Palm Coast City Attorney Jeremiah Blocker last week told Mayor Mike Norris that his conduct with the city’s two attorneys was “unprofessional and inappropriate” following a suggestion by Norris that the attorneys were ignoring him.
It was the latest in a series of incidents involving Norris’s often brusque conduct involving city staffers, council members or members of the business community, in this case deepening a mostly self-quarried chasm that has grown between Norris and the city administration.
The conduct is revealed through a batch of internal electronic communications in early May, obtained by FlaglerLive. It is notable for having occurred after Norris was censured by the rest of the City Council for his conduct (an independent investigation found him to have violated the charter with unilateral actions against top staffers, and to have behaved unprofessionally, degrading several members of the staff), and after Norris himself professed an apology of sorts that hinted he might mend his ways. “If I offended anybody in this city, in this organization, I’m sorry. I am,” he said on May 1.
That was around the time he was seeking to have the acting city manager and chief of staff “reprimanded.”
“What we have here is insubordination,” he’d written in a May 7 text to Blocker, referring to Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston and an April 30 text in a group chat that included Norris, Johnston, City Attorney Marcus Duffy and Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo.
One of the last two remaining candidates for city manager had just dropped out. Johnston informed Norris of the fact. “We move forward with the process, did Mr. Hough agree to submit a white paper?” the mayor texted, referring to Rich Hough, the last remaining candidate. “No he did not,” Johnston texted back. “I would suggest speaking with Mr. Thomas.”
It had been Doug Thomas, the city’s consultant in recruiting for city manager candidates, who had suggested to Hough to pause writing a “white paper” on his budget skills that the council had requested of both candidates days earlier. But Norris wanted the attorney to draft “reprimands for those staff members that violated the city council’s direct instruction” in the manager search.
It was a premature demand, improperly lodged with the attorney, who cannot issue reprimands to city staff. But it pointed to Norris’s tendency, frequently repeated, to shoot first and ask questions later, and to continue to misunderstand his and others’ roles in the organization. “If I have to demand this action with the rest of the council so be it,” he texted moments later. “Need your legal direction in this matter ASAP.”
There was no reprimand. It became clear that the consultant, not the executive staff, had paused the white paper request, and Hough, unsurprisingly, withdrew his candidacy anyway despite Norris urging him on May 4 to send him the white paper still.
Norris was only ramping up, fighting a two-front war: one about a developer’s alleged attempt to corrupt him in exchange for a “yes” vote on the new comprehensive plan, and one against Council member Charles Gambaro: Norris filed a lawsuit against the city and Gambaro, seeking Gambaro’s ouster from the council on May 5.
Norris had agreed to discuss the alleged corruption at a council meeting. He reversed himself as suddenly as he’d made the accusation, saying on May 7 that he’d take his case to the sheriff. He did not. After the sheriff suggested that Norris had tainted any hopes of an investigation’s integrity and questioned the he-said-he-said nature of the allegation, Norris took his case to the local State Attorney’s Office.
Some time later–the voice mail is undated–Noel Griffin, the chief investigator at the State Attorney’s Office, told Norris that he’d been in contact with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, “and they’re going to be reaching out to you probably today or tomorrow at the latest, to arrange an opportunity to sit down with them and they’re going to do an interview with you.”
That appears to be the voice mail Norris had in mind when he contacted the two city attorneys, Blocker and Marcus Dufffy, the morning of May 14, asking for a discussion. “Roger that sir,” Blocker texted him.
Around 10:26 p.m. the same day, Norris texted the attorneys again: “I don’t appreciate that neither of you guys had the courtesy to call back today…. That’s a very serious issue and you both know it.” Blocker was not pleased with Norris’s tone or implication. One of the attorneys texted him at 1:42 a.m. May 15: “Mayor, you and I will speak tomorrow morning. I will address your concerns then. Also, I have some concerns that I’ll raise with you then.”
Later that morning, Blocker wrote Norris an email “as a recap of our communications the last 24 hours.” Blocker told him he’d had multiple conversations during the day with the State Attorney’s Office and legal counsel on the contents of a voicemail Norris had sent him. Blocker’s plan was to call him when he had all the facts and information relevant to the matter, only to receive Norris’s curt text.
“As you are fully aware, myself and Mr. Duffy always make ourselves available to Council Members as needed,” Blocker wrote the mayor. “Always within 24 hours of a requested call. However, yesterday, myself and Mr. Duffy were dealing with multiple legal matters requiring our immediate attention. Including your request for a call back regarding the matter contained in your voicemail message.”
