Staly replaces Mullins as chair of Public Safety Coordinating Council

Palm Coast Observer
News

Sheriff Rick Staly was elected new chair of the Public Safety Coordinating Council after former chair, County Commissioner Joe Mullins, declined to pursue the position again after two years. The council’s meeting on June 10 at the Government Services Building, attended remotely by some council members via Zoom and with other attendees spread out for social distancing, also saw Trish Giaccone of the Family Life Center elected as the council’s vice chair.

Mullins began the meeting by congratulating Staly and Bunnell Police Chief Tom Foster for their handling of recent protests against police brutality, working and walking hand-in-hand with protestors.

“Please reiterate to the staff how proud we are of them,” Mullins said.

Mullins said he would not seek to chair the council again so as to focus on the county’s many task forces and “bringing national dollars back to this community” through federal funding.

These task forces, he said, had made “great strides” recently: The opioid task force had sparked interest in one for St. Johns County, and the mental health and suicide task force will soon have a drop-in clinic in Flagler.

Mullins likewise congratulated the county’s health department for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m very glad to say Flagler County has some of the lowest numbers in the state” regarding confirmed COVID-19 infections and deaths, he said.

County Administrator Jerry Cameron advocated for refocusing the council’s efforts in the future. Over time, it had “morphed into a forum for discussion of various problems we have in the community,” he said, which are often worth discussing, but led to unnecessarily long meetings unrelated to the roles of many council members.

“We’re going to follow the statutory requirements” for what the council needed to address, Staly said, including the county’s prison population and mental health issues. “We’ll get the council to decide what else they want to focus on.”

Cameron also emphasized the need to fill the “extremely important” position of council secretary, due to the complicated nature of administering county grants. He said Carrie Baird of Flagler Cares was willing to accept the position, but the Board of County Commissioners would first have to vote her in as a member at its meeting on Monday, June 15.

Staly suggested that, after its next meeting set for July 8, the council consider holding its meetings quarterly instead of monthly.

County Attorney Al Hadeed said meetings could likely continue to have Zoom capabilities as long as a quorum was present.