Kathy Austrino is one of four candidates running for the District 1 seat on the Palm Coast City Council. She faces Shara Brodsky, Ty Miller, and Jeffery Seib. None of the four are incumbents, with the seat being vacated by Councilman Ed Danko’s decision to run for County Commission instead of seeking re-election. This is Austrino’s second bid for elected office, following a campaign for Palm Coast Mayor in the 2021 special election.
The Palm Coast City Council elections, including Mayor, will be open to all residents of Palm Coast regardless of their party affiliation or whether they reside in the applicable district. In the District 1 race, a primary election will be held on August 20th with Austrino, Brodsky, Miller, and Seib appearing on the ballot. If one of those candidates receives one vote more than 50.0%, they’ll win the seat then and there. If none reach that threshold, the top-two in votes will advance to a runoff election on the November ballot.
Other Candidate Interviews
Flagler County Commission:
- Andy Dance – Flagler County Commission, District 1
- Fernando Melendez – Flagler County Commission, District 1
- Kim Carney – Flagler County Commission, District 3
- Bill Clark – Flagler County Commission, District 3 (Did Not Complete)
- Nick Klufas – Flagler County Commission, District 3
- Ed Danko – Flagler County Commission, District 5
- Michael McElroy – Flagler County Commission, District 5
- Pam Richardson – Flagler County Commission, District 5
Flagler School Board:
- Derek Barrs – Flagler School Board, District 3
- Janie Ruddy – Flagler School Board, District 3
- Lauren Ramirez – Flagler School Board, District 5
- Vincent Sullivan – Flagler School Board, District 5
East Flagler Mosquito Control Board:
- Julius ‘Jules’ Kwiatkowski – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 1
- Perry Mitrano – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 1
- Lance Alred – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 3
- Ralph Lighfoot – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 3
Palm Coast City Council:
- David Alfin – Palm Coast Mayor
- Peter Johnson – Palm Coast Mayor
- Alan Lowe – Palm Coast Mayor
- Cornelia Downing Manfre – Palm Coast Mayor
- Mike Norris – Palm Coast Mayor (Did Not Complete)
- Kathy Austrino – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
- Shara Brodsky – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
- Ty Miller – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
- Jeffery Seib – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
- Dana ‘Mark’ Stancel – Palm Coast City Council, District 3
- Ray Stevens – Palm Coast City Council, District 3
- Andrew Werner – Palm Coat City Council, District 3
Interview Criteria
- The object of the interview is not to grill the candidate, nor to give them softballs. Ideally, in their answers the candidates provide to voters a useful insight into their ideology, their priorities, and their knowledgeability and preparedness for office.
- These questions are sent to each declared candidate in Flagler County’s local elections. All candidates running for the same office received the same exact questions.
- The only edits made are for spelling, formatting and basic grammar (i.e., ‘their’ when it should be ‘there’). Censorship of profanity may also be applied if it were applicable. Otherwise, answers are presented in their full form as the candidate provides them.
- Answers are subject to fact-checking if they contain information that’s blatantly misleading or untrue (misrepresenting factually verifiable information, misquoting a statistic, etc). Clarifications will be added underneath the candidate’s answer if applicable. The answers will still be presented as given even if a fact-check or clarification is needed.
Candidate Interview
Date of Birth: November 19th, 1970
Hometown: Meymouth, Massachusetts
Career/Educational Resume: “Real Estate Services, Some College”
1. Describe your experience forming and managing budgets, aside from personal/home finance.
“The largest budget that I’ve managed was $895,000. As a Community Association Manager, the most important task is preparing the community budget, assisting the community sort through needs over desires, and then guiding the community to stay within the approved budget.”
2. Is Palm Coast growing too rapidly? If so: what makes the growth excessive, and what should the City Council be doing differently? If not: what would you say to ease the concerns of those worried about the pace of growth?
“Yes, it is. On July 23rd I went to the City Council Meeting with reports from our local MLS showing that as of that morning Palm Coast had 1007 residential units active for sale. Today we’re at 1111 (not included in that number is the 389 that are in contract). I brought a report showing a steady increase of days on the market since November of 2023, and the expired listings have been steadily rising since March 2024. Also, at this meeting I asked for the number of residential units already approved that have not broken ground yet. Additionally, I asked if they could share the vacancy rates of all the apartments we already have. I’m still waiting for that information.