Blocker noted that he’d tried contacting Norris that morning by phone and text, getting no response. “Going forward we ask that you do not contact myself or Mr. Duffy after hours unless it is an emergency,” he wrote Norris. “Further, the text message at 10:26pm last night was unprofessional and inappropriate implying we ignored you. That is false, incorrect, and inappropriate for an elected official to communicate in such a manner. We represent the City of Palm Coast and we have track record of professionalism. Your communication last night were unreasonable and are inappropriate.”
He added: “We look forward to continuing working with you and the City.”
The next day Norris was bothered and somehow surprised by the fact that he would be excluded from any closed-door meeting the council would hold to discuss strategy in response to the lawsuit be brought against the city. He’d read an item in the Observer where a city spokesperson had said he would not be part of those meetings. He asked Duffy to “advise” on that, and “annotate court precedence and state law that allows the council to exclude a sitting mayor.”
“Based on your status as an adversarial party who is currently suing the City of Palm Coast, the legal recommendation is that you be barred from the meeting as an adverse party,” Duffy wrote him. “Furthermore, based on your status as a plaintiff represented by counsel in your lawsuit against the City, any further discussions surrounding this matter would be inappropriate. If any further questions arise on this specific litigation, please have your attorney reach out directly.”
Norris, who refuses to speak to FlaglerLive, has been on vacation since.
Edgar Williams says
I am not supporting any person on the council, but the council knows what the majority of voters wanted in the past election, but refuses to honor the voters wishes. I would like for the Governor to come in and do an audit of the city and to investigate as to any reason the council or any city employee or in control of any decisions of the city to check for any thing that might smell of inappropriate actions.
James says
Norris doesn’t know what he’s doing, plain and simple. Funny to read how the attorneys put him in his place! We need more of that!
Larry says
More drama and chaos from Mayor Mike Norris. This is a weekly issue with Mayor Norris and will likely remain a weekly issue until he is no longer Mayor. Hopefully Mayor Norris won’t be mayor much longer, for the sake of all the residents of Palm Coast, because he’s putting a long term stain on the city and quite frankly, the entire region.
No telling what kind of chaos and drama Mayor Norris will initiate next week, but he’ll stir up something else soon.
Ha says
All I have to say is WOW!! Are the home grown country folks commenting on this man is just insane. Mayor just keep doing what you are doing because the fact of the matter is that you have got more experience and discipline than anyone else on the board. Everyone is ass hurt because you have told them in advance your agendas.
Whatheheck says
Enough is enough. Time to go Norris, we don’t need your bullying and crass.
Embarassed Republican says
This man is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. He has NO business in public office. There are other things he could do (the way he prefers to conduct himself) that don’t have anything to do with holding public office. Maybe more of an activist. But our city has absolutely ZERO chance of bringing in new businesses with the stain he has placed on it with him as mayor. Professionalism is a word he was never taught. And as a military veteran he should be ashamed! Veterans all over this city are shaking their heads as they all know better of conduct becoming of an officer. As a person who grew up in a military family I find myself questioning exactly what military he actually served in and who in his ranks respected him. To the residents who admire him….how do you think our city is going to pull in new companies that bring quality jobs when our mayor is going off half cocked, suing the same city that he represents?! For the good of the city…these are 6 words he does not comprehend, and unfortunately may never. Actions have consequences.
The dude says
I guess when the going gets tough… the tough go on “vacation”…
His lickspittles and apologists are still here though. Screeching to anybody who will listen (mostly themselves) that the rest of the council is getting rich off of “the developers” and junk.
But just like all MAGA myths, not one teeny tiny shred of actual evidence or proof.
JimboXYZ says
If you aren’t offending anyone, then you aren’t doing your job. Too many take business decisions too personal. It’s always the same one’s that are so easily offended. Gaslighting at it’s finest ? Imagine that an attorney/lawyer being offended ? Those folks are gator hide for skin thickness, nothing offends them, until the manipulations to prosecute or defend are tied to winning vs losing.
Tired of it says
The voters wanted a mayor that would conduct himself in an approperiate manner, not a rude, conspiracy theorist who cannot treat others with respect. Wht they got was an arrogant, petty individual completely lacking in leadership skills. Yes, lets have the Governor investugate the situation, specifically Norris’s actions.
SleepTech says
The citizens feel the council is adverse to our elected mayor. They have been appointed (except one) and are fine with the corruption that continues that we elected the mayor to help correct. So maybe until the mayor can be part of discussions no discussions can be held.
