Flagler County Commissioner Attempts to Fire County Administrator

Flagler County Commissioner Kim Carney on Monday attempted to fire County Administrator Heidi Petito, receiving no support from her colleagues. The move came toward the end of the Commission’s business meeting, with scarce audience attendance. Because Carney’s motion received no second, it did not advance to a vote. Had it been voted on, it’s possible but not necessarily likely that Petito would’ve been terminated. A majority of three County Commission members gave Petito less-than-stellar evaluations late last year, but only one of those three would’ve had to be against firing her for the vote to fail. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything,” Carney said as she introduced her motion. “I have a problem in that I lack confidence in our administrator. I have put in writing, I have watched actions and behavior since an evaluation that I openly suggested was an exercise in futility.” She then paused to wait for fellow Commissioner Pam Richardson to return to her seat from the restroom, perhaps awaiting a voice who she felt may be sympathetic to her suggestion. Certainly Carney needed all commissioners listening before making the bold suggestion she had on-deck. “As a board we need to move this county in a very aggressive, very forward-acting direction, and I don’t see that happening,” Carney continued. “I am basically stating a lack of support for Ms. Petito, and I am actually going to make a motion to terminate her agreement and contract with our county.” Commissioners Respond Andy Dance was the first commissioner to respond. He told Carney that her motion was “bad faith and it lacks transparency”. He scolded Carney for bringing the motion forward when hardly any residents were present to weigh in. Carney countered that Petito reported to the commissioners, and not to the residents as the commissioners do. Dance argued that Petito’s bosses, themselves, did report to the public. Carney fell back on the correct assertion that it legally could be done, even if the optics of transparency were questionable. Commission Chair Leann Pennington is somewhat aligned with Carney in her assessment of Petito as county administrator, but she pushed back against the step of firing her altogether. “I didn’t think that there was not a role here for Ms. Petito,” she said. “I think there absolutely could be a role here for Ms. Petito.” Had Carney’s motion passed, Petito would’ve been out of the Flagler County government altogether. Commissioners Andy Dance and Greg Hansen were both supportive of Petito in their evaluations last year. Dance scored Petito with a four out of five, while Hansen gave a five out of five. Kim Carney, Leann Pennington, and Pam Richardson all gave Petito a two out of five. Still, neither Pennington nor Richardson, despite being theoretically aligned with Carney’s view of Petito, were willing to offer a second to a very sudden motion to dismiss her from her post. A Changing Landscape Also worth noting is that, had Petito been dismissed, the most senior administrative positions in the Flagler County government would’ve been made all-around lacking in experience. Petito was appointed in 2021. Deputy County Administrator was appointed in October after the sudden death of his predecessor, Jorge Salinas. County Attorney Michael Rodriguez is also relatively new, having been hired in July. Meanwhile, the makeup of the County Commission could potentially change significantly in November with two seats up for election. Greg Hansen is stepping aside, with his District 2 seat drawing three candidates: Theresa Carli Pontieri, Greg Feldman, and Raymond Royer. Chair Leann Pennington is running for re-election, and is currently the only candidate who’s filed for her seat.