- September 26, 2024
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Flagler Tiger Bay Club hosted a candidate forum Sept. 25, at the Palm Coast Community Center. Photo by Brian McMillan
Palm Coast mayor candidate Cornelia Downing Manfre. Photo by Brian McMillan
Palm Coast mayor candidate Mike Norris. Photo by Brian McMillan
Palm Coast City Council District 3 candidate Andrew Werner. Photo by Brian McMillan
Palm Coast City Council District 3 candidate Ray Stevens. Photo by Brian McMillan
Florida House of Representatives District 19 candidate Adam Morley. Photo by Brian McMillan
Palm Coast City Council District 1 candidate Jeffery Seib. Photo by Brian McMillan
Flagler Tiger Bay Club Vice President Amelia Fulmer. Photo by Brian McMillan
Flagler Tiger Bay Club panel member Lovie Haley. Photo by Brian McMillan
Flagler Tiger Bay Club panel member David Paul. Photo by Brian McMillan
Flagler Tiger Bay Club President Jay Scherr. Photo by Brian McMillan
The participants in the Flagler Tiger Bay Club’s General Election Candidate Forum agreed that Palm Coast’s infrastructure needs to be upgraded, the city needs to attract commercial development to create jobs and diversify the tax base and hiring the right city manager should be the next City Council’s top priority.
State representative District 19 candidate Adam Morley joined Palm Coast mayoral candidates Cornelia Downing Manfre and Mike Norris and City Council candidates Jeffery Seib, Ray Stevens and Andrew Werner at the forum on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the Palm Coast Community Center.
A panel of Tiger Bay Club members asked questions of each of the candidates during the two-hour forum.
An infrastructure upgrade must be done immediately, Manfre said. Wastewater treatment plant No. 1 is in a grave situation, she said, and is one of the reasons why she entered the mayor’s race.
Stevens, who is running against Werner for the District 3 council seat, said the city needs to “put the brakes” on what he believes is uncontrolled or poorly planned development that is putting a “strain on sewer, water, roadways and the general overall quality of life.”
Norris objected to the city’s charter amendment that would give the city “unlimited borrowing power.” He said the amendment is specifically aime at a multi-use sports complex on the west side. Former mayor candidate Alan Lowe filed a lawsuit on Sept. 20 to remove the amendment from the Nov. 5 ballot.
Manfre said the amendment is not worded properly. “It is opening up the council to have a carte blanche borrowing power, and I believe that our founding fathers wanted us to have some kind of controls on what we are going to borrow for, or you go out to the public. I do not agree with this referendum,” she said.
Manfre said she’d like to see an industrial development park in the city similar to the Ormond Beach Airport Business Park, collaborative marketing and a more organized permitting policy. She’d like to see the city attract medical operators and technology companies.
Norris said he would like to see clean manufacturing such as making components to support the space industry at nearby Cape Canaveral. He said the city needs more land designated for industrial growth.
We have to pull in those organizations that are going to diversify our tax base. Right now over 90 percent of our taxes come from ad valorem taxes.”
— MIKE NORRIS, Palm Coast mayor candidate
“We have to pull in those organizations that are going to diversify our tax base. Right now over 90 percent of our taxes come from ad valorem taxes,” Norris said.
Seib, who is running against Ty Miller for the District 1 seat, agreed that “ad valorem property taxes are skewed heavily toward homes and we really need to start moving it in the other direction.” He suggested offering commercial developers a 50% tax break for five years.
Werner said Palm Coast needs to sell itself.
“We have been rated the second safest city in the state of Florida. We're close to the water and we have a beautiful landscape here. I can't think of a business that wouldn't want to come here and be a part of our community,” he said.
However, Werner added that in talking to business owners, infrastructure in some cases is an issue.
“I've been told at Town Center, new businesses that are wanting to come in, it could be up to three years before the city can provide them water. So we need to problem solve these issues so we can advocate for more businesses,” Werner said.
Stevens said it’s “pie in the sky” to think Palm Coast is going to attract major industry but he said it would be realistic to pursue manufacturers of medical equipment, electronics, computers and smartphones which he said would put very little strain on infrastructure. But he added that water, sewer and highways would need to updated before the city could lure industry here.
It is opening up the council to have a carte blanche borrowing power, and I believe that our founding fathers wanted us to have some kind of controls on what we are going to borrow for, or you go out to the public.
— CORNELIA DOWNING MANFRE, Palm Coast mayor candidate
Manfre said Palm Coast needs a a city manager “that can get in there and look at all the departmental budgets and see where there's potential for cutbacks” to help address capital needs such as the sewer treatment plant.
“I don’t want to see services jeopardized. I think we have to see where the money is going and then start preserving money,” she said.
Stevens was asked that, given the termination of the last three city managers, what assurances the city should make to attract top-tier candidates.
“If you pick the right person for the right reasons, they will last. I think the pay is quite reasonable,” he said, adding that City Council support is important and, in choosing a candidate, the council should emphasize managerial and people skills.
In addition of going through the Florida League of Cities’ public notification, Manfre said she’d also be interested in talking to consultant companies about city manager candidates.
The City Council candidates were asked about housing, workforce and transportation solutions for special needs residents.
Seib said that is a fitting question for him because his stepdaughter has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.
“She is one of those who have had difficulties in the city,” he said. “For example, the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club was where she would go to get exercise because she could use the hydraulic chair to get in the water and swim.”
He said some city parks and other facilities are not compliant with the American Disabilities Act.
This is one thing I think we can go ahead and work on as the next (City Council) group coming in,” Seib said.
Morley is a resident of Crescent Beach in St. Johns County. He is running against Republican Sam Greco for the seat which Speaker of the House Paul Renner held for the past eight years. Morley acknowledged the difficulty he would have in advocating issues for the district as a freshman Democratic representative in a majority Republican House. He said he would choose issues popular among Floridians across party lines.
“I believe issues like conservation,” he said. “Amendment 1 (the Water and Land Conservation Amendment in 2014) passed with an overwhelming super majority. Those funds still haven't been properly allocated. What people have said that they want, they are not getting. Water is the economic driver in our state. It's one of the primary reasons people come here. Local control is an issue, making sure that our local leaders are able to address their concerns, effectively and efficiently, and slowing the over-development, making sure that they have the resources for the future.”
