- August 6, 2026
Accountability and transparency are easy to promise and easy to forget once the votes are counted. The real test is whether a candidate can show you the numbers and say exactly what they will do. I can. Residents, not City Hall, should set Ormond Beach’s priorities.
Take the airport. The city’s own books show its fund deep in the red, covered by your general-fund tax dollars with millions more planned. I will push to make it pay for itself.
Take growth. It is coming either way. The question is whether we manage it or it manages us. I am for growth that pays for itself. Through impact fees, new development should cover the full cost of the roads and infrastructure it demands, every dollar, not the taxpayers. And our comprehensive plan needs a hard look, with changes where needed. I will not vote to up-zone land beyond what it was meant to hold.
Take River Bend. As I campaign, residents tell me again and again: They want their course reopened. I am listening. I will push the city to sell it to an operator who will restore and reopen it for the residents who love it, at no cost to taxpayers.
Two of them answer directly to the commission equally: the city manager and the city attorney. Commissioners cannot approach a department head except through them. Evaluating those two is the commission’s only real leverage, and I will use it. I will hold them accountable: open the books, rein in out-of-control spending, and bring decisions into the open. And we should hire our own land-use attorney with real expertise, working for residents rather than paying premium rates to outside firms.
Most of all, I will be reachable. I will hold town halls, where I show up to listen and be available by phone.
Accountability and transparency are not a slogan to me. They are the job, and I mean every word. Plain truth: residents sit at the top of the org chart, and every city official works for us, not the other way around. I will be the voice of the residents. It's time to remind them who they work for. Vote for me, and let's all take our city back.
Coleen McMahon
Candidate for Ormond Beach City Commission, Zone 1
