- April 18, 2024
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Dear Editor:
The city of Palm Coast City's obviously controlled "investigation" of the serious accusations made against Mayor Milissa Holland is nothing short of a sham. Allegations of misuse of her official title to advertise for business for the private company that employs her are extremely disturbing to me as a citizen of Palm Coast. Mayor Holland's emails to Orlando city officials clearly pose a serious issue of conflict of interest.
Her denial of even knowing of the marketing letter put out by her employer after "interviews with her" is preposterous on its face. Her private emails that appear to use her position to open doors for her employer are damning evidence that she most assuredly knows full well what she's doing.
If I had done this while I was a senior executive in the Department of Defense, I would have been suspended that day and gone the day after that.
Mayor Holland's honesty and integrity are now fatally compromised. In my opinion, she can no longer lead the City Council or be a credible voice for Palm Coast. She must step down from her position as mayor pending an independent investigation of the allegations.
I would ask the Palm Coast City Council members to demand that Mayor Holland step down, but they are afraid of the mayor and clearly lack the courage and perhaps the integrity to take any action. And we know that City Manager Matt Morton is beholden to her for his job. So we must have an immediate independent investigation of the allegations, and the council should nominate a temporary mayor, one that is not currently running for re-election on the council. The investigation must be completely independent of the city's attorney.
The allegations against Mayor Holland are alarming. Clearly she "owns" the current city council and the city manager. They all must go and let a new team of leaders take firm and timely action to preserve what's left of the good name and the integrity of the Palm Coast City Council.
Michael Cocchiola
Palm Coast
Editor’s Note: Cocchiola is the chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee in Flagler County.
Also in letters ...
Dear Editor:
Even though fireworks are illegal in the city of Palm Coast, inconsiderate residents continue their blatant disregard for these ordinances and laws and persist to annoy us, terrorize our pets and wildlife, create a fire danger and enable their children to disobey the law. And there has been, as always, no noticeable enforcement efforts.
This year there were 158 fireworks-related complaints made to the Sheriff’s Office over the July 4 weekend, but there were no arrests, no citations, and no confiscations of illegal fireworks.
Since our law enforcement officials obviously don’t care, the responsibility has to shift to the folks in our community to simply be responsible respectful neighbors.
Have a nice barbecue, display the flag, drink some beer, enjoy friends and family, wave some sparklers around, and be considerate of neighbors and their pets, recognize the dangers of fireworks and demonstrate to your kids what it’s like to be a responsible law-abiding citizen and a good neighbor.
Maggie Minutaglio
Palm Coast
