- April 22, 2024
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Weeks owes the entire community an apology
Dear Editor:
Your headline last week was “Weeks will host city elections” and included in your article was a significant portion of the letter that she had written to you. That letter was sent to you already, headlined by Ms. Weeks, “Weeks has cooperated, Weeks wants to follow the laws — Does the City?” She requested that you print her letter in its entirety. Is it possible that she expects a newspaper to use her own self-serving and misleading headline? It would be a service to the Palm Coast Community if you would print her own Tallahassee attorney’s Jan. 29 letter.
Kimberle Weeks wrote to her attorney in Tallahassee in January because she had no confidence in the city attorney, the county attorney or the Florida division of elections who all said that the manner in which Palm Coast changed its charter was proper and legal. The reason that Ms. Weeks changed her mind and is going to conduct the Palm Coast elections this year is because her attorney in Tallahassee agreed with the opinions of the Palm Coast attorney, the Flagler County attorney and the Florida Division of Elections. It seems that she is unable to admit that she was mistaken, especially given all of the publicity about this issue.
I’ll quote a brief section of Ms. Weeks attorney’s letter: “The Fl. Attorney General, in AGO 78-62, has indicated that a special election … for a charter amendment … may be legally held on the same date fixed for a general or primary election. … You can proceed forward based on the city’s position.”
To have written this letter, knowing full well that she was wrong about the entire issue, was a terrible thing to do to people who were simply trying to do their job and, as she now knows, actually did their job. She owes the city and county attorneys, the Palm Coast mayor and council, the city manager and all of the Palm Coast community an apology.
Carol Mikola
Palm Coast
Missing boy alerts were ‘absurd’; don’t wake me up to tell me you did your job
Dear Editor:
Approximately 10 p.m. on March 8, I was woken by a reverse 911 call from the Sheriff's Office. They said a 14-year-old boy had left his home that afternoon and had not yet returned. I finally returned to sleep, only to be again woken by a reverse 911 call at 11:30 p.m. This time they woke me to say he had returned home on his own.
People who are miles away, and at home at 10 p.m., are unlikely to be of any help. It is also absurd to wake people again, with a reverse 911 call, to tell them he came home.
The reverse 911 system is supposed to be for emergencies of common concern. I do not agree with the liberal mantra of "it takes a village to raise a child.” We pay the Sheriff's Office to do the protecting. It would make more sense to put the information on the flashing road signs for people who were actually out to see, and who might be able to help. It is beyond "village" idiocy to scare and wake people again, just to tell them the results of what is their job.
Please remember the focus and direction this Sheriff's Office has taken in many matters at the next election.
Jean Sbertoli
Flagler Beach
Actions on Bulldog Drive show dysfunction in city government
Dear Editor:
I am puzzled why you did not report on the March 4 City Council meeting, particularly since the hearing dealt with Palm Harbor Shopping Center and many additional items of importance, such as the renovation of Bulldog Drive, a major project going on right now. Your readers count on you to keep us informed. There was a table of reporters present. Yet I have found nothing in either local newspaper regarding this council meeting or what transpired there.
What came to light during that hearing was absolutely astounding to me and to others. The city of Palm Coast has been spending $5 million on a contract for a road they don’t own, and they know we don’t own. That’s our taxpayer money. Isn’t that stealing?
Bulldog Drive is owned by the county. Yet, the city was prepared to move forward, even knowing of the situation, until an attorney stepped forward and pointed out that what is happening here is illegal. Is this how we do business in Palm Coast?
Who is in charge of this town? We are either incredibly dysfunctional as a city or fraud is going on in our city government. Surely we deserve better government than this? This was pointed out by recent graduates of the Citizens Academy during the public portion of the council meeting. This hearing was unbelievable in what it revealed about the way in which our city operates. I think many of us were stunned.
Congratulations to the graduates of the Citizens Academy for having the courage to speak out about the wrong happening here on the same night they were awarded certificates and T-shirts for attending the academy. That’s got to be a real first!
Now what are we going to do about it?
Linda Hansen
Palm Coast
Editor’s Note: With a small staff, we have tough decisions to make every week about what to cover and what to skip. We made a mistake on this one! For coverage of the Bulldog Drive situation, see Page 12.
