Anna Jones, founder of the group Peace for Palm Coast, is running for a seat on the Flagler County Commission. In a recent interview, she discussed her background, her concerns about development in the county, and her views on the local budget and government accountability.

Background and Why She’s Running

Jones said she and her husband moved to Palm Coast several years ago after considering other parts of Florida, choosing the area because it seemed quieter and had less traffic. She said she became involved in local advocacy after founding Peace for Palm Coast, a group focused on opposing noise from flight school activity at the Flagler County Airport. She said the group has collected more than a thousand signatures.

Jones said she decided to run for office after feeling that residents’ concerns about the airport issue and others were being ignored by local government. She said she began knocking on doors with another local candidate, Darlene Shelley, and found residents across the county frustrated with growth and development. “I feel I can represent the people better than what they’re doing,” she said.

Concerns About Development

Jones raised concerns about the pace and scale of new development in the county, pointing to a large commercial project approved on agricultural land in the Seminole Woods area as an example. She said the state’s Growth Management Act requires infrastructure, such as roads, schools, police, and fire service, to keep pace with new development before projects are approved, but said she believes the county and city are not enforcing that standard. She said traffic studies used to justify some developments may not fully account for the cumulative impact of nearby projects.

Jones also raised environmental concerns tied to development, noting that wetlands provide important ecological functions and help recharge the region’s aquifer system, and expressing concern about the lack of adequate buffer zones around new construction. She cited her husband’s background as an environmental scientist and referenced water quality concerns, including the presence of nitrogen from septic systems and limits on filtering pharmaceuticals out of reclaimed water. She pointed to master-planned communities she previously lived in, in Nevada and Virginia, as models she believes balance development with preserved natural space.

Jones also raised concerns about the county not having what she described as a dedicated beach management or road maintenance funding plan, arguing that developer impact fees, rather than general tax revenue, should fund infrastructure tied to new growth. She referenced an ongoing legal dispute between developers and the city of Palm Coast over infrastructure fees.

Property Tax Measure and County Budget

Asked how she would manage the county’s finances if the proposed statewide homestead exemption measure reduces property tax revenue, Jones said she believes there is waste in the current budget that should be addressed first. She noted that as a commissioner, she would not be able to directly control how independently elected officials, such as the sheriff, spend approved budgets, but said commissioners can approve or reject budget requests and should ask more questions about them.

Jones questioned a budget request from the Sheriff’s Office for additional deputies, saying she wants to understand what the request is based on. She also said she has reviewed public budget documents and believes the county has built up reserve funds in recent years without a clear plan for how those reserves would be used on infrastructure needs.

She said she has not been able to get clear or consistent figures from officials on how the proposed property tax exemption would affect the county’s revenue, saying different officials have presented different projections. While Jones said she believes some budget reductions are necessary, she said she doesn’t believe the fiscal impact is as severe as some officials have suggested, and said the current homestead exemption in particular has provided little relief to fixed-income residents, including seniors and people with disabilities, whose exemption amount has not increased even as other costs, including utility bills, have risen.

County Administrator Search

Asked about the county’s ongoing search for a permanent county administrator, Jones said she believes the interim administrator has done a reasonably good job serving as a liaison between the county board, elected department heads, and residents. However, she said she believes there is a broader disconnect between residents and various levels of county government, and said she has heard concerns from the community about nepotism and favoritism contributing to what she described as a difficult work environment within the county. She said she believes a new administrator would need to address that environment directly while maintaining clear boundaries between the board’s oversight role and day-to-day department operations.

Government Accountability

Jones raised concerns about a lack of documented performance evaluations for some county department heads, saying she filed a public records request seeking a performance evaluation for one department head and was told no evaluation existed, despite what she described as a requirement for the county administrator to complete such evaluations annually. She said she also has questions about how staff bonuses and merit pay are distributed, saying she was told that information was private. She said she observed catered meals and gift baskets during a public records office visit and questioned the appropriateness of certain employee perks, alongside what she described as a generous county holiday schedule.

Jones said she believes some public records requests submitted by residents face delays or high fees that make it difficult for people to obtain information about county operations.

Closing Pitch to Voters

Asked why voters should choose her over her opponents, Jones said she is not afraid to advocate on difficult issues and pointed to her research into the airport noise issue, which she said is fact-based and documented on her website, Peace for Palm Coast. She said she believes the state’s Growth Management Act is not being properly applied to new development and said she would continue raising that issue if elected. She said she considers herself pro-growth but opposed to what she called reckless clearing of natural land for new construction, and described herself as an advocate willing to ask direct questions of officials on behalf of residents.