Recap

With some 6435 votes cast, here are the results from the Primary. Joe Cunnane: 630 or 9.7% Victor Good: 1744 or 27.1% Jon Netts: 4061 or 63.1% Thanks for reading the interviews!!! Inna-

Setting the RECORD straight.

I sat back and watched, for the most part quietly, all the attacks and rumors circulating on local forums and via multiple e-mails sent out by the Good campaign staff, and with only one day left to the Primary I feel it's time I address some of the sentiments voiced. First of all, I do not support any candidate for office; there has never been a contribution made by myself of any of my family members to any campaign. My goal with these interviews was to simply give the voters information, and should they find any of it relevant, their decisions will be all the more informed. Therefore, blatant accusations that I was purchased by the Netts camp. are without any merit whatsoever. As a side note, I wouldn't have my tiny little Google ads on the page if I had campaign funds from any candidate flooding my bank account, but I digress. Another accusation thrown out there has been that my interview with Mr. Good is full of 'slander'. First, a correction: the word the Good camp. is looking for is 'libel', and assuming this blog should be read past the primary, I offer a standing invitation to Mr. Good and or any of his supporters to take me to court for 'libel' if they honestly believe that anything in the interview merits such action. I stand by every word that I had put to paper, and would like to remind everyone that the format per se dictates nothing more than a question and answer, so if any of the candidates have an issue with the way they chose to answer my questions, they ought to blame themselves for their lack of preparation or wit. As to statements in brackets: every one of them lists a source, and, needless to say, I am in possession of all the paperwork sited. Hope this clarifies things a bit, and to all the registered voters in Palm Coast, go out and vote tomorrow!!! Peace :-)

My Interview with Jon Netts

Over a glass of iced coffee drink with a ridiculously long name, as is a custom at Starbucks, I sit down with Jon Netts. Our conversation ran long, so there are some minor omissions. Italics are mine...

IH: What made you run for Mayor?

JN: I think this is the time when Palm Coast is at a cross roads. We are facing challenges that, I think, require among other things an in-depth understanding of the issues. Understanding that there is no single issue. Everything is inter-related and, the problems that we face are not entirely of our own making, and the solutions are not entirely within our own grasp. We are going to have to work much more closely with the other cities in Flagler County, with the County itself and our State and Federal officials. I think I’ve got the experience, the knowledge and the ability to work with other people that that will take.

IH: Are you referring to the city government experience, or overall…

JN: Well both, and City government… There are many issues that are not obvious.

On Water Problems and Solutions

IH: Give me an example

JN: Probably one of the biggest things is the long term solution to potable water. You hear a lot of simplistic solutions but those simplistic solutions belie lack of understanding of the real issue. One of the things you hear all the time is: “if you just stop growth, then you’ll have enough water.” That just isn’t true. It’s in the minds of the people… that if you just put a fence around Florida, or Flagler County or Palm Coast, the problems will go away. The reality is Palm Coast does not own any water, Flagler County does not own any water, water is owned by the State. By legislative action they (the State) own all the water in the State, and they regulate its use through the five regional water management districts, through what are called Consumptive Use Permits, and they are issued on a first come first served basis as long as there is capacity.

IH: Define capacity…

JN: Water available for use. Let me give you an example. Back in the 1960s-1970 when ITT was building Palm Coast, and don’t forget they anticipated a build-out of 250,000 people, they had to satisfy the State that they had enough water to supply those people, and they did that. They said, here is the map, here are all potential well sites, etc., so they had water to supply 250,000 people. So then why today are we looking at a water shortage? Well, things have changed. Primarily what has changed is the regulations. The governing factor for ground water use is the wetlands. Back in the 70s wetlands were defined by 28 different species. Now, there are over 2000 species that are indicative of wetlands. Science of hydrology is better. They understand better what the effects of draw-down on the aquifer are of the wetlands. So whereas there may have been considered enough water for 250,000, now there is not. So, depending on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, you project growth and then you project water usage. Then you say, well, how much water do we think is available and when does the water demand cross the water available line? The optimist would tell you 2025, the pessimist would tell you 2011. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. And because of the way consumptive use permits are issued, if you put a wall around the city of Palm Coast, there is still available capacity so somebody else is going to get. Bunnell just annexed 42,000 acres, they’ll use it. You can’t look at growth as a Palm Coast issue or a Flagler County issue. It’s a regional issue, because it’s a regional water issue.

IH: So everyone in the St. John’s Water Management District has…

JN: Same issues…About two years ago SJWMD called together all the water utilities in Flagler County, all the interested parties and basically and offered to fund efforts to find a solution to the problem. So for two years the group, what they call of Water Cooperatives has been looking at alternative water sources. We know we can’t just keep sticking holes in the ground, so the first obvious thing to look at is surface water and with St. John’s help we have identified some possible surface water sites. I raised the issue after the report came out listing all these available sources: “what makes anybody think that those people out there will let us pump water here?” The answer SJWMD gave us was that since they regulate the water, it’s up to them…And I questioned if they had enough clout to ensure that if we build a pipe to lower Ocklawaha, that we’ll be able to actually use it. They came back with some statistics that said that the counties around the lower Ocklawaha project to have a 74 million gallon a day deficit by 2020. If they are going to be short on water, do you really think it’s practical that we’ll be able to take the water from them to use here? Now it appears that the best option is desalination from the ocean. I can’t imagine France suing us for pumping water from the ocean, whereas I can very readily imagine Putnam County or Clay County doing that. So, we’ve identified a potential source. There are a couple of options that are open: land based plant, or a rather innovative concept of a ship based desalination plant. A ship based plant can produce between 50 and 100 million gallons of water a day. That’s far in excess of what Palm Coast needs or Flagler County needs, so what needs to happen and it needs to happen sooner rather than later is we need to establish a regional water authority. Palm Coast is the largest water utility around, so I think it’s important that we take a leadership role in this, but you’ve heard the expression of the five hundred pound gorilla. We can’t allow that perception to get in the way of this thing moving forward. It takes leadership that can lead by example rather than by force. We have to be very careful as we take the leadership role that we don’t appear to be forcing other people to follow. It has to be collaborative. But you have to remove the barriers to the cooperation.

On Contributions and Incumbents:

IH: While you have not been the mayor, some consider you an incumbent in this race. You have raised the most money; about 10 times more what each one of your opponents has raised as of today… So there is that perception of you as a good ole’ boy, and that we might do better to replace everyone who has been in our city’s government with fresh blood…

JN: Ok, first of all, let’s look at who my contributors are…

IH: Who are your contributors?

JN: People like you and me. There are a couple of contributors who have given me $500. They are in most cases retired, they are not the movers and shakers, they are not developers, they are not big corporations. Now, I have said all along that I would rather have $100 at a $1.00 a piece from a hundred people than $100 from one person. So I don’t see my contribution base as a negative thing. I think it’s indicative of grass roots support.

