PALM COAST OBSERVER
OBSERVED
PalmCoastObserver.com
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020
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Unintended consequences The Observer doesn’t ‘go after’ any elected official or business. It’s also not our job to protect them.
BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Some community members have expressed concern about the Palm Coast Observer “going after” Coastal Cloud. Here is my perspective. If any company hires the mayor of Palm Coast while that mayor is in office, and then the city enters into an agreement with that company, the community should be on high alert. In such a situation, the potential for abuse of power is obvious. It was obvious to Coastal Cloud owners Tim and Sara Hale, and it was obvious to Mayor Milissa Holland; that’s why Holland recused herself from the votes that made the agreement official in 2018, and that’s why the agreement made sure no money would exchange hands between Coastal Cloud and the city. From what I can tell, their intentions were good. Their attempts to eliminate any perception of abuse of power was further accomplished by the support of the other four members of the City Council, who voted in favor of the agreement.
Still, there have been unintended consequences. Since the fall of 2019, I have interviewed more than a dozen former and current employees who have used words like “tricky,” “complicated,” “awkward” and “unethical” when describing the practical fulfillment of the agreement. I have done my best to gather and publish these voices, as well as the responses and rebuttals of the Hales and City Hall. The stories have cause distress to some of those parties, and I don’t take any delight in that. I also don’t claim to have done any of the writing or reporting perfectly. But ultimately, as editor of the newspaper, it’s not my role in the community to make sure that City Hall and Coastal Cloud are happy. I didn’t tell Coastal Cloud to hire the mayor. I also don’t tell companies to move to Palm Coast or to stay away from Palm Coast; I don’t “go after” any business or any person to make them look bad. Rather, I serve the community by trying to follow the example of the great journalist Robert A. Caro: to report how the government is using its power. I believe that the way staff has been impacted by the Coastal Cloud-mayor-Palm Coast arrangement is significant. I have published these stories because in the United States of America, you, the reader, are entitled to know.
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