by Krys DeWind | Aug 5, 2024 | News, Palm Coast, Politics | 0 comments
Dana “Mark” Stancel is one of the local candidates running for Palm Coast City Council Person. Stancil took the time to submit answers to the questions we provided in one of the last interviews for candidates before early voting starts this August 10th. Below you can read our questions in bold, followed by his answers.
- Primaries are right around the corner; you are currently running against Ray Stevens and Andrew Werner. What reasons should voters choose you over the other candidates? Because I show up. My wife and I regularly attend City Council meetings, and neither candidate I’m running against is there to see what is going on. Additionally, I’m on two City Council-appointed committees: The Citizens Advisory Committee and the Code Enforcement Board. There, I’m actively involved in representing Palm Coast.
- Many people are concerned about electing a candidate with ties to real estate and development; what connections do you have to the real estate and development communities? I am not and have never been involved in any form of real estate ties.
- Residential development in Palm Coast has been a major concern; in what ways are you planning to balance that out to a manageable level so that the City can catch up on overdue and necessary infrastructure needs? I plan to make our infrastructure a priority over and above any future development.
Our current City Council has done its best to approve and approve and approve any development requests that come before it. I fought this growth earlier this year when the City Council was hearing the Cascades proposal (which was initially approved for just over 400 single-family homes) when the developer requested a rehearing so that they could add another 400-plus apartment buildings and condominiums along Seminole Woods. We defeated that in November of last year, and the developer asked for a rehearing on a technicality. I, and about 100 others, showed up at that rehearing and spoke out against that additional structure request and showed the Council that the residents of Seminole Woods did not want those buildings. Not only were we against those apartments and condos, but there was great concern that the infrastructure along Seminole Woods would not support those additional units. Traffic concerns along Seminole Woods were also of great concern because that development would add approximately 800 cars traveling up and down Seminole Woods per day. Our city already has an over-abundance of apartments and, according to statistics that were brought out by another City Council member, the current number of apartments’ occupancy is only about 80%. We don’t need additional apartments because of that, along with the apartment buildings already under construction.
See AlsoBehind Flagler Tax Services Owner Newsholme's $300,000 in Fraud: Mounting Debts and Ponzi-Like Scheme | FlaglerLiveBrendan Depa Is Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison, 15 on Probation for Attacking His Para at Matanzas High School | FlaglerLiveSheriff's office announces 41 arrests in Volusia and Lake counties in drug trafficking bustPalm Coast needs to support our roads and drainage system FIRST before adding any more homes. Having attended the Citizens Academy earlier this year, I was made aware of what needs to be done, a lot of which is underway, but a lot more has been put on hold. The original ITT plan builders put in drainage systems that are now rusting out, collapsing, etc. I know the Stormwater department is working hard to replace those drain pipes and update our canals. But, that work takes time. Our new development needs to be slowed so that the work that needs to be done can be completed.
Our water supply is being strained because of all these new developments. Our wastewater system needs a new “membrane” at one of the plants and, because it’s an election year, that membrane was turned down by our City Council. It takes a long time to get one of those membranes online, which because it hasn’t even been ordered yet, we are behind in being able to properly handle wastewater and some wastewater is having to be diverted to another plant because of this issue.
- Environmental conservation of our green space in Palm Coast is also a top concern in the community. In what ways are you planning to conserve our green spaces, trees, wetlands, and other natural resources? My wife and I moved to Palm Coast because it’s so beautiful. It’s beautiful BECAUSE of our green spaces, trees, and wetlands. Its beauty needs to be maintained, first, by requiring developers to keep our trees along main roads with a minimum “setback” of 80 feet from the main roads, allowing the setback of the trees to more or less “hide” new developments. I’ve noticed that a lot of new homes along Sesame haven’t been required to maintain any setback at all, and a lot of the tree lines have disappeared. There are signs on Palm Coast roads boasting about us being “Tree City”. With the non-enforcement of those setbacks, our trees are rapidly disappearing. We need to restart the requirements to keep our trees. Additionally, all this new development is causing our wildlife to retreat because their normal habitats are disappearing.
- Taxes are among the top-tier hot topics this election year. Our tax base is 93% residentially funded with only a small percentage coming from commercial tax bases. What plans do you have to diversify the tax base without hurting the residents with added taxes, fees, or other financial burdens? We need to find new ways to bring in taxes. My wife and I have received enormous real estate tax bills in the last two years, and they are almost impossible for people living on a fixed income to keep up with. We need to stop adding to our residents’ burdens. I realize that the City needs new taxes to pay for keeping up with the work that needs to be done, but these kinds of real estate tax bills are driving people OUT of our city because it’s no longer affordable.