IH: Do you feel that there are any special interests whatsoever, things that are important to you personally that might you might be biased with regard to?

JN: Probably, my biggest bias is the citizens of Palm Coast. If you look at my history, in the six years, I was the first elected official in Flagler County to ever conduct regular Town Hall meetings. First one ever and I think it’s a good thing, geared to make government more accessible. And it must not be a bad thing since at least two of my colleagues on the City Council started doing it, and at least three County Commissioners started doing it. Let me tell you a story: Long before we incorporated, long before I considered running for office, I started going to City Council and there was a meeting one day that started at 9:00 a.m. at the community center, went to noon, recessed for an hour for lunch and they reconvened in the old city hall which was the old library building in a room that barely had room for city council, let alone any residents. And I thought, by god, how user unfriendly is this? We need to make government transparent, we need to make it accessible, make people feel like they are a part of it... One of the things that I’ve done, consciously tried to do is that you’ve (the resident) got my home number, you’ve got my cell number, you’ve got my e-mail address, my home address. My policy has been that if someone has an issue with city government, return their call, get in the car meet them at their curb, front steps, their living room and talk to them about it.

IH: Have you ever done that?

JN: Absolutely. I get 2 or 3 calls a day. Some trivial, some just venting, and some of it problems…

IH: One of the strongest sentiments voiced in conversations is that people are thrilled that most of the seats in city government are up for grabs, and virtually every ‘incumbent’ is getting replaced. How happy does that make you?

JN: It really depends on who people are getting replaced by… One of the things that Jim Canfield did from his first council meeting on was establish a tone for government. You are in the media, you don’t have to look very far to find examples of disruptive behavior by elected officials, verbal and even physical abuse, recrimination, retribution. Ralph Carter, bless his soul, used to comment about civility and how important it is. The issue in any government is to be able to work together, to be able to share ideas, to be as much of a good listener as a speaker, to have reasonable discourse. It’s certainly not unreasonable to expect one person to try to convince another. But at the end of the day you take a vote, and if 3 heads are nodding in the same direction, something happens. You can’t then say “I didn’t get my way…,” We’ve never had that and we don’t want that. The five that are there work well together. It doesn’t mean agree, it means accept the premise of representative government. As long as you replace with people who are willing to behave in the same fashion, it’s fine.

IH: So you don’t have this itching desire to get rid of everybody and start fresh?

JN: It is unusual that four out of five seats are open at the same time. The whole idea is gradual transition. If you had four new people in city government, the learning curve would be significant. There is something to be said about institutional memory. Governments should change by evolution rather than revolution. Drastic changes rarely produce stability.

IH: How long is the learning curve, in your experience?

JN: Two years… You can become a quick study on a single issue, but what is most difficult for people new to government is to understand the law of unintended consequences. Someone said: “what single thing would you like to accomplish?” There is no single thing, because what you do here affects something else. You have to find the balance and it’s understanding this balance that is so important and that takes time and it takes experience.

On His Opponents:

IH: What do you think of your opponents in this race?

JN: I have met Joe Cunnane over the years. I have not met Mr. Good. I’ve seen him, I have heard him speak on a few occasions. I think I am the best of the three candidates because of my experience, because of my positions, and I am sure they think they are the best because of their positions.

IH: If you were not running and your two opponents were the only options, who would you vote for?

JN: I can’t answer that because I have not heard either one of them put forth a platform. I hear rumors, whispering campaigns going on out there, but I don’t like to base decisions upon rumors, I’d like to hear someone tell me: “this is what I believe,” and then I can make a decision. I have not heard that yet.

On the New Tennis Facility:

IH: Fair enough. What is your take on the tennis facility?

JN: I voted for it. I think it will be an overwhelming success.

IH: The one in Volusia County is failing miserably.

JN: And I think you have to define ‘failing’. Somebody said to me: “I don’t think the tennis court is ever going to make money.” Well, it wasn’t supposed to be making money. The soccer fields aren’t making money; the fire department isn’t making money… That tennis facility is part of what contributes to quality of life. That tennis facility can be used and will be used and must be used by people of all ages, the very young and the very old. That’s part of what makes Palm Coast a desirable place to live. People didn’t move here because the roads were well-maintained, or because the swales drained properly… We want that, but people moved here for quality of life.

IH: We drive by empty tennis courts routinely, granted not clay. What makes you confident that it will even be utilized?

JN: There is already league play very active in Palm Coast, and now it goes elsewhere. Look back on the Players Club, before the European Village was built, it was widely used. Why shouldn’t we regenerate this kind of use? I think there is a historical track record; that tennis is important. When ITT built Palm Coast, what were some of the first things they had put in? Golf courses and tennis courts. They were marketing experts. They knew what would attract people here.

IH: Where do you draw the line between something the city should subsidize and something it shouldn’t?

JN: That’s why Palm Coast in its charter has capped the spending. City Council cannot incur any long term unfunded debt without a referendum. It’s a minority of people who want tennis, it’s a minority of people who want golf, it’s a minority of people who want cultural arts venues, it’s a minority of people who want more softball and soccer, but you add all of those minorities together and you get a city. The role of government is to balance the needs of all of these different factions, and not put your eggs in one basket. The more successful you are as a city, the more you can fund in a way of amenities.

On Economic Development

JN: When we talk about economic development, we, Enterprise Flagler, Flagler County, the City, have finally realized that we are not going to get Fortune 500 companies here. We are going to be much more successful with smaller companies. The most recent success, this company called Seidcon, a family business…

IH: Some would disagree with you on that being a success

JN: Why?

IH: How many employees do that have or even plan to have long term?

JN: Ten.

IH: That’s it?

JN: I’ll take ten companies of ten rather than one company of a hundred. If you bring in a 100 jobs in one business and that business relocates, you lose 100 jobs. Give me ten companies with ten jobs, I am much happier. But why did they move here? Wasn’t because we have a deep water port, or because we have rail, or an international airport… It’s because this is where the owner of the company wants to live.

IH: Speaking about Enterprise Flagler… any other successes worth mentioning?

JN: If you define success as names of companies that were relocated here, there are some, not as many as we would have liked, there is CaneProof, and some others… But economic development is one of these amorphous things that… you can’t do a one to one correspondence between effort and results. I think that Enterprise Flagler as it’s currently structured is poised for success. One of the best things they did is to realize that they can’t be dependent on government for their funding. They went out and contracted with a consulting firm and raised in excess of $5,000,000 over five years, so that private sector is now a major contributor. That to me is a success. Aligning with Corner Stone, very significant step…

IH: What is your take on number of small businesses that went out of business? Are there any plans for helping businesses that are already here?

JN: There is talk of creating a business incubator. You have hundreds of home businesses in Palm Coast. Some of those businesses have no desire to grow and they don’t need any help, but some of them do want to grow and need help getting to the next step.

