The Palm Coast City Council in a 4-1 vote today censured Mayor Mike Norris for the
second time in three months
and agreed to send a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to unseat the mayor. Both acts were extraordinary for this or any city but for controversies Norris has been provoking since his election last November, making a routine of the extraordinary.
The vote followed a brief statement by Council member Charles Gambaro describing Norris as exhibiting a “pattern of toxic behavior,” and whose “fear and intimidation represent a clear and present danger to the citizens of Palm Coast” and city employees.
And it followed a longer exposition by Council member Theresa Pontieri of Norris’s recurring misstatements, contradictions and misrepresentations about the legal advice he claims he did not receive, cautioning him against suing the city over the Gambaro appointment–as he recently did. He lost.
Norris claims the city attorneys never told him he had no standing to sue. One of the attorneys wrote an outline of the history of legal advice he and another city attorney gave Norris before he sued.
Pontieri stopped short of calling Norris a liar, at least from the dias, though she made clear that she did not believe the mayor, especially after receiving an email Jeremiah Blocker, one of the city attorneys, wrote and sent the council Monday. The email outlines the history of Norris’s interactions with the city attorneys since last year, when he started contesting the Gambaro appointment.
The history was relevant to Pontieri’s point: she wanted Norris to pay some or all of the roughly $30,000 it cost the city to defend against his lawsuit, now that he’s lost. She said last week she could not make that request without proof that he was given the proper legal advice–that he had no standing to sue, as the judge ruled–but filed suit anyway.
“Mayor Norris on several separate occasions was given specific, direct, and concise legal advice by myself and Mr. Duffy that a lawsuit on this matter would be without standing,” Blocker wrote. “Mayor Norris was asked directly by Councilwoman Pontieri if that statement true. He responded, ‘No that is not true. I was not given that advice.’ I am writing to correct that misstatement by Mayor Norris and to help refresh his recollection on the matter. The facts are that Mayor Norris was given ample legal advice on this matter and [chose] to ignore it.” Blocker then provided a timeline. (See the full email below.)
“Based on all of this, mayor,” Pontieri told him, “I not only feel you were, on numerous occasions, advised as to the standing issue and the lack of merit of any potential lawsuit. But I’m also concerned that you misrepresented to this council and to the public that you were not advised of these things.”
Pontieri reiterated that the council made the Gambaro appointment with the legal advice it received, “and it’s what the judge found we did in the lawsuit that you filed, that council acted within the confines of the charter,” she said. “Based on all of this, I do believe our city’s legal fees should be paid for. But that would have to be a personal choice of yours.”
Norris on Facebook and his supporters in or out of the council chamber continue to dispute the judge’s findings. He did not address Pontieri’s request directly. Not yet. Gambaro made his statement and motion after Pontieri spoke, which led Norris to deflect from her request and go on the attack against Gambaro and Flagler Broadcasting’s David Ayres, who had broadcast Norris’s city cell number during a radio show last Friday, asking listeners to text him their approval or disapproval.
Norris, falsely, said Ayres “and those schmucks over there” asked listeners to “call him and tell him he’s an asshole.” (Gambaro was a guest on the same show, Free For nAll Fridays.) He acused Gambaro of playing games. “So you can keep attacking me if you want,” Norris said. “It ain’t going to get you any votes if you’re running for office, but you know, you do what you got to do. So anything else from the council?”
Gambaro reminded him he had a motion on the floor, and Pontieri noted the deflections–a now near-automatic tactic by Norris, when he’s being criticized or under attack. The radio matter is between Norris and Ayres, Pontieri said, though she had an issue with broadcasting anyone’s cell numbers. But taxpayer dollars are not a private matter. “It’s important that we as council members up here, that what we talk about with regards to city business is transparent and is accurate,” Pontieri said. “I care about what we do with tax dollars, and your actions have harmed tax dollars. ”
Norris disputed the Blocker email in parts, and obliquely denied that he’d been told that he had no standing. “Why would I be asking the attorneys about my standing to sue the city? I’m the mayor. Why would I be asking that?” he said, implying that as mayor he had standing. He added: “I just wish you guys would leave me alone. Let me do my job.” Norris has abandoned most of his responsibilities as mayor, only showing up to chair meetings and fill up on his backers’ truckling during public comment segments.
Pontieri backed a motion to censure Norris again, but was uncomfortable about sending a request to the governor to remove Norris. “That’s so hard for me, because regardless of what has happened, Mayor Norris was elected, and we have to think about the residents that did elect him, regardless of how they feel now,” Pontieri said. There’s also an ethics complaint based on the first censure motion pending before the Florida Ethics Commission. Pontieri was willing to add Norris’s latest dissembling to the complaint record rather than seek the governor’s intervention. She heard no support for that approach.
