- December 16, 2025
Flagler County now has a federal lobbyist.
Approved by the County Commission Dec. 19, the firm of Alcade and Fay was contracted by Flagler at $5,000 per month, with a 30-day termination option.
According to County Administrator Craig Coffey, although the county has a good relationship with Congressmen John Mica, he often cannot lobby for us in certain issues, prohibited by the attorney general.
“We need a lobbyist in some cases to be our representative,” he said.
Most commissioners agreed.
“I’m going to go along with this because I feel that there’s a need for it, and that it’s imperative,” Commissioner George Hanns said. “If we go there and try to represent ourselves, we’ll be lucky if we’re invited to lunch. … If you don’t spend money, you’re not going to make money.”
But Alan Peterson thought differently.
“It bothers me that we are bypassing competitive bidding,” he said.
Although Peterson may support hiring a lobbyist for certain projects, like the $16.5 million Farm to Flag agricultural business model, projects like those are in partnership with other counties, he said, who might be able to chip in for the service.
“This is $70,000,” he said. “We spend a lot of time trying to reduce the tax burden on our residents. $70,000 is one to two employees that we can provide a job for.”