As to my plans to help with the tax base, see the answers to your next question.
- Economic development: many claim that to be a successful city, there have to be economic opportunities for residents who live here; meaning quality jobs with higher wages. How do you plan to grow the economic base for Palm Coast and bring in more high-paying jobs for residents? We need to start identifying and setting aside real estate that can be used for industries to come into Palm Coast. The ITT plan had originally set aside property for just that purpose, but a lot of that property has been rezoned for residential use.
We need to be actively “courting” new business to come to Palm Coast. I’ve heard of several large-job businesses that wanted to come here but were turned down by the Council.
We need companies that can bring in not just a few jobs, but MANY jobs in one facility. With the new CHIPS Act that was passed by our current administration, we should be looking at finding businesses that would be interested in building facilities here, using the federal money to attract those businesses. With our proximity to the I-95 corridor that runs along practically the entire eastern seaboard and our proximity to the ocean, that proximity would be found attractive.
The problem in Palm Coast is that because we don’t have many opportunities for our young people to find good-paying jobs here (it seems there are only retail and restaurant jobs available here), we are forcing our youth to look to cities like St Augustine, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, or Orlando to find those jobs. That means they have to move there. Our city consists of a majority of people who are retirement age, and those of us who are retirement age aren’t going to run this city much longer. Without a younger workforce, who is going to take over for us when we are no longer there to hold the reins of running our city?
I realize I argued earlier that we need to slow down development. But, here is the exception: We need to start developing more affordable homes in our city. The builders today are not interested in that because they want to continue to build the high-end homes that our youth can’t afford. These affordable homes should be in the price range of $200K and provide 2-3 bedroom homes on smaller lots that, if we have the jobs for our youth, would keep them here to take over in the future. Having this type of affordable homes, in communities where these homes are all in the same area, for young people would give them a chance to get a “foothold” to start building equity in their homes, settling their lives, and starting families. Having these types of communities would give them other young people to live around them, where they could all “grow up” together with their neighbors.
- Stormwater, flooding, swales, and canals are considered undermaintained by many in the community. What are your plans to ensure that our unique system of canals and swales gets caught up on maintenance and stays maintained in the future? I realize that many “consider” this to be true, but having taken the Citizen’s Academy earlier this year, this may be a misconception. My wife and I have been personally talking with the Stormwater Department (particularly since I started my campaign for City Council), and we’ve learned just what is going on to maintain those facilities in Palm Coast. The old ITT system is now over 30 years old and aging. It is being replaced or repaired where necessary. The swales, ditches, and canal conditions are being addressed as quickly as they can. They have new equipment that can check the culverts under homeowners’ driveways for blockage and can even clean the culverts if they are found to be plugged up. It turns out that this particular service is free for homeowners.
They’ve added equipment recently that can dredge out the canals. They have new control systems for the canals to help them identify when a canal is over-full and can push water over those “dams” to lower the water level. They can do the opposite when a canal is low on water. Recently, with us entering hurricane season, they’ve lowered the levels in the canals using these new control systems to enable them to handle additional runoff in the event of a big storm or hurricane. It’s amazing how the department can use software to identify when the flow of water is having a problem and see when issues need to be addressed.
They have teams of workers that inspect ditches that have overgrown and come in and clean out the ditches so they flow better.
So, in short, the Stormwater Department is working very hard to do just what those who are concerned expect. But, with any effort, it takes time. Rest assured… they are working very hard to address any problems our systems have.
- How long have you been involved in the local political scene? Have you always been active? Why now? Shortly after my wife and I moved to Palm Coast in April of 2021, we started attending City Council meetings and seeing how things are not happening in Palm Coast as they should be. That awareness made us want to get involved with helping our city. Having become more visible and involved at the Council meetings, we got to be known there. We stood up to speak many times when the Council needed to hear our concerns about their decisions. We’ve called them out publicly and made sure the residents knew when someone supposedly representing their interests was voting AGAINST the interests of the people they represent. I’m running for the 3rd District seat currently occupied by Nick Klufas who is term-limited out of that seat and is currently running for the County Commission for the 3rd District. When that opportunity presented itself, that became my “Why now?” reason.
We may not have lived here as long as my opponents, but we can see the problems that need to be addressed here. As newer residents, maybe we can have different perspectives on ways to address our problems than someone who has lived here longer and may be “jaded” in their approach. And, that could be a GOOD thing!
As mentioned earlier, when I decided to get involved, I started letting the right people know of my interest in helping out where I can. That led to my being appointed to the CAC (Citizens Advisory Committee) and the Code Enforcement Board for Palm Coast….both positions were voted on and appointed by the City Council because by then they knew me. They knew my wife and I were taking active parts in meetings and could be good candidates for those positions.
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