- October 30, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
By: Shanna Fortier
Contributing writer
As a Florida native, Adam Mengel has deep family ties to the state.
His mom’s family settled in the area in the beginning of the 1800s in an area known as Moccasin Branch — near Pellicer Creek and what is now known as Princess Place Preserve.
“It’s been kind of neat to study that and see those areas of old Florida how the folks back on the family tree had seen it,” Mengel said. “A lot of those areas haven’t changed that much.”
“Adam is the perfect picture of grace under pressure. He faces a lot of very public criticism as he presents proposed developments at both planning meetings and before the Board of County Commissioners, but he never loses his cool... . Adam is kind and compassionate. He goes to great lengths to fully answer questions from the public – understanding that those who choose to live here truly love Flagler County.”
JULIE MURPHY, Public Information Officer for Flagler County
Mengel is passionate about family history and history in general. Being a student of history also helps Mengel while doing his job at the growth management director in the planning department at Flagler County.
“We have a perspective now of specific land was, that it was always left natural and it wasn’t always,” Mengel explained. “Some of it was land that was developed for indigo or cotton or salt. And then the potatoes came later. It’s kind of neat to see how people have come and made a living and been able to work the land and make it their home.”
In Mengel’s dual role as growth management and planning director for the county, many issues he deals with are contentious within the community.
“I’d say more than anything right now, my job is helping the public work through our precesses,” he said. “To some, it may not sound genuine from me. But I do enjoy the public input and the public discourse.”
One thing that Mengel said makes public discourse so difficult right now is that he believes as a people, nationally “we’ve lost the sense of civility.”
“I think we can still talk about our differences and still respect each other,” Mengel said. “But I’m seeing it less and less."
