- January 14, 2026
Palm Coast City Council Candidate Jeanie Duarte was removed from a City Council meeting for disrupting the meeting.
Duarte, who has filed to run for the District 2 council seat, is a well-known face at Palm Coast Council meetings, frequently participating in the meetings’ public comment portions of the meeting. At the Jan. 13 meeting, Duarte was removed when she continuously interrupted council members after the close of public comment.
During her public comment at the opening of the meeting, Duarte, among other topics, repeated rhetoric that District 4 Councilman Charles Gambaro was illegally holding his appointed seat.
“Our council seat, District 4, is seated by an unauthorized appointee,” Duarte said of Gambaro. “His appointment expired Nov. 5, 2024 per the charter.”
These are statements Duarte has made multiple times before during City Council meetings. Gambaro was appointed to the District 4 seat by the previous City Council in October 2024, following the resignation of Councilwoman Cathy Heighter.
Many residents, including Duarte and Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris, felt Gambaro’s continued appointment in the seat after the November 2024 election violated the city’s charter. Norris even filed a lawsuit against the city to have Gambaro removed.
A Flagler County judge disagreed, though, dismissing the lawsuit and stating: “Although the result is flawed, the charter was complied with to fill the vacancy.”
Since the court ruling, Gambaro typically does not respond to comments on his appointment in the meeting. He did on Jan. 13.
“On the matter you continue to bring up, it has been clearly, clearly, clearly settled by court,” Gambaro said. “And I will tell you that this council is focused on moving forward in a positive way, in a positive nature, to take care of the residents' business.”
Duarte walked up to the podium to respond to Gambaro, but was cut off by Norris and Attorney Marcus Duffy, who reminded Norris that residents who do not follow the meeting procedures could be removed by the council.
According to the city’s procedures on public participation, both public participation segments have a 30-minute time limit, and each speaker can only speak once during each segment for a maximum of three minutes. Specifically, the procedures state residents may not “speak more than once on the same subject” or “by speech or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the City Council.”
“Any speaker failing to comply, as cautioned, shall be barred from making any additional comments during the meeting and may be removed, as necessary, for the remainder of the meeting,” the procedures state.
Norris told Duarte that the council was moving on.
“To keep beating at that dead horse really doesn’t do any justice to the residents of the city,” Norris said.
Despite the warning, Duarte continued to speak from the audience seats and Norris asked the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office commander present at the meeting to escort Duarte out.
