- April 26, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Palm Coast City Council District 2 incumbent Heidi Shipley has decided for the second time not to run for re-election.
Shipley had initially decided not to run, then changed her mind and decided to run after supporters contacted her and asked her to reconsider.
"I just don't want to do City Council anymore," Shipley said May 4. "It's a decision that me and my husband made. It's what's best for me and the family."
She said she'd been frustrated in her dealings with the city manager, Jim Landon. But, she added, "I liked being a council member. There was a lot that I learned in the three and a half years so far."
Shipley expects to continue volunteering her time with juvenile-justice related issues and with the county's drug court.
"Other than that ... I'm looking forward to being a resident and being on the other side of the podium," she said.
Shipley had said in the past, when she'd initially announced she wouldn't be running, that she'd decided not to run because she hadn't been able to achieve everything she'd hoped to achieve on the council and felt it was time for someone else to step in. She'd also had concerns about the financial cost of running.
The only other candidate who had registered for the District 2 race as of May 4 was Jon Netts, the former longtime Palm Coast mayor who has regularly attended City Council meetings and offered his input during the public comment period. Netts also serves on the board of the Florida Inland Navigation District.
In deciding not to run for re-election, Shipley joins Steven Nobile, the councilman for District 4. Nobile, like Shipley, was first elected in 2014. Nobile announced in January that he would not run for re-election this year and then in April announced that he would be vacating his seat early because he is moving to the Tampa area. There are two people who have registered to run for the District 4 seat: John E. Tipton and Jose Eduardo Branquinho.
