- April 24, 2024
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Dear Editor:
I don’t understand the Palm Coast City Council. They vote to block additional Dollar General stores because they do not provide fresh produce. Yet the mayor thinks that bringing in another fast food restaurant is good for the city and its residents. Doesn’t sound like a consistent policy.
Steve Jackson
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
Yard signs don't get votes. You get votes by the merits and service you give to the voters. I have served 12 years as commissioner and chairman of the East Flagler Mosquito Control District. I have kept the ad valorem tax the lowest it has been since 2013, and it keeps going down. I think I have earned your vote. Remember, mosquitoes don’t bite, they suck.
Jules Kwiatkowski
Palm Coast
Editor’s Note: Kwiatkowski is the incumbent running for Seat 1 of the East Flagler Mosquito Control District. This letter was published online previously but never in print. It is being repeated here since the following letter was written in response.
Dear Editor:
I would like to rebut my opponent's letter to the editor. Here are somethings Mr. Kwiatkowski fails to mention in his letter.
Let's start off by saying I'm not going to bash or demean my opponent and or the rest of the East Flagler Mosquito Control District Commission by saying anything about their person. I have met them both my opponent and the other incumbent in Seat 2. They are very nice folks, but that's it.
I am campaigning for Seat 1 because of the mismanagement of this current board of commissioners. Read these articles to hear a different story:
https://flaglerlive.com/133720/state-audit-flaglers-mosquito-control/
https://flaglerlive.com/110790/flagler-mosquito-control-crisis/
In this article, it has several other links that made me so alarmed that I waited three years for this election. In my opinion as a taxpayer, all three of these commissioners should have resigned due to their own internal audit found the commission to be "complacent."
This caused Sen. Travis Hutson and Rep. Paul Renner to call for a state audit that found a mess. I'm not sure if the commissioners back then realized, but we almost lost the East Flagler Mosquito Control District. As a result of their poor judgment and mismanagement, a director was retired, the office manager resigned, four jobs were cut from the budget, and a setback of reserves was nearly wiped out.
My opponent went on to say "I wasn't aware of the situation" and the number two seat said, "It's just a little issue." I'm not making this stuff up.
So I'm appalled, angry, and disgusted by what I heard; however, nobody on the commission resigned.
Since this mess, one commissioner was removed due to personal issues by the agricultural commissioner, but nobody was replaced by special election. I was told that the reason for this was the cost to do so about $90,000. They could not afford to do it at the time because the budget was nearly broken. Instead, they have been functioning at a two-member board for the last three years — unheard of because there is nobody to break a tie. If someone gets sick, the district could not technically pay their bills.
Recently, on one of the conference call meetings, I even heard one of the commissioners say they never used to get financial statements from the past director, and she complimented the current director on the fine job he is doing. That's the only refreshing part: The current director and staff are doing great.
I say, as a taxpayer, vote the complacent board out. Time for some new blood for the mosquitoes to look for, but the difference is the "Mosquitoes don't bite they suck" as my opponent says. I say "Fight the Bite," vote Perry Mitrano for East Flagler Mosquito Control District Seat 1 because I promise to be engaged.
Perry Mitrano
Editor's Note: Perry Mitrano is a candidate for Seat 1 of the East Flagler Mosquito Control District. When given a chance to rebut the letter, Jules Kwiatkowski wrote the following: "After many months of interviews and thousands of documents, the state has not found any monetary discrepancy. The only errors were they found that we made some change orders with out following Florida regulations. We are not CPAs."
Dear Editor:
During the recent Tiger Club question and answer forum for local candidates, Alan Lowe, running for Palm Coast mayor, ducked “questions and concerns” relating to his past. Information involving Mr. Lowe has surfaced recently that suggests past problematic financial dealings, bad debts, unpaid taxes, federal tax liens, failed business ventures, and even a criminal misdemeanor theft charge.
Although Mr. Lowe contended that these matters are “lies, incorrect and skewed” and referred to them as a “hit job,” most are well documented in official court records. They certainly raise serious questions about Mr. Lowe’s business acumen, ethics and character, and if he continues to insist that these are lies or incorrect, he needs to back that up with his supporting evidence.
If he doesn't dispute the court documentation, his side of the story is expected. Either way, voters are entitled to full information and forthright explanations from any political candidate, and his refusal thus far to address these worrisome matters is not acceptable. The words candid and candidate have a similar Latin derivation.
Rob Gordon
Palm Coast
Editor’s Note: See news story here.
