- April 19, 2024
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If all goes according to plan, in August we will be publishing question-and-answer sessions with every Flagler County candidate and many others. It’s been an enormous undertaking, and it wouldn’t be possible without our bright and talented intern, Hillary Walker. Many thanks.
Two races that will be on the November ballot are seats on the East Flagler Mosquito Control District, a governing body that shows up on every homeowner’s tax bill every year but which most people know very little about other than what the name implies. It’s something about controlling mosquitoes in Flagler County, right? And by controlling, hopefully we mean killing?
I spoke with Jules Kwiatkowski this week. He said he had planned to run for mosquito control in New Jersey, but he moved to Palm Coast just before the elections. Then, he saw an opening here, and after three failed campaigns, he was elected on his fourth attempt. At the age of 77, he was unopposed this year and will serve a second term.
Some of what he does includes helping to manage a $2.9 million budget and keep the tax rate as low as possible. This year, he said, his own bill was $13 for the year.
Another important aspect is answering questions from itchy residents. He forwards concerns to the director, Joe Cash, whom Kwiatkowski says is universally admired.
Standing water is the enemy, according to Kwiatkowski. “A kid’s sand pail can hold 10,000 mosquito larvae,” he said, as he relaxed in one of the white rocking chairs in The Observer’s office.
Think of it: 10,000 larvae.
It would be worth being on the board just to be able to scare people with factoids like that.
Thanks for your continued service, Jules. May the environmentally friendly mosquito-killing fog machines do their thing.
Keep on dreaming
The special feature on the front page in this edition has a nugget that should inspire dreamers of all kinds.
Steve Berry has published many bestselling novels in his writing career. But don’t forget these numbers, too: 5 (manuscripts), 85 (total rejections of those manuscripts), 12 (years before writing the sixth manuscript that was finally published).
Whether you’re an aspiring writer, musician, painter, athlete or politician, don’t be discouraged by a little rejection. Don’t be discouraged by a lot of rejection.
A poetry professor once told me that after you write 1,000 poems, you’ll start to find your own style. He called it a life-long apprenticeship to be an artist.
Stick Figures of Us
Two moments made me smile at home this week. Maybe they’ll make you smile, too.
The other day, I pulled a stick of spearmint out of a pack of gum, and my 2-year-old, Elizabeth, said something that sounded like this: “Are you going to put that in your face?”
One night, my 5-year-old son, Grant, returned from the bathroom after brushing his teeth, and his hair was soaking wet and seemingly had been combed with his fingers. He said, “Don’t I look kind of handsome?” He said he plans to do his hair like that for church.
