On Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, the newly elected officials for the Palm Coast City Council were sworn in. Miller, Norris, and Stevens all took their seat at the dais, and following a second wave of public comment, where the residents urged the new council to hear their voices and vote in line with those voices, the new council moved on to appointments.

The first order of business was appointing one of the four council members as Vice Mayor. Before the official vote on Pontieri becoming Vice Mayor, the public issued extensive support of the councilwoman, with only one resident voicing concerns. When asked if there was any discussion on the council, none of the council members spoke up to discuss the matter. In a shocking vote, both council members Miller and Gambaro voted no to appointing Ponteiri as Vice Mayor, with Norris, Stevens, and Pontieri all voting yes. While Pontieri officially became Vice Mayor with a majority vote, many residents in attendance were unhappy with two of the new council members voting against Pontieri.

We reached out to both council members Gambaro and Miller for a response regarding their no vote. Gambaro previously stated earlier this month he would be out of town for the holidays and has not yet at this time responded to our emails. This will be updated should he respond to our request for a response.

Miller did respond and explained, “I think when someone makes a motion on the dais, I would expect that they make a case for that motion and attempt to persuade other members of the council. No such argument was made and the matter was voted on without discussion. I’m always open-minded and any council member worth their salt should similarly be open to a sound and logical justification made for a motion. No such case was made or even attempted; I would have welcomed that discussion and if that discussion made sense I would’ve likely voted yes.”

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