Through his lawyer, Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against Council Member Charles Gambaro and the city he represents today, without prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled.
Anthony Sabatini, an attorney for Mt. Dora, filed the notice early this afternoon shortly after receiving a letter from the city’s attorney threatening to impose financial penalties on Norris should the litigation continue.
Seven months after the council appointed Gambaro to the District 4 seat, Norris filed the case on May 5. He claimed that an election should have been held in November 2024 to fill the Gambaro seat. Rachael Crews, an attorney with GrayRobinson, represented the city, which contended that an election was completely unfeasible because important deadlines had already gone by the time Cathy Heighter resigned her council seat last August.
At a hearing on July 3, Circuit Judge Chris Francea concurred, but he also decided that Norris lacked the initial standing to suit. After that, Norris submitted a motion for rehearing. In contrast to a portion of French law, Sabatini argued that the court overlooked Norris’ standing under a specific provision of Florida law.
In the city’s response to the court, which was submitted late last week, Crews stated that this was untrue. The Court’s Final Order expressly addressed and rejected this particular standing argument, which was a major component of [Norris’] argument at the hearing on July 3, 2025.
An appeal must be preceded by a motion for rehearing. In an interview with FlaglerLive months ago, Norris stated that he was ready to pursue the issue all the way to the Supreme Court, even though he expected to lose in Circuit Court. In addition, he stated that he didn’t care if he cost the city $1 million when his fellow council members tried to get him to pay some or all of the legal fees that his case had cost taxpayers up to that point.
At a town hall on July 29, Norris gave a different speech, implying that the brag had not gone over well with at least some of his remaining fans.He stated, “I don’t want to cost the city money, but I have multimillionaires in this city who have said I will appeal that case and take it as far as I can.” Although he is still not carrying out the traditional mayoral duties that prior mayors have performed, he has also tempered the vitriol against Gambaro and, in the last few meetings he has led, concentrated on the matter at hand.
Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri, who has been covering for Norris on a number of occasions, said it was time to return to official business after U.S. Representative Randy Fine visited one of the city’s waste water treatment facilities on Wednesday. I believe that the council has been mostly focused on city business, but this is good for the community and its citizens because we are no longer involved in a litigation between a council member and the mayor, which is never good for a city. Therefore, I believe it is a good thing to be able to have this dismissal and to know that we will no longer be using resident funds for this case.