The title of the article says “ Palm Coast City Attorney Calls Mayor Norris ‘Unprofessional and Inappropriate’ 3 Weeks After Censure for Similar Behavior” however it sounds to me like he actually said his text at 10:30pm was unprofessional and inappropriate. He also said his text sounded “curt” I believe was the wording, texts are notoriously difficult for inflection. In both cases I suspect the attorney was correct the text was inappropriate at 10:30pm and I’m sure the text was “curt” I’d be frustrated too if I was the only person on a council that actually gave a damn about a beautiful city being raped of forests, increasing noise, losing water quality, allowing raw sewage to leak into the water supply, overbuilding for current sewage capacity, crumbling PEP tanks, pollution of fisheries, plummeting of home values, and extreme increases to residents utility costs to the point many on fixed incomes may lose everything. I’d be frustrated too. I am frustrated.
As a resident of this beautiful city who bought my dream home here, I did what I could. I voted. I elected Mayor Mike Norris. I’ve watched the rest of the council behave badly and continue to shut him out silencing MY vote, MY RIGHT, to further their agenda. Maybe we should have them all investigated and see who’s making money directly or even indirectly from blocking our mayor. This has got to stop!
Greg says
The swamp all turns against you when you challenge them. Hold your ground mayor
D W Ferguson says
The Mayor seems to be running out of people to ” cross paths with “
Justbob says
The beat goes on. Buffoonery, arrogance and nastiness. A petulant manchild. Best to take the gavel away from the mayor before he hurts himself… even more.
Jim says
This is the worst kind of leadership a unit can have. If you draw your conclusions based on incomplete data then you guarantee your team will fail almost every time. I don’t know what Norris’s problem(s) is/are but he has sufficiently shown he is no leader and is not the person to be mayor.
City council members, please move forward and request the governor remove him. This continuous mess is hurting this city.
Justbob says
His time as mayor has fallen apart faster than a Dollar Tree lawn chair at a Fourth of July barbecue.
PeachesMcGee says
STOP BUFFOONERY!
TR says
I love all the comments that are negative toward Mayor Norris because he’s not being dictated to by developers as to what will be done. Maybe some of these complainers should run for the office if they think they can do a better job or even go to the council meeting and get your 3 minutes to express your concerns. Typing them out on a comment section on a computer doesn’t do anything except make you look ….. It also shows you’re not willing to do anything about it and that also doesn’t fix anything it just shows your upset that your choice didn’t win and your angry. Like the saying goes put up or shut up. Oh I have gone to the council meetings and listened to what everyone had to say from the council and for the most part they all have good points but just can’t get the help from the residence to support them.
Awesome Mayor says
If the council has a problem with our Populust Mayor then the city council has a problem with our city populace. I would say if the mayor needed the help of our city’s legal council to fight corruption in our city, then it was unprofessional for our tax payer funded legal counsel to force our elected city mayor to wait until the next day and priotize meeting with the corrupt parties instead.
Schocked Republican says
Can this so called mayor be sued for malpractice? People were under the mistaken impression they had elected an adult. Mullins on steroids?
Canary says
In what kind of insane delusion did Norris think he was going to be allowed to sit in on the council’s confidential legal session with attorneys involving his own lawsuit? The fact he’s surprised by his exclusion from that session defies comprehension. Did he seriously think he was going to be allowed to sit in on that and then take what he learned back to tell his attorneys what the city’s strategy was? That’s ridiculous.
Critical Eye says
Mike Norris is totally off his rocker. He reminds me of the little coward bullies on the playground and like the infantile child he is, he throws punches at those he feels inferior to then turns tail and runs back home crying to mommy. Scared and Hiding out of site playing the victim and begging for protection.
It’s alarming and very concerning that there are actually people in Palm Coast and in Hammock Dunes that are just as delusional and paranoid and full of conspiracy theories just like Norris. Their ignorance is astounding.
Dakota says
Suheadings would be helpful on these longer articles.
bill says
The mayor is a good person. He’s a military man with discipline knowledge, common sense, which seems to be lacking by our politicians in the past like the ex mayor who raped the land in this citywhere this city destroyed the wildlife and now lives on 5 acres of land $900,000 home on Old Kings Rd., North him and his wife sold everything out real estate people and then the scum lawyers that are in this city right behind them and the other real estate people right behind him or them 20 years in this city and it is a shit hole it hasn’t changed. It’s getting worse then you have people working in the city like Delorenzo who was nothing more than the president of the Chamber of Commerce and his wife move in took it over now. This guy is making close to $200,000 a year in the city a crock of shit and then you’re blaming norris for for pettiness hypocrites everyone of these.