The City of Palm Coast’s newly-established Charter Review Committee is set to hold its inaugural meeting on Monday, August 25 at 6 p.m., at the Jon Netts Community Wing at Palm Coast City Hall, 160 Lake Ave.
The committee, which consists of five Palm Coast residents selected by the City Council last month, was designated to collectively review the current city charter and propose potential amendments to the charter. The five members are Patrick Miller, Ramon Marrero, Perry Mitrano, Michael Martin and Donald O’Brien.
The committee is expected to hold at least four public hearings or workshops, one in each of the city’s districts, and may hold more if it wishes to do so.
Independent moderator Georgette Dumont will be the moderator, streamline the charter review process. A city attorney will be seated at the table. The public is invited to attend all meetings of the Charter Review Committee and give their input on suggestions for revisions to the City Charter. All proposed charter amendments must be approved by the City Council, which may add its own, or amend or discard one or more of the proposals forwarded by the committee. The surviving proposals will be on the November 2026 general election ballot.
Dumont is the Director of the Master of Public Administration program at the University of North Florida, where her teaching centers on local government and nonprofit organizations. She has a deep understanding of charters, and was an elected member of the Jacksonville Beach City Council from 2018 to 2022. She will be paid $250 an hour, plus mileage, estimating a final cost of $12,500 for her work, based on 11 meetings.
“I have championed the development of a strategic plan, mission, and vision for the city,” she wrote in her letter of introduction to Palm Coast. “During my tenure, the city undertook its first full charter review in over twenty years, involving elected officials and citizen input at each meeting. I have also presented to the City of Atlantic Beach’s Charter Review Commission, composed of resident volunteers, on the charter review process, the roles of the members, and the steps required for a successful review. Most recently, I facilitated St. Augustine Beach’s comprehensive charter review process.”
All events will be featured on the City of Palm Coast calendar. For more information on the Charter Review Committee, please email [email protected]
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