Last Updated: June 9, 4:13 p.m.
June 9 update–The list of applicants to serve on the five-member Palm Coast Charter Review Committee has grown to 10, with a little over a week left before the application window closes.
The four new applicants since last week bring distinct and varied experience, including Donald O’Brien, who just ended an eight-year tenure as county commissioner, two of them as chair, Jake Scully, the data architect, former member of the Palm Coast Planning Board and former long-time owner of PC Bike, and Karen Sousa, a 10-year employee of the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections office.
But the pool of applicants remains strangely lopsided, with seven of the 10 applicants from District 2, the district represented by Council member Theresa Pontieri. There is just one candidate from each of the remaining districts. That doesn’t mean the District 2 candidates are competing with each other. While each council member and the mayor makes a single appointment, the council members or the mayor are not restricted to appointing from their district, and district representation on a panel like charter review is not as relevant as a diversity of perspectives and experiences.
The panel may discuss possibly making future elections district-specific, rather than at-large, as they all are now. Other potential discussions include expanding the council to seven members, and–a certain point of discussion–lifting borrowing limits currently imposed by the charter.
The previous update is below, along with sketches of each of the 10 applicants.
Only 6 Apply to Serve on Palm Coast’s Charter Review Committee So Far, 2 Weeks Ahead of Deadline
Palm Coast government’s invitation to residents to be members of the city’s five-member Charter Review Committee has drawn only six applicants since the 30-day application window opened on May 19, four of them from the same district. The hesitancy mirrors the process that hampered the city’s search for a city manager since last year as continuing intramural conflict, almost all of it fueled by the mayor, roiled the council.
Unless extended, the application window closes at 5 p.m. June 18. The Palm Coast City Council will appoint the committee on July 15. Each council member and the mayor will appoint one member. The appointments don’t necessarily have to be from each council member’s district, though four of the five applicants are from District 2, represented by Council member Theresa Pontieri. (To apply, click here.)
The city on Monday issued another release imploring qualified residents to apply for the one-year term to “play a key role in ensuring the Charter continues to reflect the needs, values, and priorities of the Palm Coast community.”
It will be the first review of the charter since 2017. The charter is the city’s constitution, setting out governing principles in broad outlines. It is required to be reviewed, but not necessarily amended, at least every 10 years. The review committee will hold public workshops and conclude its work with recommended amendments to the charter. The council will accept, reject or alter the proposed amendments.
The council may introduce its own amendments as well. It did so ahead of l;ast November’s election, to eliminate a provision in the charter–unusual for most cities–that forbids Palm Coast government from borrowing more than $15 million or entering into long-term leases without a referendum. (The restriction does not apply to funds autonomous from the general fund, like the Utility Department, the garbage and stormwater funds.)
The referendum failed decisively as the city was blamed for writing it deceptively. The referendum did not explicitly state that it was repealing the public’s right to a referendum on large-scale borrowing initiatives. The proposal is very likely to be back on the ballot in one form or another.
The council is also interested in clarifying the language controlling council vacancies. The current language is poor and has demonstrably left the city vulnerable to litigation: its own mayor, Mike Norris, filed suit against his city, challenging the legitimacy of the appointment of Council member Charles Gambaro past last November’s election. The city considers Norris’s lawsuit “frivolous.”
The proposed amendments, if any, would be on the November 2026 ballot.
Here are brief sketches of the applicants so far:
Robert Boggess, 72, who’d applied to serve on the council last fall (for the seat that went to Charles Gambaro), retired as a support service manager in Volusia County government and has lived in Palm Coast 18 years. He’s familiar with government boards, having served on Flagler County’s EMS Advisory Board. “Through education and experience, I have developed listening and analytical skills that enable me to examine issues and formulate questions to arrive at reasonable and fair conclusions,” he writes in his application. “Additionally, I recognize when I lack sufficient knowledge on a subject and ask more questions.
Rich Cooper, 51, an insurance executive who spent the first part of his career as a firefighter, has lived in Palm Coast a combined 33 years and currently serves on the city’s Citizens Advisory Committee for Yard Drainage, a position he’d have to resign if appointed to the charter panel. “Having grown up in Palm Coast, and subsequently raising 3 kids here, I have a unique interest in the future of this community. I would hope this is a place that my children will want to come back and raise a family,” he writes. For references, and eschewing the chance to name-drop suited and titled names, Cooper chose a neighbor, a long-time friend and a co-worker, perhaps a reflection of a more community-minded mindset.
Jeani Duarte, 58, a nutritionist, came to prominence in Palm Coast when she sued the city last year in a pair of filings that left Circuit Judge Chris France puzzling over her objective: the court pleadings, such as they were, were incoherent. France immediately dismissed the suit as not only “legally insufficient” but “nonsensical and any attempt to answer the complaint would be futile.” Duarte filed an amended complaint that met the same fate. She filed a complaint with the Florida Ethics Commission against David Alfin that the commission tossed out. She occasionally addresses the council in the same style as her pleadings. She writes in her application that she has been “actively involved in protecting” the charter, principally from having its borrowing restriction removed.
Steven Ludwig, 59, a Palm Coast resident for just under two years, describes his current occupation as “Speaking, Training, Professional [Development],” after a career as a general services superintendent in municipal government in Illinois. “My current consulting business manages several week long conference programs for the American Public Works Association and the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks,” he writes. “I also provide training, coaching, and mentoring for individual governmental agencies, as well as am a regular conference speaker/trainer.”
