Flagler County Commission District 4 race: Candidates disagree on sheriff's office funding

Jane Gentile-Youd and Leann Pennington are battling in the Flagler County Commission District 4 race. But Gentile-Youd has gained another formidable opponent: Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly.

In a recent letter sent to the media, Staly wrote that while he was not endorsing a candidate in the District 4 race, he and his wife were voting for Pennington and described Gentile-Youd as “the defund the police candidate.”

Gentile-Youd, 78, who lives in southeastern Flagler County, denied in a phone interview ever saying she wants to defund the police. Instead, she said the county’s fire department is underfunded while the sheriff’s office is overfunded.

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“I think that the sheriff's department is getting too much. I would like to see their budget cut,” Gentile-Youd said.

She said the sheriff’s office was paying some chiefs and supervisors in the $90,000 to $100,000 a year range while Staly asks for more money for deputies and resources such as a boat.

Staly released a letter titled “From the desk of Sheriff Rick Staly” in which he wrote that the solution would be to properly fund Flagler County Fire Rescue without taking money away from the sheriff’s office. The letter noted it was not printed or mailed using taxpayer money.

Staly wrote that Gentile-Youd thinks the sheriff’s office is “overmanaged and supervised,” but he wrote deputies have the power to arrest someone and “making a split-second decision that could end someone’s life.

“That is why proper and adequate supervision and management is critically important,” Staly wrote.

The sheriff’s office budget increased 18% from $28,472,593 last fiscal year to $33,622,750 in the current year. The office has 186 sworn law enforcement officers, including 67 new law enforcement positions since Staly took office in 2017. Staly has moved the agency from reactive to proactive, decreasing crime 54%, according to a response from the sheriff’s office to The News-Journal.

In the response, the sheriff’s office stated the agency was “severely underfunded and staffed for decades," and that Staly is still working to increase the number of deputies needed due to the county's growth.

The sheriff’s office also purchased a new boat for $155,303 from Boston Whaler at a "significant discount," the response stated. The agency's previous boat had a failing engine and was not capable of ocean rescues, the response stated.

Gentile-Youd is running with no party affiliation against Pennington, a Republican, who defeated first-term incumbent and controversial County Commission Chairman Joe Mullins in the August primary.

The general election is Nov. 8. Early voting is underway and runs through Nov. 5.

The Flagler County Commission District 4 seat covers Bunnell and everything west of U.S. 1. The winner will earn $58,364 per year for the four-year term.

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Increase citizen participation time

Gentile-Youd is a real estate broker who moved to Flagler County two decades ago from Miami-Dade County, where she was appointed to a zoning board. She said she regularly attends County Commission meetings and, if elected, would like to see more involvement from county commissioners.

“I want to see more responsible input from the county commissioners. I want them to be putting items on the agenda, rather than coming to commission meetings and voting on issues put on by the staff and never initiated by them directly,” Gentile-Youd said.

She also said she would like to do away with the three-minute maximum time limit on public comments.

“The first thing I would do is I would make a motion to extend citizen time to a minimum of five minutes and do everything I can to encourage citizen participation in our government,” Gentile-Youd said.

She would also propose a limited moratorium on variances and zoning changes for residential and commercial buildings to provide time to review land use regulations.

“I want a six-month moratorium on variances, zoning changes and special exceptions,” Gentile-Youd said, adding that she's not referring to zoning that has already been approved and work that has been permitted.

"We need to take a deep breath and we need to take a look at our codes," she said.

Gentile-Youd described herself as a conscientious real estate agent.

“I do not support irresponsible development. I’m a realtor who cares,” she said.

Gentile-Youd said that the Flagler County Fire Rescue needs more funding. She said fire rescue saved her life two years ago when she had a health problem.

“I was so grateful, I said these paramedics and these firefighters and fire rescue to me are number one,” she said, adding that “deputies are number one also.”

She would like to see the county’s helicopter be available to fly 24 hours a day seven days a week. She said the personnel at the helicopter’s hangar need better facilities.

The helicopter is available 12 hours a day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to an email from County Spokeswoman Julie Murphy. She wrote that Fire Rescue Chief Mike Tucker said that the data did not support the need for the helicopter overnight because of support from Volusia and St. Johns counties for medical calls.

'We're a safe community'

Gentile-Youd criticized Pennington for accepting $1,000 donations linked to Captain's BBQ, which is suing the county in a case set to go to trial in June. Captain's BBQ is run by Michael Goodman and Chris Herrera. Herrera contributed $1,000 to Pennington. Pennington also received $1,000 each from Honky Tonk Woman LLC, Gimme Shelter LLC, and Monkey Man LLC, three corporations which list Michael Goodman or his wife, Grace Goodman, as an officer or manager.

Pennington, who turned 45 on Saturday, said in a phone interview that she received the donations during the primary when she was battling Mullins. But she said she would remove herself from the issue if need be if it came before the commission.

“I don’t have an issue recusing myself. If something from that group comes up before the board,” Pennington said.

Pennington was born in Jacksonville and lives in Palm Coast. She works remotely implementing strategies to prevent fraud for a Canadian banking firm.

Pennington said she decided to get into politics after successfully fighting against the development of the closed Matanzas Woods Golf Course with residents winning a view-protection zone, restricting where developers could build.

Pennington said if elected, her priorities would be to bring attention to the western agricultural areas of the county, noting that improved drainage is needed on the west side.

She also wants to take a close look at the county budget.

“I want to ensure that we're not overspending and that we have our priorities aligned and that we actually get some things accomplished on our strategic plan," Pennington said.

She also said she wants to look at the comprehensive plan for the county and “make sure that we don’t overbuild.”

“I want to ensure that we complete tree surveys, that we are not removing massive amounts of hardwoods, that we're not over building, just smart growth and I think that starts with reviewing the comprehensive land code,” she said.

Pennington stated she does not agree with Gentile-Youd's comment about the sheriff’s office.

“We're a very safe community. I feel very safe here. Crime is down over 50% since Sheriff Staley went into office, so I think a lot of that has to do with having a very strong police presence here,” Pennington said. “And it's not something that I have the mindset to really, you know, attack him.

“I think he does a great job,” Pennington said. “I don't want to see a cut in any of our law enforcement.”

She said that she does not believe that Gentile-Youd should specifically bring up commanders and chiefs at the sheriff’s office.

“And I just think that's just a really bad precedent to specifically attack roles within the force. It's just the wrong method of going about it,” Pennington said.

She said Gentile-Youd's comments about fire rescue have merit.

“I think that our role in government is to fund first and foremost with our tax dollars, our safety. So I have no issue with what she said about the fire department.”

Pennington said she would like to see more commercial development in the county.

“We need more industry and jobs here, " Pennington said.

She said she’d like for Flagler County to have a more user-friendly website that ties into a commercial multiple listing service showing available properties. She also would like “commercial overlay zones” which would provide incentives to businesses locating in the zones, such as tax breaks.

She said the county needs to scrutinize higher-density projects and ensure they are a better fit for the existing communities around them.

"We need to talk about traffic studies, the impact on the aquifer, proper drainage," she said.

“I'm not advocating for anything like a moratorium or anything like that, but I think we do need to ensure that places like the Hammock, aesthetically, they remain like what we love about them, that the trees remain, lesser density in those areas”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler County Commission election: Jane Gentile-Youd vs. Leann Pennington