The Palm Coast City Council has had seven resignations since 2016: Bill McGuire. Steven Nobile. Jack Howell. Victor Barbosa. Milissa Holland. Cathy Heighter. And now Ray Stevens, who attended a handful of meetings after his swearing-in last December before health difficulties sidelined him.
Over the same time span, the council has had four mayors (Jon Netts, Holland, David Alfin and now Mike Norris) and 22 council members, a turnover rate unmatched on any other local government board. The council’s volatility is likely scaring off some of the better candidates for city manager as the council seeks to fill a post that has not lacked for its own precariousness (four managers or interims since 2018, after just two managers led the city in its first 19 years, albeit both a bit autocratically).
The instability of the council also underscores the council members’ relative lack of experience. The rule of thumb among elected officials is that it takes two years to effectively round the necessary learning curve. Only one council member has that (Theresa Pontieri).
In contrast with the council and the top job, and its utility department aside, the city administration has been a Sea of Tranquility and professionalism, at least when discounting its anxieties over an ever-unpredictable council. It’s kept the city in control and managed, against significant odds, to push through just this week the single-largest spending package and utility-rate increase in the city’s history. It has also coordinated every hunt for council replacements since 2016, as it now has to do yet again for Stevens. That machinery was cranked up again at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“Mr. Stevens is a very good man, and he worked very, very hard to get that seat,” Norris said. “It’s just his body’s failing him, and he came to the realization that it’s not something he’s going to be able to do, even if he recovers. And you know, Kim has been forthcoming with me throughout everything that’s been going on,” he said, referring to Stevens’s spouse. “I try to call her every other day to check on him. And we are fortunate that he is out of ICU, but he is not able to to maintain the seat, and he did the honorable thing by resigning.”
Interim Manager Lauren Johnston proposed to the council to use the same process used in the past: a 15-day application period, starting today and running through March 19. The council would conduct interviews with the candidates on April 1 at 3 p.m., ahead of a scheduled 6 p.m. meeting. The council would then hold a public workshop on April 8 to discuss its choices, and make the selection on April 15. That gives the public a chance to address the council at both meetings. (To apply, fill out this form or see below.)
Norris favored that approach. He did not favor a repeat of the process that led to Gambaro’s appointment. “It turned into a horror show, this last one,” Norris said–not in judgment of Gambaro, but of the wrangled deliberations that preceded the vote.
The “horror show” was a reference to then-Council member Ed Danko’s aggressive and misplaced grilling of candidates on their political leanings, his attacks on the city attorney, who attempted to stop Danko’s partisan questions, and on the mayor, who tried to redirect the tone of the questions as Danko thundered about free speech. It was not pretty. Norris was in the audience, and walked out. Most of the candidates sitting in the hall outside the chamber only heard indistinct yelling, if that, and seemed bemused by it all.
Danko, Alfin and Klufas are gone. None of the new council members have shown any inclination for Danko-type temperament, so Norris’s fears may be misplaced. The rest of the selection process was contentious, but not abrasive, with all candidates conducting themselves with exemplary civility. The council did not lack for qualified candidates. But it split along political rifts, with Danko pushing Gambaro, with support from then-Mayor David Alfin and a more hesitant Nick Klufas, and Theresa Pontieri advocating for Darryl Boyer, who had just lost his run for a state House seat to Sam Greco.
The council had also taken a lot of public criticism for not scheduling a special election even though it appeared it was on solid ground, based on the city charter. Had the selection not been hard fought, the council might have been blamed for rubber-stamping its choice. Given the council’s new makeup, with four independent-minded members, it’s unlikely to rubber-stamp one now.
“Being the guy that just went through this appointment process, as an applicant, I thought it was fair and equitable,” Gambaro said.
Norris hoped his colleagues would adopt a “star” interview technique, though by telegraphing the proposal, the approach risked encouraging all the candidates to prepare canned answers and canned deflections rather than be prepared either to show their knowledge of city issues or their ability to handle the unexpected question.
The candidate must live in District 3, which includes the southeast quadrant of the city, starting from a portion of the Woodlands all the way to the Intracoastal and all areas south of that, along with the southern portion of the P-Section, Town Center and Seminole Woods. (See a map of the city’s districts here.)
In 2026, the council was scheduled for two elections: for District 4, the seat held by Pontieri, and District 4, the seat to which Heighter was elected in 2022, and to which Charles Gambaro was appointed last October after Heighter’s resignation. There will now be three elections: for Districts 2, 3 and 4. The District 3 election will be a special election for a two-year term, so the winner will have to run again in 2028. The two other district elections will be as-scheduled four-year term contests.
