AskFlagler County Commission Interview: Fernando Melendez

Fernando Melendez is one of two candidates running for the District 1 seat on the Flagler County Commission. He is challenging incumbent Commissioner Andy Dance, whose first term on the Commission expires this year. Dance, a Republican like Melendez, was elected over Democrat Corinne Hermle in 2020. Melendez has one other campaign under his belt, a close loss to Cathy Heighter for a Palm Coast City Council seat in 2022.

Melendez and Dance will appear on the August 20th primary ballot, in an election that’s open to all Flagler County voters regardless of voter registration. The winner of that election will win the seat outright, with no runoff elections taking place due to the presence of only two qualified candidates.

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: October 18th, 1962

Hometown: Palm Coast, FL

Career/Educational Resume: “Master’s Degree in Political Science with a major in economic growth. I moved to Flagler County, from upstate NY with my wife of 30 years and my son who’s 28.  In NY for the last twenty-five years, I worked in the bus industry both as a driver and as an elected union official representing over 14000 drivers. Advocating and representing them was the only encouragement I needed to advocate and serve my community. My qualifications are a combination of experience, skills and resources. My background in education has prepared me to serve my community. I hold a bachelor’s degree in human services and psychology from Boricua College in NY. A master’s degree in political science with a concentration in economic growth from SNHU. A Palm Coast Virtual Citizens Academy 2017 graduate. A Flagler County Citizens Academy 2024 graduate. A former board member on the 2021 Palm Coast Redistricting Commission Board, and former member and chair on the Flagler County Planning and Development Advisory Board. I am also the current Community Director for the Knights of Columbus at SEAS Parish. I hold a certificate of completion from the Florida’s Institute for Political Leadership Program.

“I’m very proud to say that I was also highly recognized by the Republican Executive Committee with the very distinguished Frank J Meeker Spirit award, one of only two given by the REC in its history in Flagler County. I’m a person. I’d say that I’ve always been selfless and concerned more with the needs of others than myself.”

1. Do you believe your national political views are relevant to Flagler County voters? If so, explain what you hope those beliefs will communicate to residents about what kind of commissioner you’d be.

“I do not believe national politics are relevant to local politics. I’m running on local issues, and issues that affect all residents in Flagler County. Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or Independent the pressure continues to mount here in our own backyard. That is my concern and why I’m running. The county is broke, facing fiscal shortfalls year after year, it is nothing new and scrambling for funding whether a half cent sales tax today or a beach renourishment tax tomorrow is nothing new. Unfortunately, the commissioners have lost the honor of spending your tax dollars, that honor goes to County Administrator Heidi Petito. I’m bringing that honor back to you and those you elected to represent you. Any future proposed policy will have to define the benefits to the taxpayers period. I’ve already served for three years on the planning board and have voted against irresponsible rezoning. I voted against a 240-unit apartment complex on SR-100 next to BJs. Can you imagine? On SR-100, but my opponent voted for it because he was doing someone a favor. I will be a very fiscal-oriented county commissioner.”

2. What personal qualities do you possess that you believe would make you effective in forming consensus in a group with diverse viewpoints and philosophies?

“My decision-making methods are a quality of its own, in the sense that I will go through the process of interaction and consensus with my peers. My philosophy when it comes to making decisions is to continue to acquire knowledge through workshop meetings and listening to our residents as I recently did as the Chair of the Flagler County Planning and Development Advisory Board. I will fully review, take notes and meet with the County Administrator/Director of Projects AICP/Planner, etc. All beforehand and making any kind of decisions.”

3. In the long term, how much of Flagler County should remain undeveloped? Are local elected officials doing enough to prioritize conservation?

“Yes! The county is doing a great job at not only conservation but acquiring additional properties to ensure more conservation. Just recently Flagler County made its first in ten years acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands. I hope to continue to further those efforts. This is a great addition to our conservation lands inventory; the property is adjacent on three sides to the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Pellicer Creek Conservation Area – approximately 3,000 acres of conservation land in northeastern Flagler County that is connected to the 1,500-acre Princess Place Preserve.”

4. How do you view residential versus commercial development in terms of importance to Flagler County’s economic future? Is the county falling behind on either?

“When it comes to Economic Development it’s not even listed as an element required in the comprehensive plan, therefore it shows exactly the commitment the county has when talking about economic growth. (None). After shutting down the Economic Development Department we had, now the county has basically gone with the generic approach. This is a wait and see if economic growth happens on its own. This approach will never let us balance out our tax base. Our residents will continue to carry the burden if we do not focus on bringing in more commercial development.”

5. Flagler County Commissioners are not bound by any term limits. If not compelled, do you believe in voluntarily relinquishing a seat after a certain number of years? How long would you serve in office if it were up to you?

“I am for term limits, no doubt about it, I’ve always said one term but if the residents think otherwise then you must make a choice due to popular demand.”

6. A 2016 study by the New York Times found that coastal flooding in Flagler County had more than doubled since the 60’s and 70’s. What actions can the county government take to help protect its coastal residents from this trend?

“The county’s long-term beach management plan unfortunately isn’t concrete yet due to the lack of funding sources. The county’s lack of communication with its residents, particularly the barrier island residents, is short of astonishing. Scrambling for funds has become the county’s M.O., which represents a discernible pattern. Backtracking from many of its attempts to raise funds whether from half cent sales tax, to now a countywide beach renourishment tax has all but become nothing more than messy attempts. I do support a modest, more reasonable but equal countywide fee for all residents and perhaps investigate all other options on the beaches as far as parking fees, if possible, [Tourism Development Council], some appropriations from the general funds as well, and lastly fiscal restraint. I am completely against the taxing-district method to weigh in the heavier tax burden on beachside residents that already pay higher taxes. Doing nothing isn’t an option, period.”

7. Give your evaluation of these county administrative leaders: County Administrator Heidi Petito, City Attorney Al Hadeed, and Special Projects Chief Holly Albanese.

“They all have their strengths, possess thorough knowledge of the principles of public administration as well as procedural practices. But also possesses some weaknesses in government accounting and government budget spending, intergovernmental relations. In some respects, my main concerns are on policy proposals, spending proposals, and lacking the future vision in preparing for growth.”

8. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in your professional career, measured by how it impacted others? What were your next actions?

“Serving on the planning board for the very first two meetings was a learning curve for me personally. As a new member of the planning board my mistake was to miscalculate both the agenda package and the time allotted to digest and go through it. I had to quickly adjust to achieve a level of knowledge to serve applicants in their best interest. Thankfully my mistakes in my opinion did not affect any applicant negatively in any way. My future actions will be to adjust and manage time more efficiently.”