The Flagler County Commission is giving Realtor Heather Haywood, who the commission appointed to the county planning board in February 2022, 30 days to drop her homestead exemption in Volusia County or appear before the commission for another vote on her eligibility for the planning board. But for the homestead record, there appears to be little question that Haywood is a Flagler County resident.
In early 2022, a vacancy opened on the Flagler County Planning and Development Board. Six candidates applied for the three-year appointment. None of them qualified for the seat, which required the applicant to live between U.S. 1 and the Intracoastal. But the commission could by a supermajority vote of four waive that requirement. It did, and appointed Haywood.
On her application, Haywood had listed Flagler as her county of residence, as had all other applicants. She did not list the number of years she’d been in Flagler. The other applicants did. She listed her place of business (Heather Haywood Real Estate) in DeLand, which happened to be the house she owns there, on West Pennsylvania Avenue.
The form also asked whether she was a registered voter. She said yes. The form did not ask whether she was registered in Flagler County, though she is, and has been since 2019. The form that went before commissioners did not ask where the applicants were homesteaded in Flagler County. Had the form asked, Haywood would have had to say No: she is homesteaded at the Pennsylvania Avenue address, according to property appraiser records there, making that her permanent residence.
On Monday, County Commissioner Leann Pennington raised an issue with that. The county code, she said, states that “not only do they have to be an elector voter at all times, and a full time permanent resident, they have to be able to provide a valid homestead exemption and maintain it throughout the term of office.”
Pennington is right. The county code is explicit: each member of the planning board “shall be a full-time permanent resident of Flagler County.” The board member, the code states, “shall be a full-time permanent unincorporated resident of the area as verified by a valid homestead exemption in his/her name maintained throughout the term in office.” (The provision, incidentally, is implicitly discriminatory against residents who may choose to live in apartments and rent.)
Pennington went on to note that “there’s a piece where we can waive it. But we we have to know that, and before we put them in to the board, which I don’t think didn’t come on that vote.”
“How can they do that?” Commission Chairman Greg Hansen said.
In fact, not only had the commission voted to waive that requirement, with Hansen in the majority. Hansen himself moved for, in his words, “a one-time waiver for residency requirement for the planning board,” and got the necessary 4-1 vote.
Nevertheless it was very clear from the context of the discussion at the time that the commissioners thought they were waiving the geographic requirement within Flagler County: Commissioner Dave Sullivan had very clearly expressed himself that the county could not have found someone, anyone, between U.S. 1 and the Intracoastal, as the seat required: “There are a lot of people that live in that area, and I’m kind of shocked that there’s no one that’s we’ve been able to come forward to in that area,” Sullivan said at that February 2022 vote.
He was the dissenting vote. He would have likely been even more shocked had he known that the candidate who got the appointment was homesteaded elsewhere.
But none of the commissioners appear to have known, or were told by Planning Director Adam Mengel, who organized the balloting for that appointment, that Haywood was homesteaded in Volusia County. So Pennington was also right when she told commissioners that “at that time when you swore in this member you did not know that they were homesteaded elsewhere as well.” (Haywood did not return a text or an email before this article initially published, and her phone’s mailbox was full.)
Still, Haywood’s appointment does not appear to have violated the code.
The code’s provision for waiving the homesteading requirement is less explicit and vague than the provision about residency. The wording leaves a crucial question open to interpretation. The code states: “The Flagler County Commission may waive the elector, full-time permanent unincorporated residency, homestead, and geographic area representation limits […] through a super-majority vote of the county commission.” The code is silent on whether or not the provision could be waived for someone homesteaded in Volusia County, St. Johns County, or Graham County, Kansas.
That also suggests that the planning board’s decision with Haywood participating are not vulnerable to challenge.
But on Monday, Commissioners Donald O’Brien and Hansen were on Pennington’s side, at least going forward.
“We brought it up and brought it up to staff. It’s been going on since July,” Pennington said, never mentioning Haywood by name. “But I totally agree with being a voter first and foremost on a board, and then having a permanent residency, and then ensuring that our staff verifies the permanent residency.”
Pennington wants the commission to reconsider “what we want to do with that particular member, and then too, going forward, we want to make sure that we stand up the voter registration and that they’re residents, whether or not they’re homesteaded, and we can make an exception for the homestead going forward.” She was not willing to make an exception for a resident who doesn’t consider Flagler County his, her or their permanent residence.
