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A month after Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris was accused of violating the City Charter, an independent investigation confirmed the accusations, saying he had "crossed the line."

Among other violations, Norris unilaterally sought the resignations of the Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston and Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo behind closed doors on March 10, according to an April 18 report by Adam Brandon, of the Lawson Huck Gonzalez law firm.

After summarizing more than a dozen interviews conducted with city staff, as well as Norris himself, the report concludes this way:

“These findings reveal a pattern of inappropriate conduct and unprofessional behavior by Mayor Mike Norris that undermines the city’s council-manager form of government and creates a hostile work environment for city employees. Mayor Norris further exceeded the powers granted under the City Charter by seeking the resignations of the Acting City Manager and Chief of Staff. Further independent investigation and corrective action may be warranted to address these issues and restore integrity and morale.”

Norris, in an interview conducted by the law firm on April 15, gave this rebuttal, “There has been a lot of confusion surrounding a conversation I had with Lauren Johnston and Jason DeLorenzo. I want to be clear: I did not demand their resignations.”

Instead, he said, “I requested their resignations.”

He acknowledged that the City Charter does not give him “the authority to terminate employees.” But, he continued, “As the Mayor, I believe I have the right to request a resignation when I lose confidence in a staff member.”

But even if Norris only "requested" the resignations, "this conduct likely meets the definition of interference in the Charter," the report states.

Furthermore, Norris had said repeatedly for months that he wanted to "fire" Johnston and DeLorenzo, despite multiple warnings from the city attorney that he could not interfere.

WHAT'S NEXT?

City Council members Charles Gambaro, Ty Miller and Theresa Pontieri agreed on March 11 to have the investigation conducted against Norris. The council, which now includes appointee Dave Sullivan, meets next on April 22.

The City Charter doesn't say what should happen next. "However," the report states, "malfeasance can generally lead to penalties including removal from office, suspension, public censure, salary forfeiture, civil fines, and restitution."

According to the report, the City Council has several options for how to respond. It could refer the matter to the Florida Commission on Ethics; it could formally censure Norris "for conduct unbecoming of a public official," including violations of the City Charter; and it could take action to clarify enforcement options, when someone violates the charter.

The report states that, while some employees "genuinely like the mayor, most city employees described low morale and widespread fear about what Mayor Norris will say or do next."

DeLorenzo reported in his interview: "Mayor Norris has referred to having 'spider webs' or informants who provide him with internal information. He once said to me directly, 'You know I have spider webs, right Jason?' This has caused concern among staff, as it creates a culture of distrust and discourages open communication."

The report recommends, therefore, that the City Council hire a city manager that has the council's full support. Currently, there are two candidates remaining in the city's search; interviews are scheduled to be conducted on April 24.

In addition, the report states, elected officials should be trained on the City Charter, Sunshine Law, ethics and "respectful workplace conduct." The City Council should also affirm the city's whistleblower protections, and monitor the relationship between City Council and city employees.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY?

In the Palm Coast City Charter, the mayor's role is ceremonial, presiding over city meetings; generally, the mayor has no more authority than the other four members of the City Council.

No member of the council may unilaterally terminate an employee of the city. The city manager and city attorney are removable by a majority vote only.

The charter gives all administrative duties to the city manager and prohibits any council member from "interfering with the performance of the duties of any city employee." Such action, the charter continues, "shall be malfeasance within the meaning of Florida Statutes."

Interfering denotes "meddling, intervening, or intruding into affairs or duties that is one is not authorized to influence or control." Malfeasance denotes any violation of the state's Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees.

FURTHER ACCUSATIONS

In addition to the March 10 meeting with Johnston and DeLorenzo, which was witnessed also by City Attorney Marcus Duffy, Norris was also found to be causing a hostile work environment.

Over the past several months, Norris made derogatory comments about one female staff member's toenail polish, and another's pantsuit. He later said he was just kidding about both; but, the report states: "it is improper for any employee or elected official to comment on a female's body part."

The comments expose the city to risk of potential lawsuits, the report states, although they're not necessarily against the charter.

Norris also demeaned staff performance and advocated for the hiring of younger employees.

"The mayor's guidance, if followed, could have exposed the city to age-discrimination lawsuits," the report states.

Norris commonly uses profanity and threatening comments, causing a double standard. "If a normal city employee were to use profanity against a resident, that employee would be subject to corrective action, such as training or suspension," the report states.

DANKO'S ETHICS COMPLAINT

Former City Councilman Ed Danko declined to be interviewed by the Lawson law firm; instead, he submitted an ethics complaint that he has submitted to the state.

The complaint alleges that Norris directed the city attorney to "initiate lawsuits against individuals Norris labeled as his 'political enemies.'"

Norris declined the accusation, saying instead: "I simply asked for a referral to a personal attorney so I could explore my options in regard to a defamation case I was mulling over against Mr Danko and Mr Lowe. After thinking it over, and in light of winning the election even after their actions, I decided to let it go. That is all that was."

Danko said in a statement on April 21 that he will let the ethics process take its course, other than to say: "It seems to me that Mr. Norris tends to his grudges like a garden."

