“Coward.” “Bully.” “Dictator.” “Abysmal.” “Shocking.” “Conspiracist.” “Ego.” “inferiority complex.” “An embarrassment.”
Those are some of the terms Palm Coast City Council members used today to describe their colleague, Mayor Mike Norris, just before a pair of unanimous votes extraordinary for their reach and intent–one to formally censure him and express the council’s no-confidence in him, one to forward a formal complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics. If sustained, the council intends the complaint to be the precursor of a request to Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove Norris from office.
Whatever the outcome at the Ethics Commission, it is difficult to see, absent a Damascus Road-style conversion, how Norris can now emerge from a self-imposed labyrinth and reclaim a role he’s all but abdicated while trampling colleagues and the city staffers a mayor depends on to functionally understand the city he claims to serve.
“In my assessment, in a very short amount of time in office, the mayor has managed to divide this council, divide our community, and tarnish the image of this great city,” Council member Charles Gambaros aid as a preface to is motions.
The votes came at the end of an eight-hour workshop on unrelated issues. They were the result of an independent investigation that found, among other misconduct, that Norris violated the charter by unilaterally summoning City Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston and Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo behind closed doors and demanding their resignation, without the council’s knowledge or approval. (Neither acceded to the demand.)
The investigation suggested that Norris showed malfeasance in that and other acts of interference with the administration. The investigation also documented a pattern of boorish, insulting and demeaning conduct by Norris toward senior staffers, several of whom he also wanted fired.
Norris did not show up for today’s meeting. Efforts to reach him by the vice mayor, by Johnston and by at least two reporters failed, leading to hints of concern among council members even as they excoriated his conduct in recent weeks. Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri chaired the meeting, seamlessly, though she has been the de facto mayor since the April 10 State of the City event, where Norris unraveled in a screed of conspiratorial paranoia and renounced what would customarily have been his role to lead the event.
Pontieri stepped in and improvised with striking command and grace, in essence rescuing the event from viral embarrassment. It was only one in a series of abdications by the mayor: he’d cleared his office the previous day, and today he did not show or inform anyone of his whereabouts.
“We’ve seen that the mayor has not been doing the business of the city since this started,” Council member Ty Miller said at the end of a long statement deconstructing Norris’s method of profanity-laced dissembling and defiance despite warnings that he was violating rules, or basic decency standards. “And so if he’s not doing that, what is he doing? Why is he here?”
Norris’s chair bulked in its empty grayness between Miller and Pontieri on one side and Sullivan and Gambaro on the other, so that every time they spoke to each other, they had to speak across the gap, amplifying to what extent the mayor’s absence was more than physical.
The empty chair seemed to spur Gambaro on. One of Norris’s lines of attack had been to claim that Gambaro’s appointment last fall was illegitimate. Gambaro had been prepared to pair the censure with the immediate request for removal to the governor. But the council followed his censure motions with a lengthy, deliberative discussion that led Gambaro to change course.
“Today is like a textbook example of how we should be conducting business, working together, debating issues, compromising,” he said. “That’s the only way we’re going to get anything done, right?” He was not exaggerating: the sequence of the council’s discussion on the Norris votes, however tense and distasteful, was conducted with singular deliberation as council members made their points, countered, shifted, suggested, and finally came to a compromise, all without the kind of short-fused slights, bitterness or rudeness that had often punctuated tense council debates in the last few years.
The manner of the discussion implicitly vindicated the council’s decision to appoint former County Commissioner Dave Sullivan to the District 3 seat last week, because it was ultimately Sullivan’s experience and political savvy that put the brakes on Gambaro’s motion for a removal, and offered a more due-proces oriented path.
Sullivan did so after detecting Pontieri’s hesitancy to go as far as Gambaro wanted to go. Gambaro had Council member Ty Miller’s support. Pontieri wasn’t opposed to a removal request. But she wanted to give Tallahassee attorney Adam Brandon, who conducted the investigation, a chance to present and explain his findings to the council. She also wants to give Norris a chance to address them before the council takes the unprecedented step of calling on the governor to remove a fellow-council member–what even Gambaro described as the “nuclear option.”
