Palm Coast City Council Unanimously Rejects Special Election, Will Appoint Heighter’s Replacement

The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to reject a special election to fill out the remainder of former Councilwoman Cathy Heighter’s District 4 term following her resignation last week. They will instead take the coming weeks to accept applications, interview candidates, and appoint a replacement for the duration of her term on October 1st.

The decision went against the popular sentiment of the meeting’s public commenters, most of whom urged a special election to prevent a potentially unfavorable appointee. Some speculated that the winner would be a friend of a sitting Council member, appointed by way of backdoor arrangements, with the knowledge that they’d be politically palatable to those members. Others worried that even a two-year stint on the Council could still cause significant strife.

Further still, that replacement would still be able to run for two full terms after their appointment, opening up a potential ten-year tenure. Councilwoman Theresa Carli Pontieri raised an ethical issue with the possibility of well-off candidates paying the $3,571.01 qualifying fee that would’ve been imposed given the impracticality of amassing petition signatures for a November election.

The City Charter mandates that an appointment be made within 90 days of a Council member’s resignation, and that a replacement be voted in at the next regularly scheduled election. However, it also allows the City Council to delay the appointment if that election is within the next six months, as is the case here. It’s this clause that, in part, drove the Council’s decision to forgo a costly special election and instead choose a two-year replacement themselves.

Historical Precedent

The last similar occurrence in Palm Coast was a rapid back-to-back series of resignations and appointment of and to the District 2 seat. First Jack Howell was elected in 2018, but then resigned in 2020 due to health concerns. The City Council chose to appoint former Mayor Jon Netts to fill out Howell’s term until the 2020 election. A special election was held that year, drawing four candidates: David Alfin, Victor Barbosa, Bob Coffman, and Dennis McDonald. Barbosa bested the field, including eventual Mayor Alfin, and was selected to fill out Howell’s term.

Because things on the early-2020’s City Council seemingly couldn’t stay smooth for more than a handful of months at a time, Barbosa resigned his seat in early 2022 ahead of the seat’s next regularly scheduled election that year. Another interim appointment was held, resulting in the selection of Flagler Schools administrator John Fanelli. Though his time on the dais was short, Fanelli was among those who voted in the highly controversial salary raise for the Council members, underscoring the ability of even briefly-tenured members to make a large impact on the city.

Palm Coast’s most recent special election to be held outside of the regularly scheduled election processes in Flagler County was in 2021, following the resignation of then-Mayor Milissa Holland. Having just been re-elected to a four-year term a few months prior, the lion’s share of her term was still to be completed. Six candidates filed for a special election which was held two months after Holland left, resulting in Alfin’s victory. The process cost the city $127,983.15 per the Supervisor of Elections Office.

Who Fills the Seat?

One presumptive candidate for the job took to the dais to present his case early. Stephen Swarner, who filed then withdrew in the 2022 election, announced his intention to pursue the appointment despite the cautioning of Alfin not to make his case at that juncture. He exited the meeting chambers not long thereafter.

Two other potential candidates ruled themselves out of the running when asked on Tuesday. Former Councilman Eddie Branquinho, who chose not to run for re-election in 2022, said he wouldn’t be pursuing the opportunity. 2018 candidate Corinne Hermle also asserted that she would not be submitting herself for consideration.