IH: How will it be different in function from the Chamber of Commerce?

JN: The Chamber provides networking, advertising, emotional support… The business incubator will be more direct, infrastructure related. All these organizations need to be interfacing. Enterprise Flagler’s recent business retention success – they got a grant for 1 million dollars that allowed Searay Boats to stay in Flagler County. {Jon Netts is one of the Directors of Enterprise Flagler}

On a Personal Note:

IH: Should you get elected, are you going to keep your Tow Boat job?

JN: Sure.

IH: Do you think that with emergency calls you get there that might prevent you from being able to do your job for the residents of the city?

JN: Actually, I think my Tow Boat job is ideal… First of all, I have two back up captains, second of all, the family that owns the franchise has St. Augustine, Daytona, and Titusville as well as Flagler, so there is always of possibility of getting a back up from one of their other sites.

IH: What is your Achilles’ heel, if any?

JN: Impatience. Gradually learning to accept the fact that you can’t do everything at once, and probably failing to realize that not everybody has the same access to information. I make assumptions that because I know this, everybody knows it.

IH: What did you want to be when you were little?

JN: (with a hearty chuckle) In the back of my mind, I always wanted to be a teacher. Both my parents were teachers. But like every kid, you know, you go from cowboy to astronaut to football player, but I think I have always wanted to be involved in education. I did it both as a teacher and administrator…

IH: When you moved here, why not stay in education?

JN: Wanted to try something new. If I wanted to stay in education, I probably wouldn’t have moved.

Looking Forward:

IH: What can we (the newly elected group) accomplish in this next year?

JN: Some philosophical, some practical. We need to get our Land Development Code out, edited and out. We need to start as quickly as possible a review of our Comprehensive Plan. It was written four years ago; half the people who are here now weren’t residents then. We need to assure ourselves that the vision that our comp plan puts forth is a vision that’s shared by residents.

IH: How would the residents be able to have input into that?

JN: When we did it the first time, we advertised, but I am not sure we did as much outreach as we could have done. There was a sense of urgency, as we were operating under the comp plan of the County. If the comp plan represents my vision or your vision and not a shared vision, than everything that flows from it is going to be contentious. We need to be sure it’s a shared vision.

On Palm Harbor Golf Course:

IH: What is your take on the Centex mess?

JN: It’s the glass half empty or half full argument…

IH: Well, in your opinion, which is it?

JN: That depends. Is anybody happy about what happened with Centex? No, probably least of all Centex. No corporation that I am aware of ploughs money into something with the hopes that it will fail. So what’s the silver lining? We’ve been talking about municipal golf course for some time, acquiring land and developing it from scratch. The upside to the Centex debacle is that it provides city with an option that we can get a municipal golf course, perhaps, with much less cost.

IH: Is it much less cost though?

JN: Oh, sure, because when you start from scratch, the first thing you have to do is buy the land, and then you have to build from scratch. Where we stand right now, Centex agreed to donate the golf course to the city. We are still discussing just how much land they are donating, but the point is it’s a donation. The issue is, both, the consultant the city hired and friends of golf suggest that having land for a driving range is important for the course to succeed. So that’s where we are at now, trying to maximize our opportunity for success.

IH: Did you support the Palm Coast Resort project? Did you see any hidden dangers in the initial proposal and was there anything we could have done differently from the start that could have helped us avoid this situation?

JN: Practically speaking, no. I mean I’ve heard “you should have demanded a performance bond,” but you can’t. They weren’t building something for us. I’ve heard “you should have forced them to build the hotel first,” you can’t intrude on their business plan, at least not without accepting the risks as well as the benefits. If we intrude on their business plan and things go sour, what liability would we incur? You have to understand what the options were as we understood them. The background was, they came to the city and said: “we are losing money, the hotel is old, we’ve rehabbed rooms as many times as we can, the size, the shape, the layout of the resort is not commensurate with what people now are looking for in a destination resort. We want to tear it down and build condos…” Which they could have done with absolute right; that’s how it was zoned. The Council said: “we need the hotel, the amenities, the restaurant.” Centex, well actually Lowe Corporation at the time said: “that’s additional cost, additional risk and we need greater density to fund those additions.”

IH: So, could we have done anything differently in that situation?

JN: We could have refused the PUD.

IH: Would we have been better off if we had done that?

JN: Probably not. Think about what the alternative was – straight condos. You would still have had a phased project, straight condos, you would not have had the same height, that may be a benefit retrospectively, but it was still a phased project. Essentially, we would be in the same shape we are in now, only the one building they would have built would have been lower. Other than that, this was privately owned property, they had development rights, and I don’t think the end result would have been any different.

IH: Is there anything you would like to see changed in either the way we issue PUDs, or anything that would potentially prevent the possibility of abandoned properties?

JN: I don’t think there is much you can do to prevent abandonment of a project. Most projects whether you are talking single family or large developments are loan based. If the market changes, the lender is not available, the project is probably not going to be finished. As for doing something differently, if I had my druthers, I’d get the land development code out, get the review of the comp plan, and revise the code as necessary to incorporate the concepts of master planned communities, gateway communities. Build enough creativity into the land development code so that you don’t have what is typically called “Euclidean zoning”, streets and lots. Pass an ordinance, after all of this is done, that says that any amendment to the plan will require a super majority of the council… And, quite frankly, I’d be perfectly comfortable eliminating PUDs from our language. What is the function of a PUD? It’s to allow more creativity when you are hamstrung by your code…

IH: But it’s a bargaining chip…

JN: It is a bargaining chip, but if you can build that into the code, then you shouldn’t have to bargain. If you got a good comp plan that reflects a shared vision and a good land development code that implements that vision, you don’t need the PUDs.

Last Words:

IH: Last question because I know you have to run… Is there a place anywhere that you would want our city to model itself after?

JN: We are young, but we are not young. The majority of our city was planned 30 years ago. If we were starting with a blank piece of paper, I am sure Palm Coast would look differently now. But this is what we have. Where we have undeveloped land, we can develop it in a fashion that is more functional. When we moved here, we did it because we liked what we saw here. First and foremost, we need to maintain this as a desirable place to live. It’s amenities, it’s economic development, it’s balanced tax base… There is no one thing. The way you get amenities, is you fund them, but if you don’t have a balanced tax base, you are very limited at what you can do.

My Interview with Victor Good

Mr. Good and his wife, Julie, joined me for an early cup of coffee at Starbucks recently. Following is our not so brief conversation. Italics and brackets are mine.

IH: What made you run for Mayor?

VG: That was all kind of brought up by the Palm Harbor Golf Course… A lot of people were upset. We wanted to see someone else running, it’s just that a lot of the people in my area are retired and they came here to enjoy their retirement years, and not have to go and argue for something they feel should have been taken care of already…So anyway, we said we have an opportunity here with the elections coming up, let’s get some candidates here we can support…except that at the last minute no one had stepped forward, and I said “we can’t let Mr. Netts go virtually unchallenged, so…

IH: Was Joe (Cunnane) running already?

