The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday voted to keep Theresa Carli Pontieri as Vice Mayor of Palm Coast. 2026 will be her second straight year in the role, having first been appointed one year ago. Pontieri will serve as vice mayor until she leaves the City Council following the 2026 general election.
Palm Coast’s vice mayor is voted on annually by the City Council. Pontieri is the fourth consecutive vice mayor to receive back-to-back appointments, following Nick Klufas, Eddie Branquinho, and Ed Danko.
“I was very humbled and honored to maintain the position as vice mayor,” Pontieri said after the meeting adjourned. “I look forward to supporting our mayor and our council and I’m looking forward to putting Palm Coast first.”
When Pontieri was first appointed vice mayor in November 2024, she received only a 3-2 majority – Council members Charles Gambaro and Ty Miller voted against her. This time both of those two voted in her favor. The only member on the dais against Pontieri staying in her role was Mayor Mike Norris, resulting in a 4-1 vote to retain her. Norris declined to comment on the reasoning for his vote.
The first Council member floated for vice mayor was Miller, who was suggested by Gambaro. The motion received no second, and so he wasn’t voted on. The three Council members other than Pontieri who supported her each offered words of praise, while Norris did not expound upon his no vote during the meeting.
In her tenure as vice mayor, Pontieri has been arguably one of the most consequential holders of the title in Palm Coast’s history. She has ceremonially filled the role of mayor during several public events since Norris was sworn in last year, in times when he didn’t attend. When Norris missed a few meetings in his first handful of months, Pontieri chaired the City Council in his absence.
Though she is eligible for one more four-year term on the City Council, Theresa Carli Pontieri is not running to keep her seat in 2026. Instead she’s running for the Flagler Board of County Commissioners, seeking the District 2 seat being vacated by a retiring Greg Hansen. She’s currently set to face one other Republican in the primary election: Greg Feldman. One independent candidate, Raymond Royer, has also filed. Pontieri’s own City Council seat has drawn two filed candidates so far: Antonio Amaral Jr. and Jeani Duarte.
Duarte in particular was critical of the vote to retain Pontieri in the meeting’s closing public comments. She alleged that two Council members overrode a consensus of three members that would’ve had Miller step in. Miller himself did not offer a second to the motion for his appointment to the vice mayor role, and so no vote was taken.
History of Palm Coast Vice Mayors
The list of vice mayors in Palm Coast history is now the following:
- 2000 – James Holland
- 2001 – Ralph Carter
- 2002 – William Venne
- 2003 – Jon Netts
- 2004 – Ralph Carter
- 2005 – Mary DiStefano
- 2006 – William Venne
- 2007 – Jon Netts
- 2008 – Alan Peterson
- 2009 – Mary DiStefano
- 2010 – Holsey Moorman
- 2011 – Frank Meeker
- 2012 – Bill Lewis
- 2013 – Bill McGuire
- 2014 – Jason DeLorenzo
- 2015 – Bill McGuire
- 2016 – Heidi Shipley
- 2017 – Steve Nobile
- 2018 – Robert G. Cuff
- 2019 – Nicholas Klufas
- 2020 – Nicholas Klufas
- 2021 – Eddie Branquinho
- 2022 – Eddie Branquinho
- 2023 – Ed Danko
- 2024 – Ed Danko
- 2025 – Theresa Carli Pontieri
- 2026 – Theresa Carli Pontieri
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
