First-term incumbent Will Furry is one of two candidates for Flagler County School Board, District 2, running against Rob Wood. Furry has declined to answer the Live Interview’s questions. (For background, see: “After 9 Hours, 103 Votes and Immeasurable Entitlement, Will Furry Grasps Vice Chair for School Board.” “Flagler School Board’s Will Furry Criticizes District for Following Public Records Law.” “School Board’s Furry Defends No-Bid Contract for New Attorney as Ruddy and Ramirez Raise Questions.” “Will Furry Abruptly Silences School Board Members Ruddy and Ramirez, Declaring Policy Discussion Over.”)
It is a non-partisan race: all registered voters regardless of party affiliation or non-party status may vote in the Aug. 18 primary, which will decide the winner, who will be sworn-in in November.
Three seats are up on the School Board in this election cycle. District 1 is an open seat, and has been an open seat since Derek Barrs, appointed to fill out the erm Sally Hunt did not complete, left for a job in the Trump administration last fall. Cathy Moon faces Jill Woolbright in that race.
In District 2, Wood is challenging Furry, who had originally declared he was running for a congressional seat. He abandoned that effort after his campaign struggled, and announced he would run again for the School Board.
In District 4, former School Board member Trevor Tucker and Ron Long are challenging first-term incumbent Christy Chong. If any of the three candidates garners more than a 50 percent majority in the Aug. 18 primary, that candidate will be the winner. If none of the candidates clear the 50-percent threshold, the top two vote-getters will contest the seat in the Nov. 3 general election.
Furry, Chong and Woolbright have declined to answer the Live Interview’s questions. They alone, among the 19 candidates running in the three major local elections in the primary, have declined.
Flagler County School Board members serve four years. They’re paid $44,152 a year, an amount that will likely go up by a few thousand dollars by next year.
The Live Interview format changed this year. Since 2010, FlaglerLive had submitted identical questions to all candidates, enabling them to answer in writing. There typically were a round or two of follow-up questions, also in writing. Artificial intelligence has made that approach obsolete now that candidates can run the questions through AI and spit out prefab answers. To get around that, candidates were invited to a video interview. The video and the transcript are provided below.
The candidates were provided the same basic question within half an hour or less of the scheduled interview, but obviously not the follow-ups, which all differed. The questions to county commissioners are here.
Following the interview and before publication, the interview transcript went through two rounds of editing at this end, once by AI (yes, the irony is inescapable) for spell checks, copy editing and to smooth out verbal tics or repetitive words, and once by me for the same purpose. The candidates were then provided with the interview transcript and the video to review–not to make substantial changes, but to verify transcription accuracy, and, if they so chose, to add a postscript: if they felt they may have misspoken, or not clarified a point, or preferred to revise an answer, they were given that chance in the postscript, without changing the original text in the transcript. The postscript window is remaining open for subsequent additions, until the election.
The interviews can be quite long–not a surprise for a site pathologically incapable of brevity, but the county is awash in candidat quickies. We offer a little more depth, seeking to draw a profile rather than check off boxes: an election is not a speed date but a four-year commitment. The Live Interview’s aim is to elicit as much candor and transparency as possible, and to learn about the candidate beyond the basics in what amounts to extended conversations about the person, the character and temperament behind the candidate, the candidate’s seriousness, and the issues.
The rest is in the voters’ hands.
–Pierre Tristam
Flagler County Commission Greg Feldman (Dis. 2, R) Theresa Pontieri (Dist. 2, R) Anna Jones (Dist. 4, R) Drew Moss (Dist. 4, R) Leann Pennington (Dist. 4, R) Flagler County School Board Cathy Moon (Dist. 1) Jill Woolbright (Dist. 1) Will Furry (Dist. 2) Rob Wood (Dist. 2) Christy Chong (Dist 4) Ron Long (Dist. 4) Trevor Tucker (Dist. 4) Palm Coast City Council Tony Amaral Jr. (Dist. 2) Jeani Duarte (Dist 2.) Jimmy Hengy (Dist. 2) Dylana Dee Galery (Dist. 4) John Kvederis (Dist. 4) Ramon Marrero (Dist. 4) Darlene Sheley (Dist. 4) The candidates' interviews will be live-linked the day their interview publishes. |
The Interview Themes in Summary: Quick Links
- Basics
- Preparation and Character
- Vision
- Evaluating the current board
- The YMCA
- Arming school staff
- IB and Cambridge AICE
- Enrollment’s flatline, vouchers
- A rating vs. national standards
- DEI
- Funding loss from U.S. Department of Education
- Prayer in schools
- Rap sheet
- Postscript
The Video:
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
A rating v. national standards
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Funding loss from U.S. Department of Education
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
Will Furry declined to answer.
P Spagnolia says
What a pompous anal opening this guy is. He is a major embarrassment representing our school district. Hopefully, he will be gone soon!
Jim says
Exactly what we all expect from Furry. He’s been in office one term too long. Look forward to seeing him go down in flames! I don’t think it will even be close.