commission candidates in the past three years combined.
“Interference In the County’s Elections”? Not So Fast: How 2 Illegal Political Signs Seeded a Phony Controversy
A pair of political campaign signs planted and then unearthed from in front of a Publix and a SunTrust bank branch in the Hammock kicked off two police investigations, but the controversy is largely made up by a candidate with a history of such tactics.
Judge Clears Way For Local Governments to Challenge State Ban on Stricter Gun Restrictions
Some 30 local Florida governments are challenging a state law that forbids cities and counties from passing stricter gun regulations than the state allows.
New Cell Tower Near Plantation Bay Grows from 199 to 320 Feet in Deal With Volusia
The new tower is one of six–three of them exceeding 300 feet–Flagler County government is building to modernize its emergency communications system, on which all local governments and cities depend.
Jane Gentile-Youd, Flagler County Commission Candidate: The Live Interview
Jane Gentile-Youd is an independent candidate for Flagler County Commission, District , challenging Joe Mullins in the Nov. 6 election. All registered Flagler County voters may cast a ballot in the race regardless of address or party affiliation.