- November 17, 2024
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Howard Holley
AGE: 67
CITY OF RESIDENCE: Palm Coast
YEARS LIVED IN THIS COMMUNITY: 7 years
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Golf, travel, reading, jazz, Volunteering skills and experience to help solve problems.
FAMILY: Wife: Dr. Barbara C. Holley; children: Yvette, Howard Jr., Elesha and Jason; grandchildren: 10
Explain how your professional career so far has qualified you for this position.
The complexity and scope of my strategic, operational and financial responsibilities over the course of my career and my lifelong dedication to community involvement make me exceptionally prepared to take on the role of Flagler County commissioner and to provide leadership, accountability and vision to our political process. When I was a senior vice president for Xerox Corp., I ran $1 billion operations of over 6,000 employees located throughout the United States with a senior team of other Xerox executives that didn’t directly report to me. At other points in my career, I was chosen by Xerox to lead far-flung global operations across 30 countries and had to navigate the business and political landscape in countries like China, where unique government interests and pressures exist. These experiences gave me an opportunity to gain a robust appreciation for the political elements that often are a barrier to attempts to change the status quo. I developed a valuable skill-set by learning to lead without direct authority through consensus building and teamwork across diverse agencies and organizations with often conflicting goals.
For challengers, what do you disapprove of most in the incumbent’s service in the most recent term?
I believe the Board of County Commissioners needs to be stronger in forging a political process that delivers results by bringing together the right people and organizations to make progress in the key areas where our county needs to focus. For example, we need to increase the economic attractiveness of Flagler County to develop a sustainable economy that is not primarily dependent on residential property taxes. This will require alignment and support not only among county commissioners, but the city leaders, community leaders, various public and private agencies, business leaders, and investors both within and outside our county— all of whom may have potentially competing objectives. This is a process with which I am intimately familiar and through which I have achieved great success as a corporate executive and entrepreneur.
What would you contribute to this office that you feel your opponent can’t?
I believe every leader has strengths and gaps. The key is to have the right leaders in place at the right time for what our county needs. My opponent brought expertise to the city and county based on his education and experience in navigating the bureaucratic aspects of compliance and regulation on local issues surrounding water and waste. While these localized issues remain important to our community, we have bigger challenges on our plate.
Our community has evolved demographically and aspirationally to one where people want more than just a beautiful place to live and basic services like drainage and water. It has become clear that our quality of life is not sustainable without a thriving economic base that allows us to weather the hard times and compete with other Florida counties for investments in our economy, creating jobs and economic growth, developing the arts, and improving the quality and relevance of educational opportunities. Creating this much-needed economic magnet requires a whole different skill set and experience level. I have this skill set and experience, with a track record of success. Even if my opponent shared my vision, I do not believe he has the right combination of global and business experience, leadership skills and commitment to get the job done. When elected, I will fill that gap — I am the best candidate to lead in making this vision a reality.
What are the three most significant challenges facing your constituents today?
1. Vision for the future. If we want a tomorrow that is better than today, we have to work for it, and we need a plan with specific goals with which to measure our progress and hold politicians responsible. I have a vision to take Flagler County in a new direction and the experience, skills, and commitment to lead us all there.
2. Jobs and economic growth. Economic growth is not just an issue for the county, it is an issue for every city, county and state. Services that are provided, quality of life, employment and career opportunities are all determined by economic growth. Residents are asking for:
More jobs
Better paying jobs
Career jobs
We also need to do a better job of matching skills to job opportunities. We need a countywide, cross-organizational effort led by the BOCC to successfully solve this issue.
3. Reduce our dependence on residential property taxes to fund the county budget. Eighty-three percent of our property taxes come from residential properties. We must begin to achieve growth in commercial, industrial and agriculture property investments at a rate faster than residential in order to sustain and grow our quality of life responsibly into the future.
If elected, what would you do to address the challenges?
As county commissioner, these three challenges will be prioritized as I work across party and geographic lines to build consensus on the vision, goals, and plans that need to be developed and the key issues that need to be addressed.
Previous press coverage of Howard Holley:
Click here to view previous Palm Coast Observer stories about Howard Holley, here to view FlaglerLive stories and here to view Daytona Beach News-Journal stories.