When it came time to vote, Pontieri joined the majority. Norris dissented.
The following is City Attorney Jeremiah Blocker’s email to the Palm Coast City Council, time-stamped July 14 at 6:47 p.m. It is entirely unedited but for the image signature, which does not appear here.
Councilmembers and Mayor,
I want to provide a written response in order to correct the record from the July 8th Council Workshop meeting.
At that meeting, Councilwoman Pontieri asked the City Attorney, Marcus Duffy if the Mayor had been advised against the merits of filing a lawsuit against the City regarding the appointment of Councilman Gambaro in 2024. She asked if legal advice had been provided prior to the filing of the lawsuit by Mayor Norris’ attorney, Anthony Sabatini.
Mr. Duffy correctly pointed out that Mayor Norris on several, separate occasions was given specific, direct, and concise legal advice by myself and Mr. Duffy that a lawsuit on this matter would be without standing. Mayor Norris was asked directly by Councilwoman Pontieri if that statement true. He responded, “No that is not true. I was not given that advice.”
I am writing to correct that misstatement by Mayor Norris and to help refresh his recollection on the matter. The facts are that Mayor Norris was given ample legal advice on this matter and choose to ignore it.
Below is a summary of the timeline that I recall from our advice to Mayor Norris regarding the appointment of Council Member Gambaro to the District 4 seat.
December 2, 2024 – Meeting with Mayor Mike Norris (City Manager Lauren Johnston, Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo, & City Attorney Marcus Duffy were in attendance)
Mayor Norris brought up the appointment of Council Member Gambaro District 4 Seat and if the previous City Council followed the Charter in appointing Mr. Gambaro.
City Attorney Marcus Duffy explained the appointment and told Mayor Norris the Charter was followed legally.
Mayor Norris at the end of the meeting stated that he understood and was going to leave it alone.
December 3, 2024 – City Council Meeting
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Norris during the Mayor’s final comments stated, “ I told you I was not going to do this Marcus but I have to…” requested consent from City Council to have the City Attorney draft up a legal opinion regarding the Appointment of District 4 seat. After discussion from the dais, the City Council decided not to move forward with the requested legal opinion.
December 4 , 2024 – Mayor Norris emails City Attorney Marcus, asking for a copy of the previous legal advice that the City Attorney provided the previous City Council regarding the appointment of District 4 Seat.
December 5, 2024 – City Attorney Marcus Duffy, emails Mayor Norris a copy of his previous email he sent to City Council regarding the District 4 Seat. In that same email, City Attorney Duffy explained his previous analysis and his analysis of appointing the District 4 Seat.
December 5, 2024 – Mayor Norris responds to City Attorney Duffy stating that he thinks we have a problem and that the charter was violated.
December 6, 2024 – Attorney Jeremiah Blocker discussed with Mayor Norris via phone the appointment of the District 4 Seat and how the Charter was not violated. Mr. Blocker advised the Mayor that he would not have standing to bring litigation against the City regarding the appointment of the District 4 seat. Also, he advised that the Charter was correctly interpreted and following regarding the appointment.
December 7, 2024 – Attorney Jeremiah Blocker received a text message from Mayor Norris requesting another phone call to discuss the same matter from the previous day. Again, Mr. Blocker specifically articulated that a lawsuit over this matter filed by the Mayor would be frivolous and without standing. He articulated case law and relevant statutes that would bar such an action. Mr. Blocker encouraged the Mayor to move on from this issue expressing that multiple attorneys had reviewed this issue and that the Council acted legally in this matter.
December 8, 2024 – Mayor Norris emails City Attorney Duffy, City Manager Lauren Johnston, and City Clerk Kaley Cook, an attachment titled, “Charter District 4.PDF” which was a timeline of the appointment of District 4 Seat, his interpretation of the Charter, and how he thought the City Council should move forward. He stated in his email that everyone had to be prepared to discuss “Charter District 4.PDF” at the weekly meeting on December 9.
December 9, 2024 – Weekly Meeting with Mayor Norris, City Manager Lauren Johnston, and City Attorney Marcus Duffy
Mayor Norris brings up the District 4 Seat appointment, goes through his “Charter District 4.PDF” document, and explains how he thinks the City Council violated the City Charter.
City Attorney Duffy explained to him that the City Council did not violate the Charter by appointing Council Member Gambaro. The appointment was done legally and followed the charter under the circumstances.
Mayor Norris said he will find someone to bring a lawsuit against the City or pay for a lawsuit. City Attorney Duffy responded by saying if a lawsuit is brought against the City on this item, the City will win.
Thank you for allowing me to correct the record on this matter.
