The Florida Commission on Ethics Friday unanimously approved a $2,500 fine on Flagler County Commissioner Barbara Revels over two violations of the state ethics law, stemming from Revels’s role in the county’s purchase of the old Memorial hospital in Bunnell.
Flagler County Commission
Flagler Commissioner Revels Faces $2,500 Fine Over Ethics Violations as Investigation Points To Discrepancies
Though she was the swing vote, County Commissioner Barbara Revels now concedes that she should have abstained from voting to buy the old Memorial hospital in Bunnell in 2013, and that she should have filed a conflict-of-interest form.
Flagler County Government’s Citizens Academy Taking Applications Before Jan. 30 Start
Seats are still available for Flagler County’s popular Citizens Academy program, a free nine week course designed to introduce participants to the day-to-day operations of Flagler County government.
Attorney At Center of Suits Against Palm Coast and County, Is Arrested on Battery Charge
Joshua Knight, the Palm Coast attorney hired by two Ronald Reagan Assemblies members to litigate actions against Palm Coast and the county that were found frivolous, was arrested on domestic battery and false imprisonment charges Monday afternoon.
As Showdown Looms Over Salamander’s Hammock Beach Hotel, County Asks For Delay
A hearing before the Flagler County Commission Monday evening was to decide the fate of a proposed 198-room hotel at Hammock Beach Resort. The county administration is asking for a delay until February.
Craig Coffey’s $15,000 Raise Request: An Insult to Public Employees at Taxpayers’ Expense
The insult wasn’t just Flagler County Administrator Craig Coffey’s Christmas tithing to himself. It was the way he and his administration went about it, and the way three county commissioners played along.
White Elephant No More: County Approves 5-Year Lease of Costly Ginn Hangar in Deal With New Company
Delta Engineering of New Catle, Del., expanding in Flagler with 10 to 30 high-paying jobs, will fill the old Ginn building that had left the county with a $2 million liability when Ginn went bankrupt.
In Unusual Vote, Flagler Commission Acknowledges Ethics and Elections Complaints Against All Its Members
County and Canvassing Board Attorney Al Hadeed, who was also served with complaints, asked for the vote to assert three points that framed the complaints within the official duties commissioners were performing at the time the issues arose.
Divided Flagler Commission Awards Administrator Coffey 5% Raise This Year, With More All But Promised
The Flagler County Commission didn’t go for the 10 percent raise Coffey (or, it is claimed, his staff) was asking for, but he still got a nearly $6,000 raise in a 3-2 vote by the commission Monday evening.
Supervisor of Elections Weeks and Ex-Candidate File Load of Ethics and Elections Complaints on 4 Commissioners
Calling it a “witch hunt,” the four commissioners say the complaints rehash minor issues that were almost all resolved during the election season, and that the ploy mostly is an attempt to tarnish.
County Administrator Craig Coffey Seeking 10% Raise, to $161,000, Amid Other Personnel Costs
The county administrator’s salary would increase from $146,383 and would add an automatic 3 percent merit pay increase a year absent an affirmative decision by the county commission.
Salamander Losing Streak Continues as Planning Board Rejects 198-Room Hammock Hotel, 3-2
The vote, coming at the end of a nearly four and a half hour hearing, is the latest in a series of defeats for the developer, though the binding decision does not take place until the Flagler County Commission hears the proposal.
Flagler Opens 1st Secure Site For Supervised Children’s Visits in Sally’s Safe Haven
It took three years and $400,000 from a federal grant, but on Monday county officials dedicated the safe haven in the old Bunnell Post office location, ensuring that parents don’t have to travel to Volusia or St. Johns to execute court-ordered, supervised children’s visitations.
Varn Park Will Close Until April 15 For $476,000 Renovations Thanks to Scenic A1A Grant
The federal National Scenic Byways grant was the largest of just three such awards in Florida, and will have a $140,000 match from Flagler County.
Economic Development Director Helga van Eckert Is CareerSource’s Excellence Award Recipient
Flagler County’s Department of Economic Development Executive Director Helga van Eckert was awarded the “Partners in Workforce Excellence Award” by CareerSource Flagler Volusia at the Annual Board of Directors meeting on Nov. 21.
New Sheriff’s HQ Square Footage Grows By a Third Even as Construction Cost Falls to $4.2 Million
Instead of a $6.2 million demolition and construction project, the lowest bid for the sheriff’s HQ came in at $4.2 million, with the sheriff gaining 9,000 more square feet in the bargain, for a total of 35,000 square feet.
Feed Flagler’s 364-Day Blinders: Why Isn’t a Portion of Old Courthouse Considered as Homeless Shelter?