“I don’t think it would be wise for us not to have a unanimous vote on that,” Sullivan said. He did not want to see Pontieri in dissent. Before getting to a removal letter, he said, the council should hear from Brandon, but it should also file a formal request to the Ethics Commission, whose findings could provide the necessary ammunition to then follow-up with a request to the governor.
They each spoke in turn with that strange mixture of eloquence and disgust, and with the occasional lapse, almost inevitable in those circumstances, into defensive self-righteousness. They rejected public suggestions–by Norris or by his supporters–that he alone has advocated for residents, or that he alone had raised alarms about development or developers.
They repeatedly described Norris as acting in his own self-interest and against the interests of the city, though as that last segment of their meeting lengthened, it risked turning into a public flogging in absentia. But the council members had themselves held their tongues as they’d been subjected to Norris’s social media misrepresentations and to his supporters’ lectures for weeks. They’d endured his attempts to cast himself as a martyr as he accused them of a witch hunt, then they became increasingly aware of the extent to which he demeaned city employees, including some of its most prized and beloved.
They had a lot of bitterness against Norris bottled up. They left little in the bottle. And both votes were unanimous.
“This truly is a sad day. It’s a tragedy,” Ed Fuller, who had attended the entire meeting, said near the very end of the meeting, before he turned to Johnston, the city manager, to address her words another speaker moments earlier had addressed to the entire senior staff in back of the room: “If you’re looking for leadership, ladies and gentlemen, you don’t need to look any further. You are incredible. When it comes to you, you’re a peddler of hope, a vision of moving things forward, in unbearable circumstances, and it’s so unfair. You took that job for one and one purpose only, to lead the city, to make it better. And look what happened. I can’t put it into words how I really feel, but I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart. What an example of leadership you have shown everyone here.”
And on Thursday, two candidates interview for the city manager job.
blondee says
They’ve all lost their collective minds
HayRide says
This town is a piece of work, what next
Wtf says
One thing I can say is, I hope the Govenor digs into the whole story, because ever since the mayor stood up for the people, instead of the builders, he has been chastised. I believe the builders, and the city, have screwed the people in this town, long enough. PLEASE Govenor bring DOGE to this corrupt city…
James says
Norris is a complete joke, and now everybody knows. He should step aside, but he’s a bonehead, so he’ll stick it out and cause more chaos.
JimboXYZ says
The coup is on, get ready for the Mayor to resign, the next special election for another Mayor in consecutive terms. Maybe the City Manager candidates are indicating correctly, about how unstable Palm Coast leadership is ? Who wants to take a job, relocate & then realize how dysfunctional the entire bunch is ? They kicked around all the same issues, YMCA, blah, blah, blah and the real goal of this was to motion the censure of the Mayor for the no-show. This had to have been pre-planned, pre-discussed, either off the record or on the record as a motion, like Alfin’s motion to terminate Bevin was ? Don’t think anyone brings up a motion like this unless they have the votes to make it happen. This has probably been in the works since the investigation at the very least ? In past censure motions, Mullins was at least there to be the deciding vote to defeat his censure. Norris, by being there would have been the lone vote short of unanimous censure, he had to have known this was going down today ? Probably explains being the no show, it wouldn’t have mattered for the public humiliation aspect of it at the very least if the vote even went his way ? As much as the council has no-confidence, that’s how the voter’s feel about anything that has gone thru the committee and that’s not just a 2025 thing, it goes back several Mayors for any given city in Flagler County, Bunnell, Flagler Beach, Palm Coast ?
Really annoyed says
I think we should be getting rid of certain greedy council members who are hand in hand with certain greedy developers! They are the real crooks in this city. It’s amazing how all this started when he proposed that building moratorium. It really makes you think!
JC says
For those who are supporting the mayor: Why he didn’t show up to work? Last time I check, my tax money is also paying his salary and he should be doing his job. The end.
