- March 3, 2026
County Administrator Heidi Petito is on her way out, having filed a separation agreement with the county.
Though her final day is not until July 14, Flagler County Commission will begin the search for an interim administrator immediately. Petito said during the March 2 Flagler County Commission meeting that her resignation is a response to "the tension" that has begun building on the board over the last several months.
Her leaving the county, she said, is her way of "providing a clear path, a responsible path forward."
"This tension has started to impact our employees and the organization's ability to focus on the important work that we do," she said. "I've dedicated the last five years in this role and we have built strength within the organization. To me, it's important that we leave things better than we found them."
Petito has served as the county administrator for five years, but has in recent months been at odds with several members of the Flagler Board of County Commissioners. In January, Commissioner Kim Carney attempted to fire Petito, without success.
Petito leaving the administration leaves no seasoned personnel in either the county or deputy administrator positions. Former Deputy Administrator Percy Sayles' final day was March 3, and no one has been selected to fill the position yet.
With a 3-2 approval, the board agreed on a mutual separation which, per Petito’s employment contract, allows her a 20-week severance package.
Commissioners Kim Carney and Pam Richardson, the dissenting votes, disagreed that Petito should be given the severance package. Carney said as Petito is submitting her resignation, the board should just let her go effective immediately.
“I think if there’s a separation there needs to be a separation,” Carney said. “I would not be looking for somebody who's not happy where they are to be staying until July."
Initially, Petito filed a separation agreement for the board's approval that asked for her severance package and tuition reimbursement for the business administration degree she achieved for her work at the county.
But to qualify for the severance package, the board would either need to agree to a mutual separation, not her resignation, or fire her without cause outright. The motion approved by the commission changed the language to a mutual separation, allowing her the 20-week severance package in her contract.
It also included stipulations that the county would begin searching for an interim administrator to take over before July 14, Petito's final date. July 14 is when the county should have the 2026-2027 fiscal year tentative budget ironed out.
"Let her leave," Carney said. "Let her resign."
Commission Chair Leann Pennington suggested the county begin looking for an interim administrator as soon as possible. She said it would not be fair to have Petito continue in a position that she finds it difficult to work in.
"I don't think it's fair to Mrs. Petito, if she's uncomfortable in her situation, to drag her through the mud till July 14," Pennington said. "And vice versa. I think we do need to move on and find an interim."
Many staff members showed up wearing black to the commission meeting, leaving after the vote. Communications manager Karen Callahan confirmed with the Observer that the employees decided to wear black to show Petito their support.
“In solidarity,” Callahan said.
Commissioner Greg Hansen said that it was important for the board to understand how it got this point — and Hansen laid the blame at Carney's feet.
“The problem is what's going on on the third floor," Hansen said. "And Ms. Carney is responsible for that.”
Hansen said Carney has developed a hostile work environment. Carney tried to rebut Hansen's comments but Pennington shut down any attempts to lay blame, keeping the discussion on the separation agreement before them.
"I'd rather not have every discussion of how we got here. I'd rather have a discussion of how we'd like to handle this severance agreement," she said.
Richardson asked why the board could not just look at this as Petito choosing to resign, instead of "digging in the weeds." She said she was hearing all of these "angles and concerns" for the first time at the meeting, despite being on an email Petito sent to the commissioners that explained a growing hostile work environment.
"You got the same email we all did on Feb. 10," Dance said to Richardson. "So, you're not oblivious to what's been going on that that led to Percy's resignation."
The Feb. 10 email started with an email to Petito from Carney, in response to the announcement that Sayles was leaving the deputy administrator position.
Carney wrote to Petito: "Really? He gives you a resignation letter five days ago and we just hear about it at a public meeting five days later? You should probably seek some help figuring out what went wrong with this hire. He had an awesome career. There is more to this that you should probably get advise with before you rehire."
Petito replied, that she had only received the letter on Feb. 9, writing that it had become "increasingly clear" the board was looking for new leadership and the "administration has faced hostility, anger, accusations, and unprofessional behavior." The uncertainty, she wrote, trickled down into the workforce, "creating an environment where employees feel intimidated and, in some cases, afraid to work."
"These behaviors have had unintended consequences that are now affecting our ability to function effectively," she wrote.
The Flagler County Commission asked staff to organize a workshop for March 16 to go over options to fill the administrator position. Carney also suggested that existing county department heads step in to fill the workload for either position, but Commissioner Andy Dance said that would be unfair to staff.
"That be we'd be looking at two of the highest level vacancies in the department," Dance said, "and trying to fill them immediately with existing staff who already are in the midst of their workload — it is unfair to our staff to ask them to do that."
Petito said her willingness to stay on until July is to ensure a smooth transition and financial stability.
Once an interim is selected, the county will begin the process of looking for permanent selections for both the county and deputy administrator positions. But with tensions high across the board and staff, the county may see difficulty in the hiring process, as recently demonstrated in Palm Coast.
In the spring of 2025, Palm Coast City Council had difficulty retaining city manager candidates as the council butted heads over the appointments of Councilmen Charles Gambaro and Dave Sullivan, a lawsuit filed by Mayor Mike Norris over Gambaro’s appointment against Palm Coast, and two censures levied against Norris and an investigation into a hostile work environment.
Dance reminded the rest of the board that it had adopted a code of ethics to its rules and procedures that included being respectful to employees and colleagues.
"I fear if we don't take that to heart, we will be ,not improving but we are doomed to repeat the instances that we're going through," Dance said. "I find it a little disheartening."
