Development, housing among topics discussed at Flagler candidate forum

Development was just one of the issues discussed during a candidate forum last week for seats on the Flagler County Commission, Palm Coast City Council and the Flagler County School District.

Hosted by the Flagler Tiger Bay Club, a nonpartisan group, the forum was moderated by Jim Manfre, a former Flagler County sheriff.

Early voting runs from Oct. 24 through Nov 5, and Election Day is Nov. 8.

The following candidates attended:

• Jane Gentile-Youd and Leann Pennington, who are competing for the County Commission District 4 seat. Pennington defeated Flagler County Commission Chairman Joe Mullins in the primary.

• Alan Lowe and Theresa Carli Pontieri, who are competing for the District 2 seat on the Palm Coast City Council. The seat is currently held by John Fanelli, who was appointed by the council after Victor Barbosa resigned in March. Fanelli, like other applicants, agreed not to run for the seat.

• Fernando Melendez, who is running for the District 4 seat on the Palm Coast City Council. The District 4 seat is held by Vice Mayor Eddie Branquinho, who is not running for reelection.

• Courtney VandeBunte, who is running for the District 2 seat on the Flagler County School District.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly attended the forum, which took place Thursday at the Palm Coast Community Center. Staly, who attended as an audience member, led the Pledge of Allegiance. But since there was no American flag in the room, he improvised. He asked everyone to rise and look toward the left side of the stage where the flag normally stood to join him in the pledge “to the flag that’s invisible.”

Also, invisible was School Board District 2 Candidate Will Furry who declined to participate in the debate.

Cathy D. Heighter, who is campaigning against Melendez for the Palm Coast District 4 seat, was scheduled to appear, but said she was “not feeling well” and did not attend, Manfre said.

Flagler County candidate introductions

Gentile-Youd said she and her husband, Mark, are 20-year residents of Flagler County after living in Miami-Dade County for 26 years. She said she has been following county government over the past 20 years and can probably give at least a partial answer to anything that’s happened during that timeframe.

Pennington, who said she is a chief fraud strategist for a Canadian firm, said she has lived in Palm Coast for nearly 30 years and loves it. She said she was concerned that the recent growth has brought residential development, but not enough commercial development.

Alan Lowe said he is a 39-year resident of Palm Coast and 35-year small business owner. Lowe said he opposed the initial 300% pay raise the Palm Coast City Council gave itself, although he believed they deserved “a little bit.” He also opposed the tax rate recently set by the City Council.

Pontieri, an attorney for seven years, said she wants to ensure the community keeps its good qualities as it grows. She said the city has "a unique opportunity to look at our comprehensive plan and to make sure that we're growing the right way that we are bringing in the right amount of industry along with residential."

Melendez said he and his wife moved to Palm Coast from New York, where he was a school bus driver and then an elected union official in the school bus industry. He said he is currently the vice chair of the Flagler County Planning and Developing Board, providing him knowledge he could apply to the City Council.

VandeBunte said she was born and raised in Flagler County. She attended Old Kings Elementary, Indian Trails Middle School and Flagler Palm Coast High School. She earned her degree in education from Florida State University and returned to teach at Old Kings Elementary, Matanzas High School and Flagler Palm Coast High School, where she was recognized as teacher of the year. She said she has three children attending Old Kings Elementary and is currently designing STEM curriculums for a Harvard University program.

Run-off for Palm Coast District 2 seat: Palm Coast District 2 seat heads to runoff between Theresa Pontieri and Alan Lowe

Highest Primary Turnout: Flagler County sees highest turnout in a primary election since 2004

Pennington defeats Mullins: Flagler County Commission Chairman Joe Mullins crushed in Republican primary

Who's running: Who's running for election in Volusia, Flagler counties? Everything you need to know.

