- May 17, 2024
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Former Palm Coast City Councilman Victor Barbosa, who stepped down from the council partway through his term, has filed to run for the District 5 Flagler County Commission seat.
"All these people that are in office keep on not listening to the community and voting against what they want," he told the Observer. "I think my track record speaks for itself; I always vote for what the people want."
Barbosa had posted publicly on his Facebook page on June 13, "Although I don't miss the news media. I miss helping our great community so much. Thinking of running for office 2024. I need your help to make this decision. Should I run?" A number of replies urged him to do so.
Barbosa, a Republican, is the owner of the Man Cave barber shop on Palm Harbor Village Way.
He had resigned from the City Council in March 2022, days after he was accused of shoplifting at Walmart by skip-scanning a shirt at a self-checkout counter, but he told the Observer that his resignation "had nothing to do with that incident."
Barbosa had maintained his innocence and was never charged with a crime, and Walmart ultimately canceled the trespass order it had initially filed against him.
"I spent $350 dollars that day and one item didn't ring up," he said. "I'm not a cashier, and if you Google it, it happens way too often." Barbosa had returned to the store after the trespass order was canceled, and created a Facebook Live video of himself buying a U.S. flag there.
The only other person who has filed to run for the District 5 County Commission seat is Ed Danko, Palm Coast's vice mayor. Danko, like Barbosa, had joined the City Council in 2020 and is also running for the County Commission seat as a Republican.
Barbosa, asked about the timing of his filing to run — just days after Danko filed — said he had filed to run for the seat, rather than against Danko.
Former County Commissioner George Hanns, who held the seat for 24 years until he lost to current County Commissioner Donald O'Brien, has announced his intention to run for the commission seat, but has not yet filed. O'Brien is not running for reelection; he is instead running for Florida House District 19.
Barbosa said he is running to help hold government accountable and attract jobs.
"As you have seen the last couple of years, all government has been doing is raising taxes — something goes wrong, they charge the taxpayers, and no one is accountable for the mistakes," he said in an email to the Observer.
He said he wanted to help draw more businesses to the area, "so we can create more jobs that will create more tax revenue, so it would help taxes to stop going up."
"The community is well aware of who I am and knows I have always put their wants and needs before mine," he said. He said people can reach him at 386-569-8748. "I will keep voting [for] what they want. This isn't only my county; this is our county," he said.
