AskFlagler Mosquito Control Candidate Interview: Perry Mitrano

Perry Mitrano is one of two candidates running for Seat 1 on the East Flagler Mosquito Control Board. He faces Julius ‘Jules’ Kwiatkowski, the incumbent commissioner. Mitrano is also known for being the active Chair of the Flagler Republican Party. He’s run for Mosquito Control in years past, and also applied to fill out the remainder of a Palm Coast City Council term following a resignation in 2022.

All three Mosquito Control seats were up for election this year, but incumbent Commissioner Mike Martin did not draw a challenger, leaving only two races to appear on the ballot in November. Along with Mitrano and Kwiatkowski, incumbent Ralph Lightfoot will face challenger Lance Alred for Seat 3.

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: June 1958

Hometown: Bronx and Westchester, New York

Career/Educational Resume: 

Career – Family-owned scrap, recycling, and solid waste service business, worked for two Fortune 500 waste companies for many years until 2007, then owned three bread routes in Jacksonville and a small restaurant in Ormond-by-the-Sea until worked with the City of Bunnell for about ten years as the Solid Waste Director, Utilities Water & Wastewater Utilities, Public Works – Parks Rec and Fleet Services Director then retired from the City. Currently, I am working as an Auctioneer/Business Manager in my wife’s company.

Educational Resume – Parochial School Education from Elementary School, Middle School, and Salesian Preparatory High School with Multiple Summers Spent Abroad throughout Europe and a well-rounded resume of business, corporate, and life experience.

1. The East Flagler Mosquito Control District is one of the county’s least understood government agencies, certainly among those with elected representatives. In your words, what should residents look for in a Mosquito Control Commissioner? What makes you someone who embodies those characteristics?

“The good news is that the District’s push to seek outreach will make their job less misunderstood. When I ran the first time in 2020, they needed more outreach. I pushed their information out on my social media pages. What I see now is an even better job by them.

“It’s a service business; that is my business experience. I bring that experience and knowledge to the Commission.”

2. Building further upon public awareness, how good a job is the Mosquito Control District presently doing at educating the county on the nature and importance of its functions?

“They are doing an excellent job as the District, but as the commissioners, other than Commissioner Martin, I don’t see too much from the other two commissioners. They attend the meetings and seem more engaged now than before, driven by their Chairman, Mike Martin.”

3. Describe your experience forming and managing budgets, aside from personal/home finance.

“The staff solely drives the budget. The Commission is required to ask intuitive questions and seek answers from the staff that the Commission may ask. Pointing the District down a path that may benefit the organization is proper. Still, the staff should be competent in maintaining and managing responsible growth and be diligent in fleet maintenance and replacement. They should always ensure the safety of employees and the public at the forefront of operations as they are the day-to-day managers. My experience includes years of private sector middle management, owning my own businesses, and executive-level management as a Director for a City with multiple budgets.”

4. How would you evaluate the East Flagler Mosquito Control District’s current preparedness to coordinate with other relevant government agencies, such as the Department of Health, in the event of a mosquito-borne illness outbreak in Flagler County?

“This is a great question because the District is currently in excellent action and doing a fine job. Several years ago, there was a suggestion that the District work under the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The County Board of Commissioners adopted this, so the East Flagler Mosquito District falls under the EOC’s purview, which connects the dots for working with other agencies.

“In closing, I entered the 2020 race because we almost lost the District in 2017-18 through mismanagement and Commission complacency. Focusing on the Commission, complacency was the term used by the audit done by the Clerk of Court for the State. Although there were improper procedural processes, the audit stated no wrongdoing. However, if it hadn’t been for the auditing firm to find these improper processes, the District would have been lost to its own devices. The commissioners then only operated with two out of three commissioners because one commissioner was relieved of his duties due to personal business activities that had nothing to do with the District. In essence, irresponsibly, the remaining two Commissioners operated for three years as just a two-person board. If one commissioner had been unable to attend, the District couldn’t have operated to pay simple bills like payroll. They should have asked the Agricultural Commissioner to have the Governor appoint a third commissioner, but they didn’t. Highly irresponsible.”