VG: Yes, Joe was running.

IH: So why would have Mr. Netts been unchallenged?

VG: Well, in a sense that the issues we felt were important to us needed someone who was really going to drive home our development issues and what had happened with Palm Harbor could happen to every other golf course in the city and that’s what people need to realize. It could happen in their neighborhood.

IH: What could have been done differently with the golf course from the start, given the current structure of our comp plan and regulations?

VG: It was never a well planned solution, but given the fact that they approved it, then you have to step in and look at… where are the deadlines, with penalties if they don’t perform; there should be rules where amenities are completed before the certificate of occupancy is given for the condo units, because now they have an 8-story condo unit with no amenities, and no one in their right mind is going to pay over a million dollars for a unit with no amenities and no hope on the horizon that those are going to be built.

IH: Can the city mandate something like that, given that it’s private property?

VG: You bet they can. They do it for you and I. If we want to do an addition on our home, we have deadlines, we have restrictions.

IH: How about if they didn’t ask for any exceptions, didn’t need to increase the height or the density, would the city still be able to mandate anything? VG: The city can within its rights under the Florida State Statute require performance bonds and completion and deadlines with penalties.

IH: Would you be ok with Centex handing over the golf course over to the city?

VG: Sure. But to turn it over is one thing, but their agreement was to have it in playable condition at all times, so they (Centex) need to fork over the 3 million dollars to get the course playable again. IH: So in essence the Centex situation is what made you want to run for mayor? VG: The thing that got me active is that I went to those council meetings and presented my issues to the council, I was told that there was nothing they could do. When I checked the facts, it turned out there was lots they should have done and could still do, but refused to. So that’s when I started checking into the larger picture of developing Palm Coast as a whole and the fact that all of these golf courses could have the same thing happen to them. I mean what drives this community? There are people that say when it comes to leisure services whether it be a golf course or a tennis facility that those are only for a few people, not the general public, but we all benefit from it. The fact is that they increase quality of life, increase our property values, make this a better place to live. I am all for whatever we can afford.

On New Tennis Facility… IH: Would you have voted for this new tennis facility?

VG: Well, here is the thing. People say that we built this private club for a 186 people… Well, I think the fact remains that it’s an amenity that enhances the value of the community for everybody, which helps everybody’s property values whether you use this tennis court or not.

IH: So you are ok with the city paying 2.5 million dollars for the tennis facility where a family will pay $700 a year to play?

VG: Yeah, I am ok with that. I think that the members are basically covering the annual costs of operations, and as long as that’s true and ongoing, it’s fine. Palm Coast was built originally as a retirement community, and it was those amenities that brought them here. It’s the golf courses, the amenities, proximity to the water, the Intracoastal and the marina, it’s the entire quality of life…When we were looking. There is a business we were representing in Deland, and when we came here we looked in Daytona, we looked in Port Orange, we looked around and then we came up A1A and ended up going over the bridge from the Hammock there was the entrance to the Palm Harbor golf course, there were these old oak trees, and that was it. There was nothing like that around. We looked into it further and learned that it has been there for 30 years, so we thought, great, it’s established, nothing is going to happen to it… And six months after we moved in, the great golf course renovation starts, they kill the grass, and boom (laughs), there we have it.

On Political Past

IH: What made you run for Congress?

VG: I ran on the ideals of what the reformists were; the need to bring political and democratic process back to the people.

IH: When did you first become interested in politics?

VG: Well, I was intrigued back in 92 with Ross Perot, because he really struck a chord with a lot of people and myself with his very simple solutions and what we could do. I think we look now at the results of NAFTA and GATT, and I think Perot was right.

On His Opponents

IH: What in your background makes you confident that you can beat Jon Netts, since I assume you don’t really consider Mr. Cunnane a viable opponent, since you haven’t brought him up at all?

VG: I consider Mr. Netts my opponent because of the fact that he didn’t hold up to what he was elected to do. He was elected to represent the citizens of Palm Coast and he chose to elect a few special interest large developers. I feel I can improve on that. I feel Mr. Netts got in over his head, that he is inexperienced at dealing with construction and contracting, has no background in that. His background is in administration. I feel that I have a lot more that I can add; that we need somebody who is more proactive instead of reactive, and we need to get ahead of this development and say: “what do we want the future of Palm Coast to be like”. And Mr. Netts had six years to help define that future and at this point we are looking at a crisis situation on a number of fronts, particularly water, which is something, coming from Colorado, I thought I’d never see in Florida which I thought had more water than I thought we could ever use.

On Water Problems/Solutions.

IH: You are opposed to the desalination plant, why?

VG: I think as a last resort, if we are very desperate that would be something to think about.

IH: You don’t think this is the last resort?

VG: No, I think there are other things. Nothing is set in stone.

IH: Give me one solution that you are aware of that you have looked into in detail?

VG: For one, you don’t approve any further development, or any large development tracts until we have a secure water resource that’s going to be able to service those units. I think there still room to negotiate with St. Johns (St. John’s Water Management District) if we come up with a plan and I don’t believe that pumping water that distance is that much out of the picture if that’s what it takes. But I also think there might be options where we can set aside a number of acres as temporary wetlands to use that for recharging the aquifer to allow for more use out of it.

IH: Temporary wetlands?

VG: Yes, unlike wetlands which don’t necessarily recharge the aquifer, temporary wetlands whenever it rains, that water goes directly into the aquifer, and if we could recharge that and stop the saltwater intrusion into our aquifers, there may be options for that.

IH: Has that been done anywhere that you are aware of successfully?

VG: No, it hasn’t even been looked at or proposed, but that’s the issue…

IH: Well, geologically speaking, would it work and why?

VG: It hasn’t been studied. That’s my thought. It needs to be looked at… We have other options and salt water desalination from what I saw in the Virgin Islands is extremely dirty and extremely costly. Our water rates, the fact that they are going up 12% next year, you can bet they will be going up substantially higher in the following years to cover the costs of 250 million. You know, we need to get some control… If by looking into this further and studying it we say, “ok, we have so much water to support so many homes,” then that’s basically what we have to limit ourselves to.

IH: As far as SJWMD is concerned we still have water to allow future development. So how do you propose stopping development?

VG: I don’t propose stopping development. I look at a sustainable option. Don’t continue to develop what you can’t sustain. If we can’t sustain the growth, we can’t allow it, and legally we have a duty to not allow it if we can’t sustain it, and that is within the rights of the municipal government to do this. Back when I went to college in Colorado State in the 80s, one of the things we started is zero-scape philosophy on landscaping, which is plant native materials that are not taking on supplemental water. When 70% of our water usage is for landscape, we could eliminate a good majority of it, especially here in Florida.

