PALM COAST
Observer
STARS ON TRACK 8B
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 16, NO. 11
FREE ON NEWSSTANDS | THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2025
Mayor’s view of the city: ‘challenged’ Extraordinary, bleak speech by Norris contrasts with event that typically highlights city accomplishments. 3A
Preliminary discussion on paid parking
Way launches $250,000 A fund just United endowment, with passionate support for Flagler from first two donors. PAGE 2A
Flagler Beach city commissioners are willing to entertain the idea. PAGE 4A INSIDE AUCTION TIME
Flagler County Fair raises $4,000 from dessert auction for local family PAGE 6B
DCS + SONGWRITERS Improved DSC amphitheater will host 2025 Palm Coast Songwriters Festival PAGE 4A
PCLL CONTROVERSY
Palm Coast Little League travel team program under fire PAGE 5A
STATE RESULTS
Lifters Sao, Strawser among state’s best at 129 pounds PAGE 8B
EASTER IS COMING! Eggs mark the spot: Palm Coast’s Egg’Stravaganza delivers ‘hare-raising’ fun PAGE 7B
United Way Board Chair Jan Miller and President Courtney Edgcomb pose with Laura Gilvary, representing Intracoastal Bank’s $10,000 donation, and Bob Snyder, who also represented his wife, Michele, and their $10,000 donation. Photo courtesy of MoMo Photography
Divided City Council appoints former county commissioner It took the City Council two tied votes and one failed motion. ‘I think this council dearly needs experience and centering,’ Council member Ty Miller said. SIERRA WILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
INDEX
Business..................... PAGE 8A Calendar..................... PAGE 2B Cops Corner............... PAGE 6A Letters.......................PAGE 10A Public Notices........... PAGE 11B Sports......................... PAGE 8B Real Estate................. PAGE 9A
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Dave Sullivan has been appointed to the Palm Coast City Council District 3 seat after a 40-minute debate. It took two votes for Sullivan to be appointed at the April 15 meeting. The first vote failed after tying 2-2, with Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri and Mayor Mike Norris voting against Sullivan and the second vote prevailed in a 3-1 split with just Norris against it. Sullivan is replacing former council member Ray Stevens, who stepped down in February, and will serve out the remainder of Stevens’ term. Norris wanted candidate Candace Stevens in the position, though his motion for her appointment also died with a 2-2 split. Council members Ty Miller and Charles Gambaro voted against Stevens. During the council meeting, Norris did not make much comment about Sullivan filling the seat except to say that he felt “appoint-
David Sullivan is now the Palm Coast District 3 representative, to fill out the term vacated by Ray Stevens. Photo courtesy of Palm Coast
ing Mr. Sullivan would be the same as appointing David Alfin into that seat.” Resident Jeremy Davis agreed, saying that Sullivan “is not for the residents.” “I really think y’all are missing, missing the point here,” Davis said. “The residents really want fresh eyes up there.” According to the Palm Coast City Charter, a majority vote is needed to pass a motion, meaning a tie automatically fails. Since no motion was made to appoint the third finalist, Dave Ferguson, Pontieri motioned to reconsider the vote on Sullivan. Several residents in attendance agreed with Norris. Sullivan has served two terms as a Flagler County commissioner, choosing to finish his term in 2024 rather than
run for reelection. His experience in government was a large factor in his consideration for the seat, according to comments made by Pontieri and Miller. “As difficult as it is, I think this council dearly needs experience and centering,” Miller said, “so I would advocate that we should lean heavily towards experience.” Though Pontieri’s flipped vote was ultimately the deciding factor for Sullivan’s installment, she did not come to the vote easily. In comments during the discussion of both Stevens and Sullivan, Pontieri noted that Stevens would bring a fresh perspective to the council while Sullivan had experience that the current council — herself included, she said — sorely lacked. She said the council needed to consider what kind of analytical thinker the members want on the council. “Is it somebody who’s been in the government for a really long time, and who we could probably predict a lot of decisions that there a lot of ways are going to vote, I don’t know,” she said. Of appointing Sullivan, Pontieri said: “My concern, in all candor, is that we will miss out on new, innovative approaches to solving problems in our city.” Before reconsidering her vote on Sullivan, she proposed the council appoint Mark Stancel to the seat, though he did not make the top three candidates. Stancel, she said, lost to Ray Stevens by just
two votes in the 2024 primary and had experience serving on various boards. Her motion did not receive a second. During the meeting, as the motion to reconsider Sullivan was going back to public comment, Norris interrupted the proceedings to state that Ray Stevens was trying to call him. He received consensus to call Stevens back from the dais. “Did you want to say something, because we’re opening up for public comment?” Norris asked Stevens. “No, I was returning your call,” Stevens said. “OK, all right,” Norris said. To the room, he said: “I called earlier to check on him before I came in the council.” Some residents in attendance urged the council to vote for Candace Stevens as a candidate. Resident Denise Henry said, regarding experience, the District 3 residents would prefer to have someone who represented them. “We want fresh and new blood,” she said. After swearing his oath of office, Sullivan said he acknowledged the decision was not an easy one. He said he guaranteed to the board and the residents that he would do the job the way he said he would: by the facts. “I look at the facts, and then I make a decision,” he said. “I’m in nobody’s pocket. Never have been, never will be.”