Cindy Jameson says
That crap show with the builders and their tonka trucks at city hall that morning was pure bullying. The builders and developers in Palm Coast, St Augustine, Jacksonville etc…. are the bullies, they do not care about Palm Coast or what is happening to Palm Coast. With all the building that is going on now and was approved prior to wanting a halt on building there is enough work to keep all those tradesmen and laborers working for years to come not to mention the greedy builders and yes they are greedy it has been a proven fact over the past few years.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Nothing 4 nothing, this is the 1st mayor we had that put the people,s best interest at heart! He ,s the only one to stand up to the builders. Funny how builders, and a slick lawyer, own this town! P/C should bring this to a vote, let the people decide…..FIX the TRAFFIC,& STOP THE BUILDING!!!!! There are too many homes 4 sale, the new ones sit emptey, no one comes to look. Builders are stealing our nest egg, now houses are comming down in price, because theres a glutten of people trying to get out of this mess, called PALM COAST! Remember when you called the city, & they played your the tune, FIND YOUR FL????? We found it, & the assholes that run our city destroyed it! PUT IT TO A VOTE!!!! LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE!!!!!
Just Saying says
While they’re at it, perhaps there should be an investigation into everyone who is responsible for allowing the developers to run rough shod in this city? We’re already being impacted by the hundreds of new housing subdivisions in Palm Coast. Has anyone noticed the number of stack em and pack em’s popping up in the area? Did the prior councils give any thought to the strain that these 3 and 4 story buildings, along with the new subdivisions will have on our infrastructure? Our hospitals? Our schools and municipalities? Our air quality? Our quality of life? How many backroom deals were made to get where we are today?
Pogo says
@Call desantis
While you’re at it, see if hitler can do something about mussolini.
“The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog. ”
— Mark Twain
Ruch says
I have know Mike only a short time before he ran for Mayor and I can say his intention is to do what is right for Palm Coast, not himself, as others elude too. The last administration and the current council are not addressing what needs to be done, whjch brings into question their intentions. This stunt of no confidence vote and false charges will end up being nothing. That will show that the current council intentions were not in tbd interest if thd people but totally political.
James says
It’s unfortunate that it has come to this… and the thought that his replacement will be appointed by the governor is unsettling to say the least. Three council members that were not voted in by the public.
This place is a sham.
Just an opinion.
James says
Yup, as I reread this article all I can think about is that $514 million (or half billion, depending on how you want to spin/describe it) bond issuance.
Strange how someone comes creeping into town who can build a sprawling athletic stadium complex for $114 million, yet the city needs to borrow a half billion to build one “waste” water plant.
And now this?
Just another observation.
PeachesMcGee says
Just remember, ya’ll voted for him.
Tired of it says
Some people are missing the point here. No one wants the uncontrolled building but he is not being censured for his stand on that.
He obviously has no interpersonal skills. Bullying is not going to get anyone to cooperate with him. Two separate issues.
vance hoffman says
A mayor advocating for a moratorium might be seen as challenging the council’s authority or disrupting their established plans. Removing the mayor could be a way to consolidate power and maintain control over city policies.
Such a council might justify their actions by claiming the mayor’s moratorium stifles economic development or job creation, while downplaying community concerns like overdevelopment, infrastructure strain, or environmental impact.
corruption risks are real
Builders often rely on continuous development projects for revenue. A moratorium would halt new construction, directly threatening their income and business interests
The council could abuse its power to silence the mayor, such as by manipulating legal or procedural mechanisms (e.g., votes of no confidence, fabricated misconduct allegations) to justify removal. This misuse might be driven by corrupt motives to maintain a development-friendly environment that benefits their associates.
Who knows I could be completely wrong. Maybe I’ll run for mayor so they can conspire and vote me out.
HSC says
If the mayor would have been able to control his temper, treat others – especially those with whom he disagrees – with dignity/respect, and follow the city charter he may very well been able to push his agenda through ie building moratorium. If this is a “witch hunt” as he claims, why not stand your ground? Why has he emptied his office and been incommunicado for almost 3 weeks? For an adult male veteran who won his seat with 63% of the votes – he sure did back down quickly. It leads one to believe he knows what is coming and he will step down before he is forced out. Although, considering DeSantis is the decision maker I’m not 100% sure Norris would lose his position.
Russell says
I would like to suggest that anyone using the term ” Hitler ” be banned from this site. It is passed time for using that term. No one in Palm Coast is a Hitler. No one killer millions of people. Increase your vocabulary.