County Administrator Heidi Petito, referring to Haywood as “they,” said “they claim to rent property in Flagler and we deliver packets to them at that rental property,” meaning Haywood’s agenda packets. Haywood lives on Westgrill Drive in Palm Coast, in a non-homesteaded property that pays close to $6,000 in property taxes. Petito said Haywood divorced, and her homesteaded property stayed in her husband’s hands.
Pennington, fearing a legal challenge to planning board decisions, wants members like Haywood to have “a certain timeframe to clean that up,” then open the seat back up. Commissioner Andy Dance wants all advisory board members who may not be in compliance with one or another provision of their service to have time to “rectify and fix”: their status–whether it’s being a registered voter, a permanent resident or any other such detail.
The county administration, at Pennington’s request, had tabulated all its advisory board members’ status. The analysis found that on the seven boards’ 54 seats, 51 serving members responded that they were both residents and registered voters–including Haywood, though a check of the voter-registration rolls as of
Armando Mustiga, a member of the Library Board of Trustees, did not respond to the county’s inquiry, and did not attend the last library board meeting, causing the county to speculate that he had moved out of the county. But property and election records indicate he is both a homesteaded county resident and a registered voter locally. Lisa Robinson, who represents Hampton Inn and Suites on the Tourist Development Board, did not respond to the county’s inquiry about her voting registration status, but said she is a resident.
Pennington’s concerns were especially focused on the planning board, conceding that she does not have a problem with a renter on the board. But she wants that representative to be a full-time resident in the county. “How do we want to deal with a person who is knowingly homesteaded somewhere else?” Pennington said. “I’m concerned that we’re defective procedurally on that board and making decisions.”
But as County Attorney Al Hadeed made clear to the commission, the parameters of service have to be made clear and precise down to homestead questions.
“And so I suggest that maybe the consensus is that we bring this person back in for that waive, and see if we’re willing to waive by supermajority the homestead,” Pennington said. Hansen reduced Haywood’s options to two choices: eliminate her homestead in Volusia, or appear before the commission to see if the commission will waive that requirement.
Though she was serving on the county board already, Haywood applied for an appointment to the Palm Coast planning board last October. She was not picked.
JoB says
Interesting that Planning Board members, who serve on a citizen advisory board, must be permanent residents and be homesteaded. The Growth Management Director, who heads the Planning and Zoning Department, apparently does not.
Jane Gentile-Youd says
Bravo Leann! Had the board allowed the public to speak I would have said ” It should also be mandatory that the Director of Planning and Zoning be a permanent Flager County Resident ( either via proving Homestead at time of application or provide a minimum of 6 months rental , utility and phone receipts. ).. Adam Mengel does not live in Flagler County; he lives with a friend in Putnam County and has for y e a r s …does not own property in Flagler County… is not a registered voter in Flagler County.
This same Adam Mengel folks, just sent out a package to the Planning Board Members misrepresenting the CURRENT zoning on a 19 acre timberland parcel his lawyer buddy’s clients what to build a 200 unit FOUR STORY high apartment building on land CURRENTLY zoned AGRICULTURAL. 1 house per 5 acres so the owners of this parcel can legally build 3 houses . Mr, Mengel sent me an e-mail telling me the ‘future land use’ is what he put in his letters , Enough said: Adam Mengel needs to be fired,
He is well aware his description of this parcel as ‘low density’ is a total fraud yet he is not only sticking to it – he is going to place his same lies on the December Planning Board Meeting. Dangerous 2 lane road; no stores; no local transportation; on land abutting SINGLE story homes, and land owned by an HOA…. Adam also said i n 2018 trailers were good for growth
I hope Leann insists the rules are changed and begins by making a yay motion to the board telling Petito to fire Adam Mengel who has no right to make any land decisions affecting anyone’s quality of life or tax dollars where he his only interest is his paycheck. This is a disgrace to those of us who pay his salary, Petito’s salary as well as all the commissioner’s salaries.
Great going Leann on this one – I’l be glad to help you
Montecristo says
You’d! Why are you so rude?
You are vile and mean.
First of all Mengel is a County employee he doesn’t have to live here.
Why are you asking to fire Petito?
At least you got Commissioner Pennington’s points right about to planted planning board member that should resign immediately.
Jane Gentile-Youd you need a nap….
Laurel says
Huh! Yet another REALTOR looking out for the citizens of Volusia, I mean Flagler County. Do you wonder why?
Are y’all paying attention citizens? Do you still wonder why no one listens to you?
Do NOT waiver, remove. Demand it, folks.
