Fernando Melendez is one of the candidates running for the District 1 seat on the Board of County Commissioners. He is also on the Planning and Land Development Board. Previously, in the last election cycle, Melendez ran for a Palm Coast City Council seat, however he was not elected. During our interview he did state that this would be his last bid for an elected seat. We asked Melendez some precursory questions so that residents could get a feel for Melendez and where he stands on a wide variety of local issues.
Why run for county instead of city? “Andy Dance is my opponent and he represents my district. Being on the planning board has given me fresh new insight that are happening in our county which I don’t think is benefiting us. This is why I made the transition to running for the County Commissioners office district 1. I think we can do better for the community as far as decisions that are being made and my position is common sense approach to limited government. Simple as that.” Melendez continued explaining that Palm Coast holds the bulk of the residents in Flagler County, and that the county residents need someone who will speak up for them and what they need.
What are your biggest concerns for Flagler County? “I don’t think there isn’t one problem that can be singled out as the most pressing; representing the neighborhoods and districts is very important. Protecting greenspaces, helping businesses, housing that’s affordable, taking care of our law enforcement, fire department, I believe all of those issues are of equal importance. If I had to pick an overarching theme, I believe our residents are feeling underrepresented and unheard; I believe the county commission already have their agenda. The overwhelming sense that I am hearing from the residents is that the county commissioners have already decided on the agenda and its one that favors special interests and they move forward with their agenda regardless of the residents input. My solution is to get rid of the Good Ole Boys and replace them with people who will represent the people,” said Melendez.
How do plan to help with the tax burden that many residents are feeling, especially the Palm Coast residents, who have all had very large increases on their taxes this year? Melendez explained, “To be honest the spending is totally out of control. The county is spending money on things they don’t need, and quite frankly the residents don’t want. We’re talking about a budget of 187 million dollars that was just approved. In that budget we had expenditures that were in the millions. We have a $5.5 million dollar helicopter, do we need new helicopter? We have a perfectly good helicopter that just saved a ladies life about a month and a half ago, who jumped off the bridge. That helicopter got to Halifax in 6 minutes, do we really need a new one. We also just got approved $16 million dollars for a new library, when we have two libraries. I am not saying we won’t need these in the future, but we don’t need a new library now. They also just approved a new drone, we have 11 drones already. These are taxes that are being spent on things we don’t need and residents don’t want.” He continued on to state taxes would be better spent on things like infrastructure.
Where do you stand on Flagler County’s involvement in the beach re-nourishment projects? “As a county we have to be involved but we have to be smart. We are already involved, we pay for some of Flagler Beach’s lifeguards, we help them with their IT department. We’ve managed to ask our state representative Paul Renner, our state senator, Travis Hutson for monies, and we are getting about $50 million dollars for beach re-nourishment, and we have the Army Core of Engineers pumping sand from the ocean and pumping that back to our beaches. There is a lot of work that goes into that. All that help comes from the federal and army, but we are going to be strapped with maintaining this.”
What are your thoughts on the current development pace in Flagler County? Melendez explained that, “We have a growth now that has increased from 1000 residents a year to 1400 or so a year. Population growth amplifies many things from traffic to crowds, pressures on all municipalities, financially and economically. Right now we are seeing an explosion of population growth and an explosion in development. What people are forgetting is that Palm Coast in general was laid out for 240,000 residents, we are only at about 105,000 right now. We are growing, and we have to manage that part.” Melendez continued to explain his stance, stating that bigger businesses would not choose to make their home in Flagler County unless we had a population to support them.
Melendez’s main platform points are highlighted on his promotional materials. Melendez states that he is a fiscal conservative who wishes to cut spending, responsible growth. responsible rezoning, infrastructure and economic development. You can find expanded explanations on his website.
Do you feel the county and other municipalities work together to benefit the community or is there room for improvement? “There is a great interlocal agreement and has been happening for months. You can find it on the county’s YouTube; the ILA. A lot of good brainstorming is coming from that, and there is a lot of room for improvement, but it is a good start. These government agencies are really trying to work and smooth things out, because growth is coming hard for us. I would say that the people need to get more involved in more of the meetings and do their homework. Our elected officials are often not vetted.”
What qualifies Melendez for this seat? “I moved in 2018, retired bus driver from the City of New York. I was an elected official in the Union. I represented over 14,000 people. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Psychology, a Master’s degree in political science and my major is in economic development. Since coming here I served on the 2021 Palm Coast Redistricting Board, I am the current community coordinator at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, I’m currently the Chair of the Flagler County Planning and Development Board, and I’ve worked on numerous campaigns and I have ran for Palm Coast City Council in the past. I am also a graduate of the Palm Coast Citizens Academy. I believe all of this has given me the skills and knowledge needed for this position.” Among the campaigns that Melendez has worked on, most recently, he worked on Mayor David Alfin’s Campaign.
