Darlene Shelley is one of four candidates running for the Palm Coast City Council’s District 4 seat. The seat is being vacated by an outgoing Charles Gambaro, who is running for U.S. Congress instead of seeking another term. Shelley’s opponents are Dylana ‘Dee’ Galery, John Kvederis, and Ramon Marrero. None of the four have held elected office before.
The 2026 primary election is on Tuesday, August 18. Palm Coast voters will be able to vote for the City Council seats for Districts 2 and 4. District 3 was also up for election, but Ray Stevens was the only candidate who filed to run and was thus elected unopposed Whether residents reside in a given district does not prevent them from voting in all districts that are up for election.
If one of the candidates receives at least one vote more than 50.0% on August 18, they will win the election then and there. If none do, the top two candidates will advance to a runoff election on November 3.
Other Candidate Interviews
(Will be added as they are submitted)
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: February 8, 1969
Hometown: Born in Morristown, New Jersey, hometown is Chester, New Jersey
Career/Educational Resume: “I worked at and managed my family’s Garden Center and Flower Shop in Chester NJ for 10 years, then served 25 years in Operations Management for Home Depot in multiple locations in NJ and FL.”
1) Describe any relevant experience you have managing budgets, particularly situations that demanded difficult cuts.
“In my career I was responsible for Profit and Loss and Budget Performance, Safety, Exceeding Sales Goals, Controlling Costs, Human Resources, and maintaining high levels of customer service. My stores did exceptionally well meeting service level goals, managing expenses, delivering results, operating safely, increasing moral, and surpassing sales plans therefore eliminating any need for difficult cuts and ensuring maximum bonus and profit sharing for my associates.”
2) How would you assess the City Council’s productivity and decorum over the past two years?
“I believe having two appointed/unelected council members has made it difficult for cohesion on the dais. The political theater by Vice Mayor and two unelected council members harmed the ability for our duly elected mayor to be effective and caused a lack of trust for the community.
“I believe decorum will return when city council is filled with duly elected candidates that represent the residents and can work together to ensure that the mayor is supported, City Manager is engaged with staff, priorities are set to eliminate waste, unnecessary layers of government are removed, city employees are challenged to deliver results that will enhance quality of life for local residents, work to improve infrastructure is prioritized, grant funding sources for overdue maintenance are fully explored, staff is evaluated and rewarded according to performance. and poor performance is addressed promptly.”
3) Has the advocacy of developers and related professionals been a detriment to Palm Coast in event years? If so, please explain why you think so.
“I believe there has been harm done to the city by poor decisions made by those that potentially profited from or had special interests in decisions made on the dais. Zone changes, special exception uses, land swaps and annexations were enabled by officials that received campaign contributions from the very developers, property managers, realtors, and related companies that were incentivized to increase density, given lowered impact fees, smaller lot sizes, and zero lot lines, all of which potentially lower property values, overburden infrastructure, cause flooding, negatively impact the safety, health, and welfare of neighboring communities, and place increased costs upon the existing taxpayers. Required protections for local residents were ignored, dismissed, and eliminated.”
4) How is Palm Coast performing at engaging their residents? Do you have ideas to improve communication and/or transparency?
“Palm Coast spends an exorbitant amount of tax dollars on surveys and public opinion polls and then ignores the results and does not listen to the residents. West-ward example is one example, rated low by residents yet 126 million was sought for an unnecessary loop road, while Old King’s Road widening is a decade overdue, Town Center Blvd is riddled with potholes, and flooding problems go unresolved. Improving communication and transparency is an easy fix. ALL financial documents should be available to residents without having to complete a freedom of information request or pay a fee. We have a right to know EXACTLY where our tax dollars and grant funding is being requested, spent and for what meaningful purpose that adds value for local citizens.”
5) How can Palm Coast approach westward expansion for the best possible outcome? Is the city as prepared for these potential steps as they should be?
“The best possible outcomes will be well planned, carefully researched, provide tax base diversity, create good careers and high paying employment opportunities, protect wetlands and fragile ecosystems, include wildlife corridors, embrace and preserve all of the historic and iconic places, provide all of the public amenities required in the DRI, cover all costs for required infrastructure, not threaten water capacity, improve quality life, and have no negative effects on the safety, health, and welfare of local residents and communities.
“The City is not prepared and should not rush or be pushed into anything, especially if it may be harmful to local residents, the environment, or cause negative effects on our roads, water capacity, infrastructure, or quality of life impacts for local communities.”
6) What actions should the City Council take now to ensure the resilience of its infrastructure in the coming years?
“The city should seek grant funding for new infrastructure and ensure development pays for its fair share for impacts to infrastructure through fees to cover those costs.”
7) How would you describe your temperament in contentious discussions?
“My 35 years in retail management have given me the opportunity, experience and ability to listen to all sides respectfully, deescalate, and move forward together through collaboration, thoughtful consideration, and to have an open mind to new ideas and different perspectives.”
8) What are the most important qualities you’d expect working with Palm Coast’s city manager?
“I would expect leadership, mentoring, setting high expectations for success, and delivering results. Interaction with staff is imperative, accurate, constructive, and timely performance reviews are essential, and efficiency and results expected and rewarded accordingly. Poor performance, toxic personalities, and policy violations must be dealt with promptly, with coaching opportunity and then adherence to policy through human resources. Exceptional performance must also be recognized, appreciated, and rewarded.”