The Palm Coast City Council meets regularly to discuss and vote on official City business. These meetings are open to the public, and Palm Coast residents are strongly encouraged to attend. An increase in public engagement helps to build a stronger sense of community, increase valuable discussions, and decrease division.

The Palm Coast City Council meets regularly to discuss and vote on official City business. These meetings are open to the public, and Palm Coast residents are strongly encouraged to attend. An increase in public engagement helps to build a stronger sense of community, increase valuable discussions, and decrease division.

The agenda for the City Council Business Meeting on Tuesday, May 6, at 6 p.m. will be as follows:

Proclamations & Presentations

The following proclamations & presentations will be presented:

Minutes

The following minutes will be approved:

Organizational

The following organizational material will be presented:

Appointments

The following appointments will be presented:

Ordinances Second Read

The following ordinances will be presented:

Resolutions

The following resolutions will be presented:

Consent

The following consent items will be presented:

Public Comments will be opened at the beginning and end of the business meeting in accordance with Section 286.0114 Florida Statutes and pursuant to the City Council’s Meeting Policies and Procedures. Each speaker will approach the podium, provide his/her name, and may speak for up to 3 minutes.

Proclamations and award presentations during evening business meetings will now begin at 5:30 p.m., 30 minutes before the meeting start time. Additionally, public comments on non-agenda items will be limited to 30 minutes at the beginning and end of each meeting. This schedule is subject to change due to holidays or other unforeseen circumstances. Residents are encouraged to visit the Palm Coast City Council meeting webpage for the latest schedule and agenda updates.

Business meetings and workshops are open to the public and are streamed live on the City’s YouTube channel. Meeting agendas for all public meetings are posted in advance of each meeting on the City’s website. All agendas can be viewed here.

If you wish to obtain more information regarding the City Council’s agenda, please contact the City Clerk's Office at 386-986-3713. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons needing assistance to participate in any of these proceedings should contact the City Clerk at 386-986-3713, at least 48 hours before the meeting.

Stay informed with the latest news and information from the City of Palm Coast by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. You can sign up for weekly updates by visiting www.palmcoastgov.com/government/city-manager/week-in-review.

Palm Coast’s favorite eco-friendly tradition is turning 20—and the City is inviting residents to dig in and celebrate! The 20th Annual Arbor Day Celebration takes place Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Central Park in Town Center (975 Central Avenue, Palm Coast, FL 32164).

This milestone event honors two decades of environmental stewardship with a variety of free, family-friendly activities designed to promote sustainability and community spirit.

Residents can take home a free 3-gallon tree from Flowing Well Tree Farm by donating a non-perishable food item to support the local food bank. Trees are available while supplies last, so early arrival is encouraged.

The celebration includes:

“For 20 years, Palm Coast’s Arbor Day has been about celebrating our environment, giving back, and bringing the community together,” said Carol Mini, City of Palm Coast Urban Forester. “This year, we’re making it bigger and better than ever, and we can’t wait to celebrate with everyone!”

Don’t miss this special day dedicated to trees, nature, and the Palm Coast community. The City of Palm Coast also wishes to give a special thank you to our incredible sponsors: Verdego, Florida Forest Service, Freese and Nichols, Cline Construction, Tractor Supply, and The Home Depot.

For more information, contact Urban Forester Carol Mini at (386) 986-3722 or cjmini@palmcoastgov.com

Stay informed with the latest news and information from the City of Palm Coast by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. You can sign up for weekly updates by visiting www.palmcoastgov.com/government/city-manager/week-in-review.

Mike Norris has a choice. He can either resign or convert.

I don’t mean he should embrace City Hall’s prevailing creeds. Disruption has its benefits. A harder look at the city’s pace of development is not a bad thing, and on this council he’s not the only one taking it. But that’s policy. Every elected official is entitled to his/her/their own, and to try to change that of colleagues. It’s the nature of government.

Norris’s conversion is a matter of self-reflection. He would benefit from giving his Napoleonic ego a four-year sabbatical and from giving up the illusion that his power is more than one-fifth of the council’s, that his word is law, or that the mayor’s position is defined by authority more than ceremony.

He should learn that using his position to humiliate others isn’t funny. It’s not folksy humor. It’s cruel, and judging by where his eyes stray, it’s somewhere between Mad Men-sexist and a private predilection that should remain private. He should learn that it’s not his City Hall, and it certainly is not his staff. He was right to clear his things out of his office there. He was getting more pasha than mayor, more thrilled by his title than his responsibility to live up to it.

Which, I suspect, he could do very well. I think Norris is a good and sincere man at heart, easily likable if you look past the lunar crust and much smarter than people give him credit for. His judgments and political whisperers are another story. So is his AWOL self-awareness. he needs self-discipline. He needs to realize he’s the rookie. If he doesn’t want to fit in, it’s his right. But that doesn’t absolve him of the responsibility to listen, observe, learn, respect staff, respect the charter, respect the office he represents (which is our office as constituents, not his), then try changing the world. No one would begrudge him for trying. It’s what we elect people to do.