It must be Thanksgiving because as with the first Thanksgiving, the pilgrims seem more interested in clobbering the poor than feeding them.
Election Supervisor Kimberle Weeks Caps Final Canvassing Session With Hit List Frown Song
Kimberle Weeks once again indicted a slew of local officials on evidence largely fictional while portraying herself as voters’ last great hope as she responded to the county’s latest request for an state intervention.
Even As Lawsuit Gets in the Way, Sheriff and Union Agree that “Substantial” Raises Are Due
Sheriff’s deputies and other employees have been without a serious raise in five years and the sheriff and union are at a negotiating impasse, but both sides are attempting to reach agreement on a small prize: a 1 percent raise the county commission pledged employees this year.
Growing Concern at Supervisor of Elections Offices Across Florida: Aging Equipment
Secretary of State Ken Detzner said he will meet next month with local supervisors of election in Orlando to determine which counties are most in need of new equipment before the 2016 elections. Flagler is likely to be among those.
New, Younger Faces Sworn In at Palm Coast Council, Same Old at County Commission
The swearing-in ceremonies were a study in contrast, if not a reflection of the election’s paradoxes as Palm Coast showed its desire for change and the county commission stayed the same.
Some Skepticism Aside, County Broadens Old Courthouse Panel’s Mission: Find Tenants
The county commission Monday evening voted 4-1 to give the courthouse committee until the end of March to find tenants who can pay their way and end the county’s $6,000-a-month subsidy of the building.
Renovate and Lease Old Courthouse But Don’t Sell or Demolish, Committee Recommends
An advisory committee’s much-awaited findings recommend that county government continue to carry the maintenance costs of the old courthouse until it is able to renovate and rent it to non-profits or office-type concerns.
Flagler Briefly Pauses On 100th Anniversary Year of the War that Led to Veterans Day
The commemoration of Veterans Day this morning in Bunnell featured a Florida Army National Guard commander who traced the conflict-ridden history of the day since its inception at the end of World War I.
Feed Flagler, in Its 6th Year, Launches Food Drive and Free Thanksgiving Meals Plan
Feed Flagler, the community-wide effort to provide meals for the needy (or anyone who requests one) at Thanksgiving, is off to its 6th year, with renewed emphasis on food collection for families.
From Washington to Palm Coast City Council, Elections Herald Less Change Than Advertised
Tuesday’s election looked more revolutionary than it was, as political dynamics changed very little, even at the Palm Coast City Council, where two seats turned over, and even more so at the school board and the county commission, where change may be imperceptible.
Even as Election Culminates, Supervisor Weeks Finds a New Target: Commission Chairman George Hanns
In her latest attempts to recast the Flagler Canvassing Board, Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks tried to have County Commission Chairman Gorge Hanns removed and raised issues with the appointment of alternate and Commissioner Barbara Revels.
Flagler Gives Initial Approval to Vacation Rental Regulations and Pledges Revisions
Some Hammock property owners applauded the Flagler County Commission’s proposed rules for short-term rental properties, others excoriated them for being too draconian. The commission will consider a revised proposal in late November or December.
Miscounts Stretch Marathon Canvassing Board Meeting to 16 Hours, Ending After Midnight
Aside from Supervisor Kimberle Weeks hiring a stenographer without the Canvassing Board’s authorization, the meeting Thursday was dominated by attempts to reconcile a four-ballot difference.
Elections Supervisor Weeks Suspends Canvassing Business for Radio Gig, Stunning Fellow Board Members
Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Week suspended a Canvassing Board meeting Friday to do a radio interview, without telling fellow-board members, who had other commitments, that that was the reason.
Raising Issues of Accuracy, Canvassing Board Rejects Elections Supervisor Weeks’s Minutes in Latest Strains
It was a striking vote of no-confidence in the veracity of Weeks’s version of events that Canvassing Board Chair Melissa Moore-Stens made even more striking by including disclaimers on each set of minutes, stressing that they are not the official minutes of the board, but Weeks’s own.
Denise Calderwood, Flagler County Commission Candidate: The Live Interview
Independent Denise Calderwood is challenging Republican incumbent Nate McLaughlin in the District 4 race for Flagler County Commission in the Nov. 4 election. All registered Flagler County and and municipal residents may cast ballot in the race.
Howard Holley, Flagler County Commission Candidates: The Live Interview
Howard Holley is an Independent candidate for the Flagler County Commission in the Nov. 4 election, challenging incumbent Republican Frank Meeker. All registered voters may cast a ballot in this race.
Canvassing Board Rejects Weeks Attempt to Remove Hadeed as Attorney in Latest Clashes
Another Canvassing Board meeting that should have been routine turned into a three-hour test of wills between Supervisor Kimberle Weeks and the two other members of the board, while Weeks’s issues with Palm Coast remain unresolved.