“I’m concerned with the alarmist style messaging (in my opinion) that all the folks looking to move here are coming and we better keep building. We can control this; folks can’t move into a structure that doesn’t exist. I am not interested in a moratorium on building – the infill lots are clearly slated to be built upon. All other building: I believe we need more information as to what our actual needs are with all that has already been approved.
“One of my fears is that similar to the inner portion of Town Center, the Westward Expansion will be small offerings and subdivisions long before we see any sports complex. (It has taken over 20 years for the groundbreaking of The Promenade.) I did mention this concern live on the radio and the next morning I had a visitor to my office concerned about me speaking of my ‘conspiracy theory live on the radio’ and then before they left the person suggested that I reach out to the Home Builders Association so they could help me understand how much revenue a home brings in. I said ‘ok’ but thought – I nailed it.
“We can work on the Westward Expansion with revenue in mind and while we do we can also welcome folks into all that is already in the pipeline. Perhaps they’ll choose to rent an apartment while waiting for their new home down the road.”
3. What do you make of the expression ‘development pays for itself’? Is that true in Palm Coast?
“There is good & bad to everything – if the message is that development pays for itself then why do we have roads falling apart? Clearly the added stress on our streets hasn’t benefited so it seems to me that that portion of the added development is now the burden of the taxpayers. Time is money; it hasn’t paid for anyone to take more time to get anywhere in Palm Coast.
“It would be nice if folks were spoken to kinder within the messaging – a little consideration to their pains within these changes.”
4. Are there any new or underutilized revenue streams you can name that Palm Coast could tap into to support its operating budget? If so, expand upon your plan for implementation.
“I’ve shared with others; I have concerns with our staffing dollars. We seem to be top heavy, and I think there needs to be a third-party review in this area. Also, we need to be sure that our support staff are well supported.
“We must clean up the lack of trust between the Community & the City. Without a more harmonious community we will not attract companies with the ability to bring higher paying jobs. Taking over a year to explore the communities desire to have an audit just to have companies present what the audit would entail is absurd. Pushing off the community in this way is not helping.”
5. What’s your opinion on the firing of City Manager Denise Bevan? Was the firing necessary, and was it handled well by the City Council?
“I waver on this topic. She is lovely though I do believe letting her go was the correct decision. I understand if we must let someone go, they need to go immediately. However, this scenario appeared as if some Council knew this would be brought up at the meeting while a couple appeared completely blindsided. Almost as if it were well orchestrated. That is concerning.”
6. Give your evaluation of these city leaders: interim City Manager Lauren Johnston, Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo, and Stormwater & Engineering Director Carl Cote.
“No, I don’t think I will. I have thoughts & opinions; however, I’m not there working with them daily yet. This wouldn’t be fair to them or me.”
7. Though Palm Coast has taken steps to plan educational and vocational opportunities for its graduating residents, many Gen-Z Palm Coast residents complain of little recreation or entertainment in the city that appeals to them. Is there anything the City Council can or should do to address these complaints?
“Again, if we don’t clean up the trust issues and foster better relationships with our residents, what businesses would want to come here. I don’t aim to belabor this point, though if we don’t sure up our foundation before we continue to grow Palm Coast will turn into a city out of control.
“As to what appeals to Gen Z – they would benefit from the suggested sports complex & arena. Unfortunately, that doesn’t answer the problem today. I also find it unfortunate that over the past 20 years my generation has shared these concerns and still here we are. It’s time that the residents are listened to.”
8. City Council members are paid $24,097 a year, thanks to a raise the Council approved for itself in 2022. The Mayor makes $30,039 comparatively. Are you in favor of revisiting these figures, either to increase or decrease them, if you’re elected to the City Council?
“The original suggested amounts were higher, and I agreed with them then. I realize folks believe they don’t do enough – that is just not true. When you see any of your Council Members or Mayor out & about, they’re working. They don’t have specific hours as that would be impossible – their phone calls, texts, and emails are steady day, night, weekends, & holidays.
“Though, there is one thing that I would have done differently, and I spoke to it in 2022 – I would have voted for the raise and had it go into effect after my term. You should never vote your own pocket.”
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