Concerned Citizen says
She’s trying to make room for herself to get elected. Been trying for years. But the citizens of this county knows what’s up.
Kat says
How many elected/appointed officials in Flagler county are realtors? And we wonder why we have such sprawling growth…
Jane Gentile-Youd says
Wow! We need to make sure that ALL Flagler County permanent employees are legal Flagler County residents not just Adam Mengel. I apologize if you didn’t get the point of my frustration with developer ‘ favored’ rules…
T says
If you not homestead here then you shouldn’t be on board no wondering Everything sucks here now they don’t deal with fire bye
T says
Yes you do wake up Mont you must be buddy’s
Julia LaRue says
Montecristo…Just FYI….the world needs all the Janes we can get!! They are not afraid to ask the tough questions to the the powers to be. In writing or face to face. (Also they are not afraid to sign their name.)
Greg says
Just like the city here, the county runs its business like a circus. Almost ashamed to live in Flagler County
Jane Gentile-Youd supporter says
Jane Gentile-Youd shoots truth from the hip. Most people don’t like to be confronted with the truth because it makes them face reality.
Maybe Jane isn’t the most diplomatic, but I’d take her over some of our current elected “officials” who have embezzlement, fraud, shoplifting, outright lying, etc in their recent backgrounds. Also people with zero education who maintain a tight grip in government in this county.
Plus, Jane knows what she’s talking about, which is a rare thing in this county. Or, “concerned citizen”, would you prefer someone spouting off phrases like, “I’d rather drink antifreeze than raise taxes!!!” Maybe that’s more your style.
If Jane wants to run for office, why is that any worse than some who are running for office right now for 2024 in this county?
Maybe concerned citizen is still a Mullins supporter, or Woolbright, or . . .
Robert Swinderman says
The Planning Board is and has been out of balance according to the County’s requirements. It is currently overloaded with Realtors and Developers. This might be an opportunity to get it headed back in the right direction, update residency requirements and get some concerned citizens on the planning board. Probably going to be hard to find a farmer between US 1 and the Intracoastal. Also the Hammock should be not be excluded.
Membership: Consists of 7 members residing in specific geographic areas of the County. Wherever possible, applicants will be selected from each of the following fields/professions: (1) architect, landscape architect or urban planner; (2) neighborhood or environmental activist; (3) agricultural interest (farmer, timber/sold or cattle); (4) real estate sales or development; (5) businessman or attorney; and (6) engineer, botanist, biologist, geologist or geo-science professional.
Duane says
I agree the board members need to be residents of the county, employees do not.
I too am not a fan of Petito for many reasons. However, I can only conclude that people complaining about government salaries were not successful in their personal lives. Most government employees now make a very good wage in addition to the pensions they receive. If you only knew the amount of crap they have to listen to from people like most of those who post on social media behind anonymous names and a pen with unlimited ink. It would be challenging to everyone who does.
Jane Gentile-Youd says
Tell me Concerned citizen ” what’s up?’ That I care about the law, our quality of life, our tax dollars?
I ran to serve; I ran as an NPA instead of ‘R’ which was my mistake since the majority of voters in Flagler county vote by party not person.
I have and still spend my time and my personal money to try to make Flagler County a wonderful place to live. Apparently you are not aware of my many civic accomplishments over the past 21 years but that’s okay; what matters is that I have gotten lots done around here.
It is clear in my opinion that you are just another blabber mouth around here who is too much of a coward to state actual facts, or use their real name.
Tony says
I was under the impression that to claim homestead you actually had to live in the property and not just own it. If her head does not hit the pillow in Volusia County then they should take legal action against her. She should also be removed from any and all Flagler County boards as she is not a resident of the county.
TREEMAN says
More CORRUPTION in “Swampland”!! STOP giving in to the DEMANDS of the Carpetbagger Developers!!
CELIA PUGLIESE says
Thank you Commissioner Leanne Pennington for your research and courage! We residents sure know what you dealing up there with. This is why we do not need anymore realtors in the FCBOCC, we need a resident elected that will have no conflict of interest and will hear our pleads to preserver our quality of life undermined in this county and cities 24-7 by the very ones we elect to represent us. We need to elect the new two commissioners that will vote with LeAnne. FCBOCC and their administrators and their cherry picked PLDRB and other board members in general do not care for the residents pleads. We are hard begging and battling against these ill planned projects favored by rezoning, illegal spot zoning and /or special exception to the perfect original ITT residential zoning to no avail. This PLDRB boards are plagued with cherry picked individuals to satisfy developers greed and not the current residents needs, most the times. This is the reason why like in this case this non homesteaded realtor was appointed, as residents get frustrated by the cherry picking and do not even apply for the seat! Also Montecristo (hiding behind an alias) here sounds to me like a Ben maybe both on this county payroll by our hard earned taxes, undermining our support for fairness and justice and the end of wrong doing. Thank you also to Flaglerlive for Pierre’s courageous editorial hope not future witch hunt too!
