The Flagler County Commission on Thursday voted to hire Michael Rodriguez as the next county attorney. Rodriguez will take over for Al Hadeed, the longtime attorney who will be retiring at the end of July. The motion to hire Rodriguez was made by Greg Hansen, with Kim Carney seconding.
The choice to hire Rodriguez in a unanimous vote by the five commissioners, marking a shift toward unity compared to earlier steps in the process. The Commission had previously encountered division over how to handle the application of Deputy County Attorney Sean Moylan, the heir-apparent in the eyes of Hadeed and Chair Andy Dance. Moylan eventually withdrew his candidacy voluntarily in order to prevent strife.
Once he begins on the job Rodriguez will be working alongside Deputy Attorney Moylan as well as Assistant County Attorney Sarah Spector. Moylan had offered to serve as an interim county attorney in the potential gap between Hadeed’s retirement and his successor’s hiring, but this became moot on Thursday. The County Commission was not required to hire a permanent successor before Hadeed’s retirement, but it would’ve had to designate a chief legal officer in the meantime.
Rodriguez is a resident of DeLand, currently serving as City Attorney for Palm Bay in Brevard County. He also recently worked as city attorney in Apopka from 2020 to 2023. Rodriguez resigned from that role due to what he described as ‘a protracted constitutional conflict between three members of the City Council and the mayor regarding the legal authority to remove a charter officer’.
In addition to his experience in Apopka, Rodriguez has held the title of assistant county attorney in two other Florida counties: Flagler’s southern neighbor Volusia County, and Martin County on the east side of Lake Okeechobee.
The commissioners spent time before the start of the meeting interviewing two candidates: Rodriguez and Marsha Segal-George. Their other choice worked for 16 years as City Attorney in Deltona, leaving for what she cited as health issues.
“I found them both to be qualified and experienced, this is tough,” said Commissioner Leann Pennington, who called Segal-George overqualified for the job. “I’m comfortable voting today and I’m also comfortable going to interview status again. It’s at the pleasure of the board.”
