- December 4, 2025
Palm Coast is down to just six candidates for city manager, facing just one more cut before the remaining candidates are brought in for in-person interviews.
What started as 112 candidates was quickly narrowed to 12 candidates, who were all asked to submit a two-minute video answering two questions from each Palm Coast City Council member by Sept. 18. The next round of cuts will be held on Oct. 14, after the council reviews white papers submitted by the candidates.
Three candidates withdrew and another two candidates did not respond at all. A seventh candidate submitted their video as well, but turned it in after the deadline, after multiple attempts to contact him, Human Resources Director Renina Fuller said..
Councilman Charles Gambaro said that was a problem.
“We're hiring an executive,” Gambaro said. “And if they can't meet a deadline, to me, that's a problem.”
That candidate was cut from the list based on his late submission. The six remaining candidates all submitted their video responses on time, detailing in under 30 minutes their responses to questions posed by the council members on how the candidate would approach the job.
The final six candidates are David Fraser of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Carl Geffken of Mountain Home, Arkansas, Michael McGlothlin of Largo, Florida, Thomas Thomas of Bloomington Illinois, Norman West of Flagler Beach and Anthony Schembri of Venice, Florida.
Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri said she felt all the candidates did a good job.
“I really enjoyed listening to them,” she said. “I thought there were some really good ideas.”
The next step will be to whittle down the list further. The six candidates will be asked to submit a two-page white paper on what their first year as city manager would look like and the deadline to submit the paper is Oct. 8. The council will be sent the submissions on Oct. 9 and a discussion will be held at the Oct. 14 workshop.
The council also chose a tentative date for the in-person interviews: at a special workshop meeting to be held on Nov. 14.
