City Council candidates answer questions at the political forum sponsored by the NAACP at the African American Cultural Center. Photo by Abe Mills
The Palm Coast Candidates for City Council (l-r)Antonio "Tony" Amaral, Jr.(D2), Dylana "Dee" Galery (D4), Jeani Duarte (D2), Darlene Shelley (D4), Ramon Marrero (D4), John Kvederis (D4), and Jimmy Hengy (D2). Photo by Abe Mills
Sarah Melvin and her dog, Lucious, came to hear the candidates for city council at the political forum sponsored by the NAACP. Photo by Abe Mills
Members of the community attended a forum to hear from candidates for city council fro Districts 2 & 4. Photo by Abe Mills
The Palm Coast chapter of the NAACP sponsored a candidate forum at the African American Cultural Society on Thursday, July 16.
The forum allowed residents to meet the candidates who are running for District 2 and District 4 seats on the Palm Coast City Council and find out their thoughts on issues that affect the local community.
The Primary Election Day is Aug. 18. Early voting is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 8-15.
What follows is an edited transcript of the candidates' responses to one question:
Can you identify both a major challenge and a significant opportunity for the residents of Palm Coast, and explain how your skills and background have made you the most effective candidate to support positive change in these areas?
DISTRICT 2 CANDIDATES
ANTONIO "TONY" AMARAL JR.
We have challenges. That just means we have an opportunity to get better. We have the challenges of our infrastructure, mostly our roads crumbling underneath as we drive by. That has come about through years of not doing what we should have been doing. We should have been maintaining these roads, maintaining the line, maintaining the striping of it. And that is a challenge for us today.
Without that backbone, without those roads being the way they are, without the stormwater being the way it is, we will miss out on our opportunities that can come.
We need to bring in jobs. We are not making more land, so the westward expansion, the industrial parts of that are where we see our future. We can bring in those jobs. It has to be done correctly. Those areas have to be identified, set aside, and laid out for industry to come in- clean industry, not smokestacks.
Medical devices, drones, space — those are the kind of industries that would help our area grow, but we have to be ready for it. We need to be available. We need to have the knowledge of the people who live here and the workforce ready to step into those points and those projects and make a difference in everything. Every challenge is just an opportunity to get better, not a detriment.
JIMMY HENGY
I already expressed what drew us to Palm Coast: its beauty. But, we quickly saw what you all see. We saw that we're growing faster than our infrastructure can handle. That's our biggest challenge. Our roads are falling apart. We have standing water in our yards. We're being told our utility system can't support the homes already approved for development. There's like 19,000 homes already approved.
Palm Coast is 92% dependent on residential property tax. No city can survive that way. We have to diversify. We have Town Center opportunity zones. We have companies like Astor Defence choosing Palm Coast for advanced manufacturing.
For 30 years, I've owned manufacturing companies and retail operations. I had to meet payroll, balance budgets, and make sure if we grew we could actually deliver. I'm not a politician. I'm a businessman who knows how to tighten the belt, knows what we can afford, and can recruit real jobs. We need smart growth: infrastructure first, and then development. I'll fight for that.
JEANI DUARTE
I am a data geek. My priorities are protecting our health, safety, and security of the residents of Palm Coast and our wildlife.
Our biggest challenges are overspending, transparency, and the lack of income-based housing. My research and problem-solving skills have helped identify issues involving city spending, water quality, and issues with our city charter. Those issues need immediate and transparent attention.
My background in design has also helped me identify valuable assets that our city has not fully utilized. Palm Coast is uniquely positioned near beaches, Intracoastal, the I-95 and rail line, as well as the Old Brick Road. These valuable assets provide opportunities to generate stop and go revenue that can attract travelers, visitors without requiring residential housing or destroying natural resources.
DISTRICT 4
DARLENE SHELLEY
We have many challenges in Palm Coast now, whether it's addressing flooding, addressing good quality paying jobs, or addressing affordability with our utility bills, our water bills.
These are things that the folks that we're speaking to are concerned with. It's very sad to see friends and neighbors have to move from Palm Coast because they cannot afford their utility bills. My American dream is my home.
I have 35 years of my sweat and blood and love in my home.
I want to protect the value of our homes, the ability to leave it to my children and have a legacy value in my home. It is very important to address these things. An opportunity for me would be to protect our biggest investments and protect the safety, health and welfare of our families, friends and neighbors. And, that's what I would intend to do if elected to Palm Coast City Council.
DYLANA "DEE" GALERY
Our biggest challenge, as we already know, we're feeling it, is managing growth responsibly. Right? We're feeling the overdevelopment. We all have concerns that everything is moving faster than it should be without protecting what we already have as far as our infrastructure. So, like our roads, public safety, public services, resources, they're just not able to keep up. We're playing catch up at the moment.
And one of the greatest opportunities that we do have to come is that Palm Coast is still young, so it still can grow, but we have to have the right things come into place. The westward expansion — we have to make sure that we have the right infrastructure to make sure that we can pull in industrial and commercial jobs, to make sure that we're bringing in quality jobs and not just bringing in houses. I know that's a big theme for us.
My background: I deal with a lot of problem solving. I love working with people from different perspectives. If you have an idea that we can come to a solution together, I'm that person for you. I believe in listening first and doing the homework so that way we can get a great answer. I'm not here to rush any answers. I'm here to get the right answers for all of us.
JOHN KVEDERIS
Our biggest challenge right now: It comes down to the very core of our infrastructure. Without a great infrastructure, we really can't do anything else. So, we really need to take this as our opportunity to work on that and actually protect our environment in the process of doing that.
I know how to run a budget, I know how to examine what's needed. I think it just comes down to working on that first and then everything else can come together over time.
RAMON MARRERO
One of our greatest challenges is managing growth while preserving our quality of life. Our infrastructure, roads, utilities and public safety must keep pace with development. At the same time, our greatest opportunity is economic development.
Palm Coast has tremendous potential to attract quality businesses that create good paying jobs and diversify our tax base, reducing our dependency on residential property tax. We can create opportunities that allow our residents to live and work right here in our community by investing in infrastructure, ethical development of pad-ready sites, and supporting workforce partnerships with our schools and local employers.
My background has prepared me to lead this effort. I have more than 45 years of experience. I understand budgeting, strategic planning and organizational leadership. As a small owner and community leader, I have learned to do more with less. I have spent my career bringing people together, building consensus and solving problems.