Michael Martin, 75, a retired commercial printer, is recognizable by his booming voice and assertive presence, which has radiated across the county since his election and re-election to the East Flagler Mosquito Control District. A resident of Palm Coast, he’s also chaired the county’s redistricting commission and served briefly on the county’s canvassing board. He revealed in his application that then-Mayor David Alfin requested he complete a “charter revision report” in 2022. “I am always interested in improving governance,” he writes. Running meetings appears to be second nature to him. “I am intelligent, careful, knowledgeable and have years of experience in board meetings,” he writes. “I know how to properly accomplish group success and how to work with people.”
Donna McGevna, 72, a retired education trainer, says she’s collected some 50 training certifications over the years thanks to companies she worked for before retiring and starting a home decor company, and getting involved in civic matters. She describes herself as a “Community Activist for all city hall engagement,” attending city meetings, planning projects with the leadership, and listing Council member Theresa Pontieri, Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston and Communications Director Brittany Kershaw as her references. She has also been a “City Ambassador for all new residents,” and been involved in more than a dozen local civic organizations.
Sheri Montgomery, 67, a former program director and professor at Rocky Mountain University in Utah, has been a business owner, researcher and member of professional boards and associations, and has a doctorate in leadership and research. “My experiences bring a diverse perspective to governance, and I believe my knowledge of research will support the process of review,” she writes. She, too, drew on neighbors as references.
Donald O’Brien, 65, an insurance agent, served two terms as a Flagler County commissioner until last November. He chaired the panel two of his eight years, calmly and without presumption. He has been a Palm Coast resident for 35 years, tops among the candidates. He’s still serving as a member of the Flagler County Library Board of Trustees. He writes of his “unique skill set and institutional knowledge of the city’s formation and growth,” with extensive experience working with organizations and non-profits, rewriting and amending bylaws, governing documents and strategic plans.
Jake Scully, 62, a senior data architect with Coastal Cloud in the Hammock for the past 11 years, served on Palm Coast’s Planning Board for six years until 2022 and was a founding member of Flagler Tiger Bay Club, the non-partisan non-profit, serving on its board of directors as vice president for four years. Planning board service, he writes, provided “direct insight into City government functions and the dynamics of serving on a public board.” He was also a business owner in Palm Coast for 18 years, and has “Extensive experience leading complex organizational change, system implementations, and project delivery, applicable to evaluating and recommending changes to foundational governance documents like the City Charter,” he writes. He describes himself as flexible, and includes Bob Cuff, the former City Council member known for his centrism and pragmatism, as a reference.
Karen Sousa, 54, has been a candidate coordinator for the past 10 years at the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections office, where she’s developed an intimate knowledge with the city charter (the supervisor runs Palm Coast’s elections in conjunction with the city clerk). The supervisor’s office has, more recently, been roped into lawsuits against the city simply by dint of its limited role with elections. Sousa’s interest in serving on the committee may signal an interest in more explicitly clarifying the supervisor’s limited role.
Palm Coast Charter Review 2025
| Applicant | District | Highest degree | Years in Palm Coast | Age | Party | |
| Lupe Amith | ||||||
| Greg Blose | ||||||
| Robert Boggess | ||||||
| Adrian Calderin | ||||||
| Rich Cooper | ||||||
| Andrew Dodzik | ||||||
| Jeani Duarte | ||||||
| Ramon Giaccone | ||||||
| Denise Henry | ||||||
| Steven Ludwig | ||||||
| David Lybarger | ||||||
| Ramón Marrero | ||||||
| Michael Martin | ||||||
| Donna McGevna | ||||||
| Georgianne Miller | ||||||
| Patrick Miller | ||||||
| Perry Mitrano | ||||||
| Sheri Montgomery | ||||||
| Donald O'Brien | ||||||
| Anthony Pearson | ||||||
| Chantal Preuninger | ||||||
| Alberto Ritondo | ||||||
| Melissa Roller | ||||||
| Jake Scully | ||||||
| Donna Stancel | ||||||
| Karen Sousa | ||||||
| Brad West | ||||||
Ric Flair says
Where can we sign up for the committee to research the dissolution of the city? Could you post that link please? So sick of this sorry excuse for what used to be a great city, between the elected officials and the incompetence of upper city “management”. Dissolve this thing…turn everything over to the county and we can just deal with one sh!t show instead of two and our taxes will go down.
Unincorporate now says
Unincorporation would be the best option to close this circus act down and stop the bleeding of our money to frivolous escapades
Pogo says
@The executive summary of comments:
Sound and picture
https://www.tcm.com/video/582338/grand-hotel-1932-i-want-to-be-alone
Vincent A. Liguori says
And what about the state Municipal Revenue Sharing Program? Palm Coast revenue sharing estimate for the state fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 is $2,243,923. The county would love to have these funds.
The dude says
No applications from liddle Eddie Danko? Sovereign citizen Lowe? Or the big Kahuna himself, the man that ran the entire county Joe “bankrupt” Mullins?
Where is their pride of community and commitment to civil service? Why aren’t they stepping up in this time of need to help Palm Coast chart its way forward?
Surely they weren’t in it just for themselves all along? Were they?