In Chamber’s Straw Poll, Shipley and Nobile Win Palm Coast, Incumbents Win all County and State Offices and Pot Loses
There were few surprises in a straw poll of 124 participants conducted by the Flagler Chamber of Commerce at a political forum and at Creekside Festival in the last few days, but the sample is too small to be indicative of more than hints.
Thrasher’s FSU Contract: $430,000 a Year for Five Years. Special Election Cost: $1 Million.
The Flagler County Commission is not relishing a special election, as it means contending with a supplemental budget request from Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks, whose relationship with the commission–among other local government agencies–is at an all-time low.
A1A Pride Votes 7-3 to Reject Salamander Plan for 198-Room Hotel at Hammock Beach
Today’s vote is only advisory ahead of action before the county’s planning board and the County Commission. But A1A’s membership represents a powerful constituency in the Hammock, as its previous displays of political muscle indicate.
Pink Army’s Cancer-Whipping Flags Rise Over Flagler as Awareness Campaign Broadens
At a flag-raising ceremony this morning, elected officials and Florida Hospital Flagler CEO Ken Mattison spoke of cancer’s toll and improvements in life expectancy thanks to awareness and early detection.
County Road 305 Culvert Replacements Will Not Be Completed Until 2015
One culvert has been delayed by heavy rains and won’t be finished until October, two more won’t be done until January 2015, the county administration said.
FDLE Serves Search Warrant as Supervisor of Elections Weeks Is Now Formally Under Investigation
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents this morning served a search warrant at Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks’s office. Agents were there several hours today.
FDLE Looking Into Alleged Secret Taping and Sunshine Violation by Elections Supervisor
It’s the first step to an investigation of Kimberle Weeks, if laws are found to have been broken. It takes place on the heels of withering criticism of Weeks’s methods and questions by the county commission chairman about the integrity of the elections she is supervising.
County Calls Supervisor of Elections Kim Weeks’s Taping of a Conversation “Illegal”
County Administrator Craig Coffey says Weeks’s secret recording of a conversation between the county attorney and a county commissioner on Aug. 25 was illegal, so was its distribution, though nothing in the recording speaks ill of either men in the conversation.
Supervisor of Elections’ Husband Duane Weeks in Threatening Altercation With Flagler Commissioner Meeker
The brief confrontation, which entailed Duane Weeks at one point inviting Frank Meeker outside, took place before an NAACP meeting where Sheriff Manfre was to address the fallout from the racial events in Ferguson, Mo.
John Thrasher Is Named FSU’s Next President, Opening Big Void in Flagler’s Legislative Pull; Hutson Considering Run
For Flagler County, Thrasher’s move is the second major blow to the county’s political pull, after losing John Mica in Congress to redistricting two years ago. Flagler had specific needs that may now go unfilled in Tallahassee.
Tenacity Charlie: County Commissioner Ericksen, 71, Completes 24,902-Mile Bike Trek, Equivalent to Circling the Equator
Charlie Ericksen’s odometer turned the last mile early this morning after six years or 2,263 days, biking an average of 77 miles a week around Flagler and Palm Coast, despite three tips to the hospital along the way and many more repairs for his bike.
Commission Chairman Questions Election’s Integrity in Broad Criticism of Supervisor Kim Weeks’ Methods
George Hanns unleashed an unusually blunt and broad critique of Weeks at the end of a county commission meeting and went as far as questioning whether it was time to involve the state Division of Elections “about some of the things that are transpiring.”
Gamble Rogers Rec Area Will Keep Its Name as Flagler Beach Concedes: “Not Worth the Fight”
The Flagler Beach City Commission and the County Commission both retreated from a push to remove Gamble Rogers’s name from the Flagler Beach recreation area following a series of setbacks and a public backlash against the idea.
Elections Supervisor Weeks Scuttles Latest Attempt to Resolve Elections Conflicts in Heated Meeting
A Canvassing Board meeting Friday devolved into a partisan and often heated debate, but no resolution, as many conflicts that have framed Kimberle Weeks’s supervision of the last election remain unresolved ahead of November’s election.
Flagler’s Constitutional Officers, With Combined Salaries of $1 Million, Get 0.4% Bump
When the $140,406 in salaries to city elected officials is added to the figure, the combined total, for elected officials in Flagler County, stands at $1.13 million for the coming year, not including benefits.
Palm Coast and County Close to a Deal 4 Years in the Making, Resolving Conflict Over Airport
The Palm Coast City Council is still not entirely happy with the agreement because of uncertainty over a potential city park, and the county commission hasn’t even seen or discussed the agreement.