IH: I can see us doing that on city property, but not so much on private property. People want to buy exotics, and I don’t see how the city can tell residents that they can’t buy exotic plants for their yards…

VG: Well, it’s like saying we can’t have water restrictions… We have water restrictions where you can’t water on certain days or outside etc. It is something they did in Colorado… Anyway, here, in May 05 City Council approved 1000 units for development and in that same meeting they put emergency water restrictions on their residents. So to me, that’s not thinking ahead at all. We need to plan out our future and what we want it to be.

On Being New in PC

IH: Some people might hypothetically voice a concern you haven’t really been here long enough to know this city, to be able to make intelligent decisions. How would you address that?

VG: Well, I find it interesting that people would even say anything like that. The history of Mr. Netts speaks for itself. My history and my experience with contracting, horticulture, agriculture, whatever. But the fact that someone hasn’t lived here for more than two years… We could go back and say that only Florida natives should have a say in anything that happens in Florida, and that would eliminate 90% of the people who are here. So I don’t think that’s relevant. When we hired Jim Landon, the new city manager, everybody on the city council and in the community said: “oh, this is great; we get new ideas, fresh thinking…,” so I think the same thing applies to the city council.

IH: You have been pretty vocally unhappy about certain actions of Jim Landon, with the Centex thing anyway, how do you think you will get along with him if elected?

VG: Jim Landon is there to do his job and to initiate whatever the city council decided, but he is the guy that does the day to day operation. So, I mean, I think Jim Landon is still in a learning curve; I think he is doing very well, and I will have no problem working with him.

IH: Learning curve… How long do you think it will take you to get up to speed on everything that’s gone on?

VG: Well, I have no idea, I don’t believe there is much of a learning curve.. .I think the learning curve is non-existent if you have open discussion with the citizens. And I think that’s where a lot of frustration and I know my own frustration came when I went to the Council, got my 3 minutes to speak and then they basically ignored every concern I brought forward. I will not do that.

IH: So you would get feedback from citizens and that will fill in any blank that you may have?

VG: Sure, as far as I am concerned, they have been here 30 years plus, I have got neighbors up and down the street… It the ability to take advantage of the experience of the long time residents and they can help me fill in those blanks.

On Other Concerns

IH: What are the biggest concerns for you other than Centex?

VG: Well, it’s not Centex, it’s development as a whole. This is a bigger issue, it’s unplanned…We are not planning for the future, not planning for sustainable growth, for what we want Palm Coast to look like 20, 30 years from now and how are we going to sustain the growth.

IH: You know everybody says “sustainable growth”… What’s different with you saying it?

VG: But it’s worth looking into. There was a workshop on sustainability with seven counties participating that worked on exactly that. I’d like to implement something like that as soon as we can with surrounding communities and counties, because it’s more than just Palm Coast, it’s a regional issue.

On Attracting Industry/Business.

IH: How would you attract industry? Do you think Enterprise Flagler has done its job?

VG: Well, it’s starting to, but to bring small to medium size businesses we need the same thing that brought all of us here, the quality of life, the amenities, was something that intrigued us. With that, we got a lot of small businesses that we work with that are currently located in South Florida (referring to their aerospace marketing company) that would love to relocate here, but these small businesses look out for their families and their employees first, and how they are going to live.

IH: So how would you go about it?

VG: We have some possibilities with industry but those are few and far between. We have to compete with areas like Tulsa, Oklahoma, where City Council gave 30 million dollars to American Airlines to increase their in-house overhaul capabilities for their airline instead of outsourcing those items. We don’t have 30 million dollars for large industry, but we have quality of life that we can offer… One of the things Enterprise Flagler was working on was import/export business out of the Flagler Airport based on commodities, which to me will be very few and far between. There is not a whole lot of export businesses here in Flagler County. But I do know that there is a huge market right now in the aircraft services, because of the value of US dollar on international markets, it is more cost effective for companies from the UK and throughout Europe to send their aircraft components to the United States for overhaul and back again, because of the value of US dollar. We have an opportunity here to grow that industry, and I know there are a few of those businesses in South Florida that would love to relocate. We need to bring commercial tax base closer to the 25% level, and I think we can do that but at this point to attract businesses here; it’s the same issue, quality of life. We can offer an quality environment to raise a family in and bring their employees to. So with development, I am not anti-development, I am for quality development. I don’t want just thoughtless development that in the end is going to look no different than Orlando…

IH: What’s wrong with Orlando?

VG: It’s all concrete and high-rises.

Up Close and Personal…

IH: There is a line of yours when you refer to yourself as “being Good, not perfect.” And you have owned up to some criminal history when you ran for Congress in Colorado. What happened?

VG: Well, 30 years ago, about the time I had those three businesses started I had a bachelor’s party. There was a guy who was beating the heck out of my younger brother, and I grabbed a bottle and struck the guy with the bottle. I wish it didn’t happen, but it did, and in those seconds that I had to react, I mean the guy had my brother by his neck and I felt his life was in danger and I wasn’t gonna just stand there. So, I ended up pleading guilty to assault because, as my attorney said, I had a life to get on with. I had three businesses at the time, I had just gotten married, so I plead guilty to that.

IH: Did you end up serving time for that?

VG: Well, yes, 28 days in the County Hilton. But the interesting fact with it to me is, the guy that I actually hit with the bottle forgave me. He actually ended up being my room-mate a year later…

IH: But you do regret it.

VG: Oh, yes! What I regret is… It’s very easy for people to judge… I have to deal with the mistakes I’ve made… They didn’t affect the lives of the entire city, but I had a few seconds to react, and it cost me, the immaturity at that time in my life cost me my marriage…I mean it’s 2-3 decades ago. .. The male frontal lobe is not even formed until 27 year of age; that’s what the studies came out with.

IH: You were characterized by a person, the complex director over at Corbitt Hall as “a person who was uncooperative, unwilling to take any responsibility for his actions, very interested in only himself and his wellbeing, with no regard for others, and very demanding.”

VG: Where was this?

IH: This was from the complex director over at Corbitt Hall in 1980.

VG: Oh, in college?

IH: Yes.

VG: I have no idea what that is…

IH: That was another assault charge, which was earlier than the one you just referenced, you were 18 at that point…

VG: That was nothing, there were no charges on that…

IH: There were no charges?

VG: No, and I don’t have any idea about that… That was college; that was 30 years ago…

IH: According to CSU, you were arrested for that.

VG: Well, there is no conviction, I tell you that. Because people can falsely accuse people of anything they want, but that’s what the court process is for. When I’ve done and made mistakes, I own up to them, so those mistakes were college years…

IH: Did that incident happen? Did you pull a knife on your room-mate..?

VG: No, absolutely not. And it’s frustrating that in our society an arrest record, when there is no conviction, and when the charges are dropped or they are not validated, that record continues to stay with you your whole life.

IH: Ok, so you were arrested, but not convicted?