David S. says
I think our hound would do a better job than these idiots …
Dakota Brooks says
The City Council members perhaps could benefit from some basic HR training for conducting interviews. It is embarrassing when the process fails in such a spectacular way.
There are better ways to ask questions without seeming biased. For instance, if you were interested in political stances ask the candidate to describe his/her approach to a policy, for example, “What’s your philosophy on fiscal responsibility—particularly when deciding how city funds should be allocated or prioritized?”
Critical Eye says
The egocentric Mayor Norris is the biggest problem of all. He wants to appoint/ hire his buddies instead of a qualified person. Norris couldn’t stand for having a person he feels inferior to. Norris has no clue what’s going on during the city council meetings. It’s obvious he wants to hurry everyone along so he can get out of there. Rubbing his eyes, complaining that he’s so tired. Then of corse his excuse is doesn’t hear well out of one ear and has a bad eye and doesn’t see well.
Norris would rather hire his buddies and yippee “It’s the Good Ol’ Boy Gang” Just what we need. NOT! Easy to see Norris was never qualified in the first place. Not good enough to handle the tasks of being the mayor. We should be replacing Norris instead of or as well as the only city council member Ray Stevens that was the best qualified person at the table.
Endless dark money says
The gop will run anyone out that doesn’t align with their fascist views. Kinda like peaceful protests used to be legal but now they are unlawful gatherings haha. Welcome to amerikkka land of a few billionaires and home of greed. No county in the world should trust us. we are ran by incompetent fools that are also straight up criminals! Get ready for the crash!
Steve says
Plain and simple, micromanaging of the entire city by elected and appointed council members. Look at the recent vote on the wastewater facilities. The appointed not elected council person stated “as a brigadier general I must attack this issue and solve it”. Talk about using your past life that zero residents care about except you. Same man who called city personnel ignorant. Is that a General speaking or a man looking into a mirror.
You fail to recruit candidates for the City Managers position because there are way too many egos and way too many micromanagers. As the brigadier general clearly points out, he’s smarter than the rest of you! What happens in Palm Coast is directly on your shoulders. Stop with the chest beating and do the job as it is intended!
Mike P says
It’s almost like being drafted by the NY Jets….who would want to serve?
JimboXYZ says
“It’s kept the city in control and managed, against significant odds, to push through just this week the single-largest spending package and utility-rate increase in the city’s history.”
That’s not in control & managed. Anyone can spend to solve a problem. It’s mis-management when every Vision of 2050 calls for meetings for taxpayers to bail them out & foot the bill on every project that has been approved in just the last 5-6 years. A Splash Pad that required litigation and $ 3.1 million more to even be functional for what part of the year it’s open to the public. STF’s that were inadequate to support the “flushes of approved growth”. They were headed for litigation on that too without approving $ 450 million spending package that also includes rate hike for the next 3 years (2025-2027). The resignations & handoffs that’s where we are ? The candidates that were scared off ? Should we rather look at that and realize how lucky we were that they weren’t hired ? I mean, FlaglerLive has portrayed those list of candidates as bleak & weak results for any recruiter’s short list of even interested eligibles. When any crossed the Alfin agenda, they were gone. Thank God the voters removed the Alfin. But it was too late, Alfinville Visions of 2050 sandbagging Norris or anyone else that would follow Alfin. Every approval is met with threats of litigation to reign in the incompetence, since nobody else seems to connect the dots of a real estate mayor and the residential growth that was approved for any corruption. Even in a perfect w0orld of competition for real estate commission, Alfin should & will get his share of the potential inventory that is bought & sold for property flipping & those that gave Palm Coast a shot to be their retirement phase of their lifetime. As it turned out Palm Coast new construction builds has become a renter’s unaffordable housing crisis. The entire county i nothing more than transient rental community for revenue producing duplex rentals. There are more renters than permanent homeowners up & down the street. And these properties will be prostituted/whored out until the roof, HVAC, appliances, flooring, water tank all need to be replaced and get flipped just before the next owner has to perform all of that maintenance. It’s comical when the City can’t tell you which homes are rental properties & which are permanent & stable homeowners. Yet, somehow they want to manage the ordinances & laws for AirB&B’s ? How does a state & county ever enact laws without knowing what the inventory of rental properties & projected revenue is ? It’s a government that should know which homes are rental properties, a short list would be residential properties that don’t have a homestead exemption, don’t qualify for one because the occupants don’t own the property.
