AskFlagler Palm Coast City Council Interview: Jeffery Seib

Jeffery Seib is one of four candidates running for the District 1 seat on the Palm Coast City Council. His opponents are Kathy Austrino, Shara Brodsky, and Ty Miller. None of the four have held elected office before, and none are the incumbent – Councilman Ed Danko opted to run for County Commission instead of seeking another term representing District 1 in Palm Coast.

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: February 20th, 1949

Hometown: Berkeley Heights, New Jersey

Career/Educational Resume: Click to View Resume

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

“As a laboratory supervisor with the Weyerhaeuser Corporation, I had budgetary responsibility for thirty employees, myself, and the operating expenses for our laboratory building. This involved payroll, benefits, supplies, and operating expenses. At University of Florida, I was responsible for the disbursement of grant funding for equipment and supplies including the purchase of top-of-the-line research evaluative equipment such as ultra-high-speed centrifuges, growth chambers, spectrophotometers, and nucleic acid imaging machines. I managed day to day and year to year state budgetary funds. As a member of the PCSDAC we had the responsibility of preparing and voting on a budget of service district (city) expenses submitted to the Flagler County Commission every year.”

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, Palm Coast is growing too rapidly to ensure that all present and future residents will have the same or better quality of life that is and has been characteristic of our community. The destruction of the natural Palm Coast, the capabilities of our present and future water supply from wells the SJRWMD has declared to be ‘at risk’ of saltwater intrusion, and the stormwater flooding and maintenance are some of the attributes of quality of life here…PC being an automobile driving community, my concerns are with air pollution on heavily traveled roadways. I have addressed this issue with the City Council several times over the last two years calling for the council to hold off on the Matanzas loop road extension construction in order to get our present roads and other infrastructure up to the task of dealing with five hundred new residents a month in the coming years.”

3. What do you make of the expression ‘development pays for itself’? Is that true in Palm Coast?

“The expression development pays for itself along with the expression expanding the tax base has been proven to be completely false in most instances, including here in Palm Coast. For example, the Matanzas loop road will take years to build and more years for homes, and commercial growth to occur before any revenue from ad valorem receipts would be realized by the city. In the interim, who pays, we do. With all the new homes and businesses development in Palm Coast, if that was true we should be having tax cuts rather than increases.”

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.

“The PC annual budget has some revenue streams that could be enhanced to bring in more funds, such as new ‘pay for play’ sport fields run by the city Parks and Recreation that would allow for more team sports within the city and also, as done now, host more regional activities and tournaments where out of town visitors go right to stores and restaurants when the games are over. Being a retiree, I do not support annual tax and fee increases that could jeopardize the financial standing of many of us.”

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?

“As a member of the Palm Coast Beautification and Environmental Advisory Committee (BEAC) I met Ms. Bevan in 2014 due to her work with environmental issues such as revisions to hurricane evacuation zone delineations for the city which our committee approved. I worked with Ms. Bevan in 2016 on revision to Chapter 11 of the Land Development Codes (LDC). Ms. Bevan attended my presentations to the city on both climate change and an incentive program for apartment complexes adding EV charging stations and for new and existing buildings being recognized by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) group. I attended the council meeting where Mayor Alfin passed the gavel to vice mayor Danko and made the termination motion. The firing, while perfectly within the parameters of the City Council, conducted this procedure in a very unprofessional manner. The University of Florida and large corporations like Southern Bell and Weyerhaeuser have strategies for dealing with these situations that don’t involve spot-firing like the professional employee is working at a fast food establishment. At no meetings prior to her termination were any comments made by any council members regarding any displeasure with her job performance. As a council member I would demand any action regarding the city manager be conducted in an open, public, council environment.”

6. Give your evaluation of these city leaders: interim City Manager Lauren Johnston, Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo, and Stormwater & Engineering Director Carl Cote.

“The city manager form of Palm Coast government means that the city manager takes the policy concerns of the City Council and puts them into an action plan and carries it out. All city staff duties, responsibilities, and job performance are overseen by Ms. Johnston, who, it appears, is doing a competent job at this time. The council’s questions are answered in a knowledgeable manner, and she has also listened to and given information regarding my own and many other residents’ concerns. The organizational flow chart of city management is an item that may need some attention as we go forward into the 21st century.”

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?

“The so-called Generation Z are the most diverse group of young people America has ever seen. They have lived their entire lives in the digital environment. They demand racial justice, forgo the suit and tie or dress and are happy working online in sweats. I work out at the gym with many Gen Z’ers, and they take strength and fitness seriously. They want to work in a business where they can join in the American dream of owning a home and starting a family. In the southwest recreation center the city could sponsor a Gen Z room where they have gaming, music, and anything else. As their numbers increase businesses may take notice and provide more entertainment choices to Gen Z.”

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?

“As the city of Palm Coast has grown the responsibilities of the City Council have also increased dramatically. Prior to the pay raise, the mayor and City Council were essentially volunteer positions. It’s quite a bit different today. Having attended every City Council meeting, including special meetings and workshops that the council spends many hours in discussion and deliberations. As a retiree, the council position will be my only job.”