VG: I didn’t even realize I was arrested. I mean this is 30 years ago. {Victor Good was arrested and charged with menacing assault and later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a deferred sentence in this case, per the CSU PD and the DA’s office in Denver, CO}.

IH: Eluding and hit and run and vehicular assault charges?

VG: That was one of those things. 18 years old, just watched The Blues Brothers and had my buddies in the truck and went through an intersection a little too fast and the cop turned his lights on and my buddy said: “what do you think?” and somebody said right out of The Blues Brothers: “we’re on a mission from God,” and instead of hitting the brake to pull over I hit the gas and within half a block it was all over, hit a telephone pole.

IH: So that was the “hit and run”, hitting the pole?

VG: I guess. Was there a hit and run involved with that?

IH: Yes. Do you regret that one?

VG: Yeah, it was my new truck. I had it one day… and it was gone, and it took me 15 years to get my insurance rate down. {according to the narrative in the report from Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office, the hit and run charge was the result of Victor Good leaving the scene of the accident before the cops got to the car, and leaving behind his two buddies, who were both injured, one seriously.}

IH: So (according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s report) in 1980s, you have half a dozen of various arrests on your record, mostly assaults. Looking at it, you have owned up to some of those, not all of them,

VG: I’ve owned up to the ones that were true…

IH: Well, not all of them, but anyway,

VG: If those are dismissed, they are not factual…

IH: Ok, regardless, the perception by looking at this list of offences, granted from a few decades ago, makes one wonder if you had a history of being violent. Would you say that was the case? Were you responsible at that age?

VG: Well, if somebody wants to look at their life 20-30 years ago and judge their entire life on actions they took in their formative years, it’s unfortunate. We all grow up, and I…

IH: Have you grown up?

VG: Look at the last 20 years. I would think so. A lot of people like to judge other people without looking at themselves… To expect perfection out of another human being, it’s…

IH: Don’t fault us for that. First of all, everyone’s backgrounds were checked, and well, you are running for public office, we are not. When you are running for office, you expect that to happen…

VG: And that’s one of the reasons it was the last resort for me to run…because we came here to just relax, and we sure as heck didn’t need to go back to any mistakes I’ve made in the past…but… Julie: (to Victor): You make it sound like we came here to get away from that. That has never been the issue…

IH: It never hindered your ability to do anything?

VG: No, well, I mean, it’s there, it pops up just like this. It’s unfortunate, when stuff like that happens, it never goes away…But it’s a matter if people want to judge me on mistakes made 30 years ago, or they want to listen to what I have to say now and if they believe that I will represent them…

IH: And you haven’t made any mistakes recently as far as you are aware of…

VG: We all make mistakes, I mean I played the lotto a few times too many…

IH: Mistakes that show up as part of your public record?

VG: No, I have made no mistakes that are relative to that sort of thing…

IH: On May 24th of this year there was a complaint filed against you by a black woman who claims that you kicked her dog across the street, spat in her face and called her a racial term.

VG: I called her one?

IH: Well, allegedly, per the dispatch report…

VG: I made the call, because we have a cat and she let her dog run in our front yard in front of our cat, and it’s an un-neutered cat and if another animal comes near him, he starts marking his territory. So I asked her to get her dog out…and it (her dog) came up and got on my leg and I gave it a kick… But this is a little dog. If I had lodged that thing, it would have killed him…it’s a little rat dog… And when I asked her to put it on a leash she told me she was new here, and I said: “that’s ok, just put it on a leash and don’t let it up here.” First words out of her mouth were “f you”, and calling me white trash. And that’s when I said: “that’s enough,” and I went in and I call the Sheriff, and the Sheriffs came and they talked to her and talked to me and they said she was saying different things and …

IH: But you made the call?

VG: I made the call. She may have made a call too, but I called, as soon as it happened…She initiated a racial term, I would have never…Be very clear, racial terms are not in my vocabulary, never were never would.

IH: Did you spit in her face?

VG: No… {There is no record at the Sheriff’s office of Mr. Good making the call, and per the dispatch report, the woman was the complainant in this incident. She chose not to file charges against Mr. Good, but both officers who were dispatched to handle the incident confirm that she was the one who made the call… Per Mr. Good’s statement in the dispatch report, he kicked the dog because it was trying to bite him.} VG: Like I say, there is nothing more terrifying than someone making a false accusation against you. Like I said, I’ll own up to anything that I did. I, like I said, good, not perfect.

Last Words

IH: What would you do with what’s left in your campaign fund?

VG: If there is anything left over, and I don’t anticipate there being anything left over, because we don’t have that much, if there is anything left, I will probably give it to Florida Home Town Democracy.

IH: If you were not running, or if you get eliminated in the primary, which of the two candidates would you vote for?

VG: I won’t even think about, I have no idea. It’s not an option…

IH: If you had to vote tomorrow and you had to vote for one of the two, which one would you vote for?

VG: It’s not an option… I am in it to win, and I believe I can represented the people better than what Mr. Netts has done and I hope people will judge me on my vision for the future instead of 30 year-old issues…

My Interview with Joe Cunnane

Joe Cunnane sat at the table sipping water out of a bottle with the City of Palm Coast sticker on it, and politely refused my offer of a cup of coffee. He came prepared to campaign, loaded with a copy of his yet unpublished book and a handful of Vote Cunnane fliers. Following is the conversations as it took place, omitting only the campaign speech that preceded it. Italics and brackets are mine.

Why Cunnane is Running for Mayor:

IH: Tell me why you are running. Why did you run the 1st time?

JC: I ran the 1st time because I was told by friends to run. I am not sorry I did run. There was a field of nine people. I was the new kid on the block, and the man who won, Jim Canfield, should have won. I was sort of a late Johnny come lately on it and I helped put together the draft for the charter for the city of Palm Coast. I believed my background in IBM management lent itself to being a good Mayor of Palm Coast. That I had the right education, the right experience; that I had something to bring. That still applies today. Today even more so because I have been so involved in the community in various activities and know more about the city government and how the county government work. I, once again, believe that I am a viable candidate for Mayor. I truly believe that I can do a better job than my opponents who are running for this election. And I love the city of Palm Coast and I love the people and I come as a full-time candidate for mayor. I will not hold a part time job as mayor, so I will devote my entire attention to being the best mayor of Palm Coast, second – yes, but the best mayor Palm Coast has ever had, that’s why I am running for mayor.

IH: Why not a city Council position?

JC: I did run for City Council 2 years ago and lost to Mr. Allen Peterson. And since the position of mayor opened up, why not go for the top…

IH: OK. Do you perceive it as The Top?

