- April 24, 2024
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The Flagler Palm Coast Civic Association will host a booth for nonpartisan political candidates.
At its Sept. 22 meeting, the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates’ board reaffirmed its 2008 policy to not allow individual political candidates to rent booths at chamber-organized events.
But that doesn’t mean Palm Coast City Council candidates won’t be in attendance.
The Flagler Palm Coast Civic Association has announced that it will make tent space available to all candidates Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, at the Creekside Festival, at Princess Place Preserve. There, they can distribute literature and speak with potential voters.
The chamber’s policy was initially disputed by City Council candidates Dennis Cross and Bill McGuire at a Sept. 19 meeting of the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners. They said the policy was unfair to nonpartisan candidates (see www.PalmCoastObserver.com for past coverage).
Now, Cross is content.
“This is a great solution. It’s what we were asking for in the beginning,” he said. “There was enough public concern about this that it got everyone’s attention … The civic association had the courage to step into the middle of the debate.”
According to the chamber, its policy was designed to ensure that special events remain family-friendly and community-oriented. And according to County Administrator Craig Coffey, the chamber is not the only organization in town to promote this philosophy.
Cracker Day, to name one, is put on by the Cattlemen’s Association, and does not allow candidate tents, either.
“It’s a county park, but it’s all chamber money,” Coffey said.
The chamber purchases event supplies, pays for services (cleaning, mounted deputies, etc.) and will cut the county a check at the event’s end, to benefit Princess Place. Last year, it paid the county $6,171.71.
The only current county-hosted special event, Coffey added, is Wings Over Flagler.
Commissioner Nate McLaughlin, who was one of the most vocal in questioning the chamber’s policy, retracted his suspicions after verifying that Creekside has no county sponsorship.
“If there were any tax dollars at all involved in this, obviously there would be some free speech problems,” he said. “But it’s no different from a church group not allowing an atheist group at its event.”
Since 2008, the chamber has limited booth space at the annual Potato Festival, Fabulous Fourth Festivities and Creekside Festival to nonprofit organizations, arts and crafts vendors and those serving food.
“To encourage voter turnout and education, the chamber has hosted and will continue to host political candidate forums that give all candidates opportunities to speak to voters and share their platforms,” said Chairwoman Lea Stokes. “ … By contrast, Creekside is a festival for families, not politics, and we have heard from past attendees that campaign activities there detract from the overall experience.”
The Republican and Democrat clubs will be present at this year’s Creekside, along with the Flagler County Tea Party.
Although the civic association has made the dispute a nonissue, Cross still believes that commissioners should have stepped in and told the chamber to either not allow any political tents, or allow them all.
“I’d throw it right back at (the chamber and say), ‘You have a choice; we’re not telling you what to do, but we’re telling you it’s one of the two.’ They still have the final decision in that sense.”
Brian McMillan contributed to this story.