But we don’t elect them to destroy the village to save it. This self-aggrandizing ex-soldier seems to have no clue that Palm Coast doesn’t need saving. It’s not even in trouble. It merely needs steering, which, to City Hall staff’s credit–and specifically to City Manager Lauren Johnston’s credit, who would be the city’s ideal permanent manager–is being steered despite the mayor’s carnage. He’s made himself superfluous. If he doesn’t convert, he’ll be a four-year irrelevance. His colleagues will make sure of that.

Because continuing as the Mike Norris we’ve come to know and dread is not a choice. It is, to borrow from his likely beloved Phyllis Schlafly, an echo from his barrio of buffoonery–the embarrassment of his State of the City address, the puerility of his “Wanted” poster, the insult to city manager candidates of his tailgate interview, the contempt he showed them hours later by dissing the community meet-and-greet. What next, replacing the best communications department in Northeast Florida with Dennis McDonald?

Clearly, the mayor isn’t interested in governing. He’s our Peter Bergman (“I’m not a mayor but I play one on TV”), mistaking chaos for change and misinterpreting the few sycophants pledging allegiance to him at meetings or on his Facebook page for a political compass. All he’s done since his election is accuse, criticize, denounce, bellyache. The only initiative he championed was the ill-fated fuel dump off U.S. 1, pulling back when he saw the flames. Then it was back to grievances and fabrications, and that ridiculous claim that he’s the victim of a cabal because he wants a building moratorium.

He has plenty of time to rescue his mayorship. The council would be his first ally. So would the administration. These aren’t vindictive people. He doesn’t seem interested.

Norris is not the resigning type, and driving him out of office is undemocratic. He was duly elected by a large margin: 63 percent is landslide territory, even though one suspects that figure is now more than halved by regret. The City Council has every reason to censure him or express its lack of confidence. But to draft the governor to expel him? This isn’t Albany in 1920, when the state legislature expelled three assemblymen for being “disloyal” (that is, socialist) or Nashville in 2023, where three Black lawmakers were Jim Crowed out of their seats for exercising their First Amendment rights on the House floor.

Norris’s sins aren’t as noble as socialism or Black lives. He merely mistook City Hall for his man cave. But as Oliver Wendell Holmes put it when describing our system, “I quite agree that a law should be called good if it reflects the will of the dominant force of the community even if it takes us to hell.” The same holds true for the elected. If the electorate wants to take Palm Coast to hell, who are we to stop it with banana republic tactics?

The mayor could theoretically sustain four years of bluster and disruption. It’s not as if his role model isn’t doing the same to the country. (I wish the other Trump-addled council members came to that realization. We’re not there yet.) Thankfully, Norris is just one vote, and the council, under the deft and dignified leadership of Theresa Pontieri–who is now the mayor in all but name–the city will not go to hell.

For all of Norris’s follies, we now have a solid, intelligent and effective council only occasionally resembling a military commission. He can either be a part of it or play the irrelevant mayor in his self-built labyrinth. It’s his choice. But he doesn’t have to be our problem anymore.

Pierre Tristam is the editor of FlaglerLive. A version of this piece airs on WNZF.

Sharing on behalf of Flagler County Government: Flagler County enacted a burn ban effective 5 p.m. Wednesday (April 23) and declared a state of local emergency to do so. The ban remains in effect for seven days.

Flagler County enacted a burn ban effective 5 p.m. Wednesday (April 23) and declared a state of local emergency to do so. The ban remains in effect for seven days.

“The conditions are becoming favorable for rapid fire growth so this action will help,” said Flagler County Fire Rescue Chief Michael Tucker. “In addition to the ban on burning, remember that a good offense is the best defense. Clear the area around your house of anything that will go up in flames easily – including stacks of firewood, portable propane tanks, and dead, dry vegetation.”

The burn ban prohibits the following:

Chapter 12, Flagler County Code, and Section 252.38(3), Florida Statutes, authorize Flagler County to declare a state of local emergency for durations of seven days and to extend them in seven-day intervals, during which time the county may waive the procedures and formalities otherwise required of political subdivisions by law.

The current Keetch Byram Drought Index (KBDI) mean is expected to exceed 500 for Flagler County later today, and there is no significant rainfall forecast for the next seven days. The KBDI is a range from 0 (zero) to 800 in which 0 is the wettest condition and 800 is the dryest, or drought.

The rule of thumb for taking personal protective measures, accepted by a variety of fire prevention agencies, including the National Fire Protection Association, is that all flammable items within 30 feet of a structure should be removed. Homeowners should clear roofs, eaves, gutters, wood decks and patios of leaves, needles, and other debris.

“Additionally, do not store things under decks or porches, and consider using rocks or gravel in those areas instead grass or mulch,” Tucker said. “Wood-driven fires, like brushfires, create embers that can be carried quite far, and tend to find their way to the same nooks and crannies where leaves accumulate.”

Barbecue coals should be fully extinguished before adding them to garbage receptacles.

“Please take this burn ban seriously,” Tucker said. “It’s been about a year since we’ve had one in Flagler County, so please heed our warnings.”

To see the entirety of the burn ban restrictions, please visit www.FlaglerCounty.gov/emergency and click on Emergency Notices.