JC: I do see it as the top, because he is the chief officer in the city of Palm Coast and in times of emergency the governor of the state contacts the mayor to evacuate and such things like that. It’s a ceremonial job in many respects: he signs documents and he goes to functions and… (smiles and says “no one is more ceremonial than Joe Cunnane with his roles…”) I laugh and mention his campaign photo where he is donning a tux and we move on…

JC: I fit the image of the mayor that ought to be ceremonial. I am in good health and I have a good attitude and I am happy, and that’s the type of person that should be mayor – somebody walking around smiling and helping people. Helping the young and the old, and all in between.

On His Opponents:

IH: As far as your opponents go, what makes you so confident you are better?

J.C.: I am not saying I am better…

IH (I rephrase): What makes you so confident you will do a better job?

J.C.: I am saying that I am more qualified. I will work better… I am not saying I am a better person they are, I believe I have better credentials business wise…

IH: Jon Netts has background in policy and administration as well as in city government, yours is in IBM management. What makes you better qualified?

J.C.: At IBM I dealt with all these issues, I dealt with major corporations, I am not intimidated by the person coming before the council in a 1000 dollar silk suit and the name of a large corporation behind him that these people in past council, and I hope they stay past, were shrinking violets…in the face of big business, if you will. However, business is essential; I am not against the business community at all, I am not against profit motivation, without it the business can’t stay in business, and they can’t help us, so I am not anti-business. I will make sure that contracts are written to protect resident of Palm Coast and not the profit holders of the business… They are capable of taking care of themselves, just as the place I worked for, IBM was when I worked there. So I would be hard pressed to let them get away with loopholes in contracts as they have today.

IH: are referring specifically to the Centex project?

J.C.: Yes. A lot of my work at IBM was to review business proposals and the administrating contracts for these businesses. I was the chairman of the business review board that was made up of lawyer, industry relations, marketing, engineering, and all the disciplines necessary to bid a huge contract for a huge corporation, such as American Airlines, Met Life, banks, etc… So that training where I was sitting in the room with big business operators gives me the ability to handle whomever and whatever comes before the council. I don’t believe that my opponents have this type of on-hands background. As a matter of fact I know they do not, one of them is an educator, the other one, I don’t know what he is… BTW: have you talked to my opponents yet?

IH: I can’t answer that question.

J.C.: Oh, well, I don’t care if you talk to them… So my opponents do not have credentials on the business side of it that I have. I don’t think either of my opponents has had that kind of training I had or managed the number of people that I have managed over the years, and fired… (as an afterthought, to me, you can leave out fired, that’s negative but essential to government business… in other words, if somebody in city government is not doing their job and deserves to be fired, they have to be…for the good of the residents, and sometimes, for the good of the individual, so they can go on and be more productive at something they are good at.)

On His Personal Background:

IH: In your opinion, having been here for 11 years, … (interrupts me with the brief interlude on living for years next to Shirley Chisholm and offering Irish greetings to her, and on to a bit about his Irish background:)

IH: You were born in Queens. You feel yourself very much Irish?

J.C.: Yes, my background was in the Irish community, until I went in the Navy. My mother and father are from Ireland…(shows me a ring with a clover leaf on it that was fashioned in his mother’s hometown.) Shortly, we move on to IBM again and his role in the company with securing American Airlines contracts throughout the country. After a while, a thought drifts closer to home:

J.C. : I had to not only secure the contracts, but see them through and make sure that the terms were followed, which is what is falling apart here in Palm Coast with contracts not adhered to… Some of it is the lawyers that we have, who draft the contracts. We at IBM would only hire the best attorneys from the best schools… Here we veer off into the years at IBM, and come back after a few minutes…

JC: …So that’s why I say I have more experience than my opponents… That, and to my knowledge, neither of my opponents was in the military, not that there is anything wrong with not being in the military, but there is a certain amount of training that comes with being in the military… By leaving home and learning about what they call a chain of command. And some people miss the chain of command; it’s very essential in businesses and in governments that you know how to conduct yourself and follow the chain of command… There is something to be said for military training and I have never regretted joining the Navy at 17 and getting that training. And had I not joined the military and become a veteran I would not be the member of the VFW here in Palm Coast, where I was recently elected to a trustee position by the membership. So that was my last election…and I won. But we have over a 1000 members, so that’s significant.

IH: What do you think, less your IBM and military training, is your strongest character trait?

J.C.: I think it’s my personality. I have the personality to work with people, to get along with people, to bring people together. And that’s essential if anything is going to get accomplished. We do have diversity in Palm Coast, which I welcome, and I want people to keep coming to Palm Coast. I am encouraged more by those that have been here no more than five years and love it than the ones that didn’t leave after they decided that we shouldn’t be a city. And their numbers are fewer but they are more vocal than the people that like it. And there is a lot to do here and a lot to like here and I am willing to take on that charge.

On City’s Past Mistakes…

IH: What do you think of the new city manager?

J.C.: I am in favor of him at this time, because he impresses me. I talked to him a few times… I think he shows promise, and can do the job, given the positive city council. See, if they give him opposition and not work with him, he’ll get disgusted and leave, so we don’t want to discourage him. He is off to a good start and I would do everything in my power to continue changing the tone of city government, which was negative. The past city manager was too harsh in his dealings not only with the residents of the city but also with our neighbors and the county, and I would see the new council being friendlier and reaching out to solve problems that should be solved, must be solved.

IH: Well, Dick Kelton was a business man…

J.C.: Yes he was, but there is an attitude that goes with the business men. Some that are good and very cheerful and others that are horrible.

IH: Do you think he got the job done?

J.C.: No he didn’t. He got things done, but the stress that was caused in doing them I doubt it was worth whatever he thinks he accomplished. He did not accomplished because of his attitude… I’ll give you one example: the referendum to build the city hall and the two city centers. When I first heard about it, I went to Ira Corliss (Special Projects Manager for the City of Palm Coast) and told him that it should be broken out. At the time it was a package of all three, take it or leave it, and that was the attitude, that we could railroad it down the residents’ throats and if someone wanted a city center they had to take the city hall with it, and if somebody wanted to have the city hall but not the city center, they had to take the center with it… I wanted it broken up into 3 pieces, but only accomplished to have it broken up into two, the community centers and the city hall. I believe that we would have had the additional community center today, had they listened.

IH: What is your opinion on the city hall; do we need a new one?

J.C.: Eventually, we will need one. It’s hard to become a good city, a proud city where the city hall is housed temporarily in a factory building. What I would like to see come about is that while Palm Coast Holdings promised us the land, they have not deeded us the land in the Town Center we could use to build the city hall without undue restrictions on building timelines. I would like to see the city, even if it costs us money, to acquire the land for the city hall, and maybe put up a bandshell or something with live music for the residents, until such time as we can afford to build the city hall. We have to have the land purchased, deeded now to realize the savings on the land, as it will go up in price.