Pontieri resigns: Flagler Sheriff's general counsel resigns amid questions about her 'White Noise' videos

Lowe: former 'sovereign citizen': Palm Coast mayoral candidate Alan Lowe once declared himself a 'sovereign citizen'

Support for the half-cent sales tax

A panel consisting mostly of Flagler Tiger Bay members or directors asked the questions, which came from various sources including Tiger Bay members and emails submitted by the public.

Manfre asked the candidates whether they supported continuing the half-cent sales tax for Flagler County Schools.

All the candidates said they did, but due to a time crunch, only VandeBunte could comment.

“So, the half-cent renewal is not a new tax,” VandeBunte said. “It is a renewal and I am in full support of it.”

She said the tax had been used in the past to provide students with laptops and tablets, improve athletic fields and increase campus safety.

She said if voters renew the half-cent sales tax on Nov. 8, it will pay for, among other things, upgrading technology and increasing campus security, such as having the capability to lock doors remotely.

“And I think that's extremely important in today's climate for our schools, and one of my top priorities is enhancing the school safety,” VandeBunte said.

The candidates were also asked if they'd ever been arrested. Only Pontieri said she had, and  explained that it was for driving under the influence while a college student. She said she learned a great deal from the experience.

The candidates were also asked whether they had ever declared bankruptcy or had a civil judgment against them. All said no. Lowe said "I don't remember any, no," other than a red light camera ticket. Later, before answering an unrelated question, Lowe said he had forgotten that he had a foreclosure 30 years ago.

Development and housing

A member of the interview panel asked Melendez whether he agreed with some constituents who believe the current board treated the real estate industry too favorably, as well as what his relationship with the industry would look like.

The Flagler County Association of Realtors endorsed Melendez, who said that he believes the association backed him because he grew up in the Bronx and used a New York program to buy his first home, which he said he still owns, in that state.

"Believe me, to get out of the Bronx, you have to be persistent and you have to be passionate," Melendez said.

Manfre asked all the candidates how housing in Flagler County could be made more affordable.

“When it comes to multi-family housing, I’m a big proponent of it, … it’s more than just a product. It's an option for our workforce, community,” Melendez said.

He said there are laws that apply and if officials don’t allow development, they could get sued.

“But let’s do it right,” said Melendez. “Let’s help out our citizens and get … housing that’s affordable, not affordable housing, housing that’s affordable.”

Pontieri said that the area needed affordable and multi-family housing.

“We want to make sure that we don’t lose the single-family homes and we don’t become a concrete nightmare, of course,” Pontieri said.

Pontieri noted that AdventHealth would be opening another hospital in Palm Coast next year and nurses and doctors wouldn't be the only employees.

“So, we really need to make sure we're looking at a comprehensive plan and we're determining this is what's coming,” Pontieri said. “So, this is what we need to accommodate these folks."

Manfre asked VandeBunte to respond. She said that with a strong school board would come highly rated schools which would attract more business and opportunities to have affordable housing for the school bus drivers and hospital employees who are not doctors and nurses and administrators.

Manfre next asked Gentile-Youd, who responded that affordable housing was a government program in which developers get tax breaks.

“That's not what we need,” she said and repeated an earlier line from Menendez: “We need housing that is affordable.”

She said that when she first moved to Florida, she lived in a small condo in Hialeah. She said she favored condominiums and there was pride in ownership.

"I’m all for ownership as opposed to rental, because then you become part of the community,” Gentile-Youd said.

Manfre then asked Pennington how county government could incentivize developers to make homes that are affordable rather than maximizing their profits.

“I’m not of the mindset that the local government incentivizes developers to build a product that is affordable,” Pennington said.

“What I’d like to see us do is actually bring a living wage, so that housing is more attainable. I think that is the answer here,” Pennington said.

Manfre asked Lowe the same question. Lowe said the Hargrove Grade industrial park has a railroad spur that if were extended, could help attract larger businesses, such as aerospace businesses and other technical businesses.

“Let’s pay people enough that they can afford to live here,” Lowe said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Election 2022: Flagler Tiger Bay Club hosts candidate forum