Flagler County Commissioners have selected committee assignments for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Leann Pennington, who represents District 4, is serving her first year as commission chair following two years’ service as vice chair. District 3 representative Kim Carney is vice chair.
Committee assignments provide commissioners with community input, expertise, and diverse viewpoints that help the commission make informed decisions.
Pennington selected to serve as designee on two committees: the Flagler County Library Board of Trustees and the Heritage Crossroads – Miles of History Heritage Highway. She will also serve as an alternate on these eight committees: Career Source Brevard Flagler Volusia; Department of Juvenile Justice Council; Department of Juvenile Justice Advisory Council; Early Learning Coalition of Flagler & Volusia County; Family Life Center; Flagler County Cultural Council; Flagler County Tourist Development Council; and, Public Safety Coordinating Council.
“As the commission chair, it is important to be involved in many of these very important committees,” Pennington said. “These committees provide us with a broad understanding of both local and regional needs.”
Carney is the designee for the following committees: Department of Juvenile Justice Council; Department of Juvenile Justice Circuit Advisory Council; Early Learning Coalition of Flagler & Volusia County; and, the Flagler County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. She also serves as an alternate on the following committees: Canvassing Board; Flagler County Library Board of Trustees; Friends of A1A Scenic & Coastal Byways Group; Friends of A1A Subgroup – A1A Scenic PRIDE; School Planning Oversight Committee; Town of Marineland CRA Board; and, the Value Adjustment Board.
Commissioner Pam Richardson, who represents District 5, serves on six committees as the designee: Canvassing Board; Family Life Center; Flagler County Cultural Council; Public Safety Coordinating Council; Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board; Value Adjustment Board. Additionally, she is an alternate for two committees: the Flagler County Affordable Housing Committee and the Volusia Flagler Transportation Planning Organization.
District 1 Commissioner Andy Dance, the previous chair, is serving as the designee for the following committees: Career Source Brevard Flagler Volusia; Flagler County Tourist Development Council; Volusia Flagler Transportation Planning Organization; School Planning Oversight Committee; and, the Small County Coalition of Florida. He will also serve as an alternate on the Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board.
Greg Hansen, who represents District 2 and is in his last year as a commissioner, will serve as designee on the following committees: Agricultural Museum Board; Friends of A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byways Group; Friends of A1A Subgroup – A1A Scenic PRIDE; Management Advisory Group for GTMNERR; and, on the Town of Marineland CRA Board. He additionally selected to be an alternate for the Small County Coalition of Florida.
Mary j. Wiesman says
The conduct of Flagler County Commissioner Kim Carney during a recent commission meeting was disrespectful to both the residents of Flagler County and her own constituents. Commissioner Carney exited the meeting mid-session—while it was being publicly broadcast on YouTube—stating that she needed to leave because she “had to sell a house.”
This departure occurred during a formal recognition honoring local firefighters for acts of bravery performed in the line of duty. Such moments are not ceremonial filler; they are an acknowledgment of public servants who risk their lives for the community. Walking out during that recognition sends a troubling message about priorities and respect.
Regardless of the size of one’s constituency, an elected county commissioner has a fundamental responsibility to be present, attentive, and prepared during official meetings. Public office is not a secondary obligation to be worked around when it conflicts with private business interests.
If outside professional duties routinely interfere with the responsibilities of elected office, then an honest decision must be made. The role of a county commissioner demands commitment, professionalism, and respect for the public and fellow public servants. The question becomes unavoidable: which comes first—the needs of constituents, or the demands of a private real estate business?
FlaglerLive says
We have in the past had issues with, and have reported on, Ms. Carney’s conduct, but the criticism about her departure from last Monday’s meeting is not accurate nor fair. Commissioner Carney did not leave during the tribute to the firefighters. That took place at the beginning of the meeting. She left at the three-hour mark of a three hour and 50 minute meeting, immediately after the vote on the last substantial issue on the agenda (concerning the acquisition of 153 acres for conservation around the Summertown/Veranda Bay development near Flagler Beach), with the largely routine and mostly settled matter of committee assignments yet to be formalized. There were interesting discussions subsequently, but Carney is hardly the first and won’t be the last elected official to occasionally log in an absence. In this case, it was brief and included her apology for failing to schedule it in advance: she had every reason to think it would be a brief agenda. It certainly looked like it going in.