- December 20, 2024
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An interview between Palm Coast’s two mayoral candidates on Friday, Oct. 18 began and ended with divisive topics.
Mayor candidates Cornelia Manfre and Mike Norris covered a wide range of topics on the WNZF radio show Free For All Friday, from Palm Coast’s drainage issues, changing zoning of commercial land to real estate and even the temper of the candidates. Almost all the topics left the two on opposing sides.
Manfre accused Norris of having a temper ill-suited for the mayor seat and said his lack of business experience concerned her. Norris, meanwhile, said Manfre, a realtor and corporate investor, did not have the leadership qualities necessary to be mayor and called the relationship of developers and the real estate industry in Flagler County “incestuous.”
The only topic the two seemed to agree on is that Palm Coast’s staff, across all departments, needs to have a performance review, immediately.
“The staff are not always the smartest people in the room, that's apparent by what's going on in this city,” Norris said. “And we need to change that. And I think we need to go through and we need to do a staff analysis.”
“There is a job performance review that must be done immediately in City Hall, all departments and all staff,” Manfre said.
On the topic of listening to residents’ concerns, Norris said the council should prioritize listening to residents over the experts on staff at City Hall.
“That's why you're there,” Norris said. “You are there to serve the community.”
Manfre felt a little different: The City Council, she said, is like a board of directors.
“You have to listen to the public and you balance it with what staff proposes,” she said. “But we are the board of directors and we have to make the final decisions.”
The two also disagreed on rezoning. While Norris was firm that commercial zoned land should remain that, Manfre pointed out that the community has changed since ITT first zoned land in Palm Coast.
“I think it really comes to site specific,” she said. “Sometimes you just have to it's okay to deviate from what was originally planned, because the market has changed.”
But it wasn’t just the city’s current council and policies that were up for discussion: Both candidates also had to answer questions about themselves.
A question submitted by FlaglerLive asked Manfre how she would separate herself from her husband, former Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre, without it seeming as though she was just a stand-in for him.
Manfre called it “preposterous” that that could be the case. She said while her husband is her best friend, the two of them are “very independent people.”
“If anything, maybe he's shadowing me,” she said
Manfre also had to defend her real estate career, as many Palm Coast residents do not want to see someone with real estate connections in office. Manfre said her background gives her a greater understanding of business and how developers, primarily commercial developers, work.
Realtors and developers act as ambassadors for the community, she said, and take great risk to bring commercial businesses like restaurants, Publix and Walmart to communities.
“It’s a balancing act,” she said. “It’s all about the numbers.”
Norris had to answer, once again, for the language he used toward former mayor candidate Alan Lowe’s wife, Grit Lowe, on Primary Election Day in August. A video recording published online by Lowe’s campaign showed Norris using several swear words at Grit Lowe outside the Flagler County public library on Palm Coast Parkway.
Manfre outright demand an apology from Norris for his language at Grit Lowe “on behalf of all women.”
Norris said he regretted the situation and his language when he spoke to Grit Lowe.
In another submitted question, radio host David Ayres said there were concerns among Palm Coast City Hall staff about how Norris would react, as mayor, to members of the public challenging him.
“How can we be sure that your temper is not going to be an issue in a position that sets the tone for the rest of the council,” Ayres said.
“Because I'm a professional, and I've been a professional, and I know how to run meetings and deal with working groups,” Norris said.
Norris continued on to say that staffers should be concerned “because some of those people on that staff shouldn’t be there.”
“Residents of Palm Coast and Flagler County don't have to worry about my temperament,” Norris said.
Manfre disagreed.
“I believe the mayor position has to have a temperament that is balanced,” she said.