James says
If Jane wants to run she has that right as much as anyone else.
But she should run as the Republican which she is, not as an Independent.
Just another opinion.
Been There says
Why? Employees don’t make policy for the county. There is no conflict of interest in what they do.
Wow says
Oh shocker! Lies or “alternatives truths” for personal gain. It just never stops here.
Who Knows Flagler says
What about the member of the contractor review board that is not a registered voter? Should someone that is not registered to vote in our county really have decision making authority in our county ?
CELIA PUGLIESE says
I really hope that my “Thank you Commissioner Leanne Pennington for your research and courage! ” can stand with LeAnne finishing what she started here and not backing down under the big boys pressure. A planning board member should not be only a renter/tenant NOPE Leanne, it is supposed to be homesteaded in this county as per the code. No exceptions! Or then we continue governed by outside county interest. Try not to sugar coat your good findings, just to satisfy political correctness or interest around you! We are sure aware of the pressures you are exposed too, but please be bold and brave that is what it takes to represent us. Look what is surfacing around you and take a stand. Example the airport flight schools nuisance to our residents and its airport director lying, hiding data he knows when asked by Dance and Pointieri from county and city and retaliating against a former airport advisory board member for then trying to resolve the noise and other airport issues affecting Palm Coast residents in 2020 and still going on now! Have you taken the time to read the 2022 year end airport report? If not please do. These young worldwide pilots in training are causing the misery of our neighbors in Quail Hollow and Seminole Woods and even 8 miles north in coastal Palm Coast with their touch and goes over their homes roofs and rounds and rounds over coastal Palm Coast taking away our peace and quiet! So please get involved and do something about it. Set a precedent! Something is better than nothing. The airport expansion 61 millions FAA grants (our taxes as well) since 2019 were approved by FAA based on the airport activity of touch and goes (training) with minimal executive aircraft use in comparison! If we do not put a stop to it, the training fields over us will get worst with noise, danger and contamination with the airport expansion attracting more schools and we will have to give our homes away over the nuisance. Lets just keep the airport expansion for the real “Executive” to justify its name and not a training field! This airport does not even have a radar to base all these schools and that is” dangerous” as Sieger replied to councilman Danko in the 10/10/23 Airport Presentation to City Council. This Presentation was requested for the first time ever for Palm Coast government to the airport given the Palm Coast residents outcries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upQVwPZ_aJE&t=3036s .
Concerned Citizen says
I retired with a successful career in Public safety.
I have a problem with government salaries when they effect the availability of essential services. I have been an Emergency Services volunteer in this area for a long time. I was around when the BOCC discontinued 24/7 coverage of Fire Flight for budget reasons. Something I disagreed with then. And still do now.
If you can’t keep essential services staffed to provide required coverage does a school Superintendent need a 6 figure salary?
Gina Weiss says
Jane: I strongly agree with you , it’s not only common sense to have
people who live in our county as people who made big decisions in
our county, there must be some kind of allegiance and loyality that
an official should feel to the citizens who pay taxes and reside otherwise
what’s the sense, I can understand hiring people for other employment
but not to put people in a powerful positions who make decisions
that can actually ruin the quality of life for our residents. If people
don’t understand this simple fact most likly they are in it for their
own self-aggrandizement and self interest. As they say the truth hurts
so wear your truths like a badge of honor as those people have no honor.
Laurel says
Who: Voting is not a requirement for employment, or anything else other than to vote. Residence should be required for board membership, or an appointment, or voted position. Homestead for home ownership, and rental receipts with the rented address proving residence should be required. If homestead is found elsewhere, then the person should be kept from a board, an appointment or voted in position, but not from being an employee.
Who Knows Flagler says
Laurel: Being a registered voter would prove county residency and citizenship. I believe there is a possiblity this particular member of the Contractor Review Board is not a citizen of the United States. If someone is not registered to Vote for our elected officials why should they have a say in anything with our government.
Whathehck? says
Thank you LeAnn for doing your job and for caring.