On the Arts and Entertainment Center slated for the Town Center…

JC: I am very encouraged, as a businessman, with the progress at the town center, and the amenities for the residents, such as the Arts and Entertainment Foundation Theater. I am encouraged that the city is willing to give land to this project, but it’s again, conditional with when the construction has to be completed, and how much money needs to be raised, etc. What is the hurry up all about? Palm Coast is a growing city and these things have to grow naturally; when you force something, the results aren’t as good… {note: Mr. Cunnane is a member of the Palm Coast/Flagler Foundation for the Arts and Entertainment.}

IH: When was a last time you were at a show at the Flagler Auditorium?

J.C.: I worked as an usher and a ticket clerk at the Auditorium, so I have seen shows there many times.

IH: How many times have you seen a show sold out?

J.C.: Not many, unfortunately…

IH: Why do you think that is?

J.C.: I think it has to do with advertising and the entertainment they bring in is rehashed, so I think the selection process has let them down…

IH: To put on a decent show, do you have any idea how much it costs?

J.C.: Very expensive.

IH: What would make you believe that the Arts and Entertainment Foundation, should they build the facility, will be able to sell enough tickets to cover the costs and not end up costing tax payers any money?

J.C.: It’s not tax payers’ money.

IH: Should they fail, in one way, shape or form it could become taxpayers’ money…

J.C.: That’s not true. It’s donated moneys; it’s not tax money going into it…

IH: I am projecting…

J.C.: You are spelling out the worst case scenario. I think the more seats you have, the better entertainment you can bring in. The newness and the location should also help it succeed. I believe it will succeed, and people will pay for the right shows.

IH: Should it fail, if you are elected as mayor…

J.C.: When I am elected as mayor…

IH: (playing along) When you are elected as mayor, do you think that it should at any point become supported by the tax payers.

J.C.: No, I will be saddened to see it go, but absolutely not. I don’t think the government should get involved. I am all for small government, not large government. The last thing is government should do is to run a theater, or a restaurant for that matter…

On the New Tennis Facility:

IH: Would you have voted for the new 2.5 million dollar tennis facility?

J.C.: I would have voted for the new tennis facility as tennis was one of the prime motivators for many residents to move to Palm Coast. It was unfortunate that they lost a first class facility for tennis players (the Player’s Club), that was promoted and available to them when they moved here. I am sympathetic that these people came here and lost something that enhanced their quality of life. I think the new tennis center will be a first class facility and I think it will succeed.

Some Thoughts on The Environment:

IH: What if anything are we doing wrong when it comes to preserving the natural beauty of this place, the environment?

J.C.: The environment definitely needs to be protected. We have today a recycle program that is not adequately enforced in the city of Palm Coast. When I drive up the street I see half the homes using the recycle bin. The communication of the need to recycle has not been sufficient enough. People should be made aware that when we do recycle, we receive monies back from the waste company. It’s not a huge amount of money, but there is a saving.

IH: What happens to the money we get back from recycling?

J.C.: It goes into the city’s fund. One of the carrots I see is reducing the residents’ bill if they recycle, and noting it on their utility bill. That’s a hot button to me, as you can tell.

IH: What else are we doing wrong?

J.C.: The water. I want to turn it into a business. There was a huge amount of money in uncollectable water bills. And it goes on for months and months and months. I would have them shut it off, and then evaluate it on a case by case basis. They can handle exceptional cases individually…I am a compassionate person, so I wouldn’t shut someone’s water off if they really needed a bit of a break, but that to me needs to be addressed. Those losses was just sloppy administration, as far as I am concerned. I would probably look to fire somebody if they were that negligent.

IH: What are we doing right?

J.C.: We are fixing and have been fixing the infrastructure, namely roads that were in sad need of re-pavement. The fact that we are installing lights where they are necessary. Some people would like to see more lights, but that would come in time. There is a big bill associated with putting the lights on. There are 550 miles of roads in Palm Coast, so it has to be done smart. I believe the city council should have worked smarter, not harder.

On The Incumbents

IH: Would you be happy to see everyone on the current City Council gone?

J.C.: The incumbents, yes. They didn’t do a good job. They fell down on the job, and in the election year they become very concerned about everything and they sound very good, but they were there and we need new team members. They have baggage, and if they are reelected, and I hope they won’t be, they will just give excuses for what they did wrong. The new members won’t do that, but it’s human nature, and I don’t hold it against them, I just want them gone. We have Council members that do talk more than they should, accomplish less than they say they would like to see accomplished…

IH: How do you think you will get along with the County Commissioners? Anyone on there you would like to see gone?

J.C.: I would like to see Mr. Darby either step down or be removed, Mr. Hanns…

IH: Why?

JC: I think they did the best they could but have out-staid their welcome. I believe that a new broom sweeps clean, and it’s time for a clean sweep both at the city level and at the county level. We have Abbott there now, we have Ms. Holland, we have Jim O’Connell who worked with me at IBM, worked for me…

IH: And Mr. O’Connell you are ok with staying?

J.C.: Yes, absolutely. He is the dissenting voice, and they just beat up on him. Ms. Holland, Abbot and Jim O’Connell will vote their conscience; they are not a simple majority that will vote in the block, like the other individuals I mentioned. If the incumbents, both here and at the city stay on, they will vote a simple majority, and it will be unwise.

IH: One of your opponents, Mr. Netts, has been actively involved in government of Palm Coast for a long time and is a pretty well-known person. Does that intimidate you?

J.C.: No not at all. The attitude of the government which he was part of turned off the residents on several issues and he’s lost his popularity due to all of this, and I think he will be swept out of office because of his past performance as a council member. He always straddled the middle of the road… He is a consensus individual. I am more a maverick, as you can probably tell… And Netts is not the worst thing that you could have as a mayor. I use this as a good example; I will be approachable. I am listed and I challenge people to come up to me and say Hi…Integrity is very important to me. I have it.

On Attracting Business:

IH: What would it take for a company, such as IBM to want to move any of their various offices here?

J.C.: I don’t see a Fortune 500 company moving here, but a business with under 300 employees might find this place ideal, but we have to make a better impression. Right now, bringing people to our city hall is embarrassing; I have gone to Police Stations that were friendlier. It has to be more welcoming that our Fort Knox.

Last Words:

IH: First thing you would do as mayor?

J.C.: I would meet with every one, all the new winners and get to know them. I would bring about the change of attitude in the city administration, where a friendlier manner is used and not the ‘big stick’ approach utilized by the past administration.

IH: How much money have you raised?

J.C.: A couple thousand. I am not soliciting funds from any special interests… I do not want to be owned by anyone… When I ran for Council, I contributed over 8,000 to my own campaign. At this stage of my life I cannot be bought. If someone gave me over $100.00 toward my campaign, I would turn it down.

IH: If you are not elected or don’t get through the primary election, who would you vote for out of the remaining two candidates?

J.C.: I would vote for Jon Netts. Victor Good is a phantom; I can’t imagine anyone voting for him. He is a wannabe. I think for the residents’ sakes it is better to vote for the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.