Mark my words, in 2027, the same one’s that approved the $ 450 million spending will be back for more inflation increases for tax & water usage in 2027. When the model & spreadsheets are wrong in 3 years to project what was really needed to pay for all of this re-imagined Vision of 2050. The victimization will continue as a perpetual issue. At what point will repaving the roads, building new schools for a declining enrollment just be additional line items ?
Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor, PC says
Let me make this simple for all you leftist liberals crybabies, the appointment to Palm Coast City Council is an appointment to a political position. It is not an HR hire for a city employee. The elected political party in power will appoint the replacement for Mr. Stevens. While some didn’t like my past so-called “aggressive grilling of candidates on their political leanings,” it was absolutely appropriate and my duty as a “Conservative Republican” to ask those partisan questions. The failed lame attempt by the city attorney to interrupt my freedom of speech was just another example of that attorney’s inexperience in municipal government. I absolutely enjoyed shutting him, down! My opinion, the Douglas Law Firm sent us the most inexperienced attorney they had on staff. They should have started him out at an HOA to get his legal feet wet. What’s more absurd is that Norris was so offended by my “partisan questions” that he walked out of the meeting. Remember, this is the same Norris that demanded I support him when he ran for mayor simply because he was a Republican, despite his out-of-control temper, threats of violence against not one, but two other candidates, along with his disrespectful treatment on video of one candidate’s wife. Needless to say, I didn’t support Norris, for all those reasons, along with the fact that his “blue dog” Democratic opponent was far more fiscally conservative than Norris will ever be. Doubt me? Just look at the massive utility bill increase he’s now pushing on you! I hope this council will not be afraid to ask the tough “abrasive” political questions needed before selecting a replacement for Mr. Stevens. You can bet voters will be asking those “abrasive” questions in the next election in less than two years.
Jim says
To “Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor, PC says”:
1. YOU stating Norris has an “out-of-control temper” is hilarious! I guess you see yourself as a force of positivity and progress. You were the main source of rancor and dysfunctionality while you were on council. That you can say that and [appear] to mean it seriously just shows how un-self-aware you are.
2. A large part of the reason the current council approved “the massive utility bill increase he’s now pushing on you” is because you and the other members of the council (and those before you) would not face up to reality and accept that Palm Coast is growing and the sewer and water systems have to grow to sustain and support that growth. You are the kind of politician that truly believes in pushing the problem on to the next guy and then claim you’re a big tax cutter. What you really did was fail to represent the people of this city and get us prepared for the future. You are the problem, not the solution.
3. A candidate’s “political leanings” shouldn’t be the most important criteria as to whether they can be a good council person. That isn’t what we need. We need people who can look at the city, recognize it’s strengths and weaknesses, it’s “needs” vs. “wants” and help steer the city into the future as smoothly as possible. I really don’t care whether that person is a “liberal” or a “conservative”. I want them to listen, discuss, think and recommend solutions. Having another Danko ranting produces nothing of value.
4. It speaks volumes to your character that you took the time to show your glee at attacking the attorney for trying to keep the process on track. You’ll never figure it out but the vast majority of the city (and the county based on your showing in the county commissioner primary) see you for what you really are and don’t want you representing us. I’m sure you’ll make another run for something because you just can’t see yourself the way others do.
So thanks for your useless thoughts on replacing a councilman. I trust this council will do a good job of selecting a good candidate. In large part I think that because you won’t be part of it.
celia pugliese says
We need appointed a great and experienced resident to replace very ill Councilam Ray Stevens.
That councilman we need is Dana Stancel to vote for us with the Mayor and Vce Mayor. He has the experience of being a former volunteer in The city of Palm Coast different boards. Recently he was in : Code Enforcement Board, Planning Board now, TPC Transportation Board and I know one more committe that cant remember well now. Stancel endures the same issues many of us endure and wants to help resolving them for us all. He run a great council deat campaing against Ray Stevens. He lost the primaries against Ray Steven for only 2 votes and they became friends with Ray as the good residents they are as they both have the same ideas to improve Palm Coast for Palmcoasters first. Besides Mr, Stancel is a graduate of Palm Coast Citizens Academy were he learned how the city is supposed to work. Lets hope the Mayor and Vice Mayor have this vision and Miller and Gambaro support him as well.
On Monday, March 10, 2025 at 10:35:33 PM EDT, Steven Carr wrote: