Palm Coast Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo will be departing from his job with the city in July to become the Assistant City Manager of Palm Bay, Florida. His exit will come on July 11th, leaving the City of Palm Coast without one of its more tenured senior leadership officials.
“I want to sincerely thank you for the opportunity to be part of the team,” DeLorenzo said in his resignation letter to acting City Manager Lauren Johnston. “I have truly enjoyed working with such a dedicated and hardworking staff. Palm Coast is a beautiful community with great potential and it has been a pleasure collaborating with colleagues who are committed to excellence and support one another.”
Palm Bay is located in southern Brevard County, about an hour and forty-five minutes south of Palm Coast. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 119,760, giving DeLorenzo about a 34.2% increase in the number of residents he’ll serve.
DeLorenzo’s tenure in Palm Coast began when he was elected to the City Council in 2011, defeating Dennis Cross by just 36 votes out of over five thousand. In 2016 he ran for the Flagler County Commission, seeking to unseat Charlie Ericksen. He came about four thousand votes short, with a 45.71% showing.
Working in the private sector for some time, DeLorenzo served as Government Affairs Director for the Flagler Home Builders Association for a decade, until he left at the end of 2017 to join Southern Title. In July 2019 he was hired by Palm Coast as its Chief Development Officer. He was promoted to Chief of Staff in October 2022, a position he’s held ever since.
When he starts his new position, DeLorenzo will work under a familiar face: former Palm Coast City Manager Matt Morton. From 2019 to 2021 Morton was the administrative head of the Palm Coast government, with him resigning just after former mayor Milissa Holland did so. In the interim he worked in land acquisition before being hired as Palm Bay City Manager earlier this year.
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.
