Darlene Shelley, a retired retail operations manager, is running for Palm Coast City Council. In a recent interview, she discussed her background, her concerns about development in the city, and her views on the budget, utilities, and city leadership.
Background and Why She’s Running
Shelley said she moved to Palm Coast in 2012 with her husband after her parents had lived in the area for about 30 years. She said she spent 25 years as an operations manager for Home Depot and previously worked in her family’s garden center and flower shop business. She said her career focused on fiscal responsibility and cost management.
Shelley said she became involved in local government after retiring in 2019 and noticing zoning change signs near her former home off Old Kings Road. She said she and her neighbors had researched the area’s zoning, which was designated for offices and commercial use, before buying their homes, but said the city later moved to allow multiple storage facilities in the same stretch. She said that experience, along with concerns about proposed multi-story apartment buildings and rising density, led her to get involved and eventually run for office. “I’m not a politician. I’m a mom, a wife, a neighbor,” she said.
Overdevelopment and Infrastructure
Asked about the biggest issue facing Palm Coast, Shelley pointed to overdevelopment without adequate supporting infrastructure. She said the effects show up in higher utility bills and worsening traffic, arguing the city has approved higher-density housing without a sufficient plan to prevent flooding or traffic gridlock. “You’re putting the cart before the horse,” she said she told city council members at past meetings.
Property Tax Ballot Measure
On the statewide homestead exemption measure set to appear on the November ballot, Shelley said she supports eliminating property taxes on primary residences, arguing that young families and seniors are struggling with rising utility and tax bills. She said the city should instead rely on developers to fund infrastructure costs tied to new growth, arguing that local government has spent years incentivizing multi-family housing development through zoning changes and reduced infrastructure fees. She said she would like to see the city pursue higher-paying light industrial jobs to help residents afford homeownership.
Road Maintenance
Shelley said she believes city road projects have prioritized infrastructure tied to the westward expansion over long-neglected roads like Old Kings Road, which she said remains only two lanes despite serving as an overflow route during I-95 accidents or evacuations. She said resident surveys have not ranked westward expansion as a top priority, yet said grant funding, including funding tied to a proposed loop road, has been directed toward supporting that project rather than addressing existing traffic problems.
Westward Expansion
Asked what she would want from developers as long-standing agreements tied to the westward expansion are renegotiated, Shelley said she does not believe developers should be allowed to abandon commitments made in the original development agreements, including provisions for a public pool and stadium. She said she supports economic diversification through “clean” light industrial and manufacturing development in the area, rather than solely residential construction, and said local government should have a stronger voice in protecting environmentally sensitive land, including wetlands and wildlife habitat, from new development.
Home Rule
Shelley said she supports restoring “home rule,” or local governments’ ability to regulate development within their own communities, agreeing that several recent state laws have limited cities’ authority to say no to development. She said she believes some in state government prioritize campaign contributions over the concerns of residents. “I’m sometimes a little disgusted with my own party when they sell out safety, health and welfare of residents for profit,” said Shelley, who described herself as a lifelong Republican.
Utility Rates
On rising utility bills, which are set to increase 4% annually for several years to fund infrastructure upgrades, Shelley called a roughly $120 baseline utility charge before water use “insane” and said the increases are pushing longtime residents to sell their homes and leave the city. She said she believes the city’s water and wastewater treatment plants, originally purchased from ITT, were allowed to fall behind during years of rapid development, leaving current residents to cover costs, including a $320 million bond, that she believes should have been funded by developers as growth occurred. She said homes sold by residents leaving the city are increasingly being purchased by corporate entities for use as rental properties, which she said is not ideal for the long-term health of neighborhoods.
City Manager and Staffing
Asked whether the city manager, who has been in the role for about eight months, is fairly compensated, Shelley said his existing contract entitles him to his negotiated pay, but said government compensation as a whole should be reviewed for fairness and balance. She said the city’s front-line employees do good work, but said she believes some administrative layers added to city government in recent years may not be adding proportional value. “Bigger government is not necessarily better government. It’s just more expensive,” she said. She said she would want to ensure any budget cuts protect front-line services rather than falling disproportionately on those positions.
Council Accountability and Trust
Asked whether she trusts the current city council, Shelley raised concerns about two sitting council members who were appointed rather than elected, including one she said had an opportunity to step down for a previously elected official recovering from illness but chose not to. She said she has researched campaign contributions to sitting council members from real estate and development interests, expressing distrust of officials she believes are influenced by those donations. She said she respects Mayor Mike Norris for what she described as directness, while criticizing another council member for reversing course on a density decision in the city’s E-Section after resident opposition.
Shelley said she believes public trust in the council can be restored through greater transparency, saying major development decisions have often become public only after groundbreaking, when it is too late for resident input. She said she supports strong adherence to Florida’s open meetings requirements, known as the Sunshine Law.
Closing Pitch to Voters
Asked why residents should choose her over her opponents, Shelley pointed to her 35 years of business and cost-management experience and said she is largely self-funding her campaign without contributions from developers or real estate interests. She said her goal is to protect the safety, affordability, and quality of life that drew her family to Palm Coast in the first place.
The post Retired Retail Manager Darlene Shelley Runs for Palm Coast City Council on Growth Concerns first appeared on Flagler County Buzz.
