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Palm Coast's Ray Stevens is running for the Palm Coast City Council District 3 seat.
Stevens is a Palm Coast resident of 20 years and has worked as a police lieutenant in New York and as a deputy sheriff in Pinellas County, according to his candidate statement on the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections website. He was also an adjunct Professor at Keiser College in Daytona Beach, where he taught criminal justice.
Stevens said he is running for the City Council seat because he disagrees with how the council has handled development in Palm Coast, tax increases and public involvement.
"I think they haven't effectively dealt with the [development] issues," he said.
Stevens said he also believes that raising taxes "should be a last resort," and that the city should look to pare down elsewhere before increasing taxes. At the same time, he said, he believes the city should look into outsourcing much-needed maintenance work in the community — like swale maintenance — to keep things in working order.
Most importantly, Stevens said, if elected he wants to host regular town hall meetings to give the public more time to speak their minds than the three minutes allotted during the public comment section at City Council meetings.
"Taking time out from your day to make a statement, to make a complaint ... three minutes just doesn't cut it," he said.