Spotlight on Flagler County Commissioner, Joe Mullins
July 15, 2022
Today, I want to point out the obnoxious, Trump-supporting Board of County Commissioners Chair in Flagler County, Mr. Joe Mullins. He is frequently found speeding up and down the interstate highways in his bright-red Ferrari in excess of 90 miles per hour, and when cited he instantly pulls the "do you know who I am?!" card, aggressively arguing with the police. In a recent traffic stop he pompously declared to Florida Highway Patrol, "I run the county," which has recently blown up in the news and earned him the ignominy of being featured on the front page of the July 13, 2022 edition of The Daytona Beach News–Journal, with the headline: "Mullins to trooper: 'I run the county.'"
Mullins has called the county sheriff in the past demanding political favors, and typically prevails in getting his penalties reduced for his frequent speeding tickets by begging for mercy from the court, orally and in writing, citing his work as a county commissioner in the process. He was so arrogant in a recent traffic stop that a Florida Highway Patrol officer warned him he would be arrested if he got out of the car. The officer's written report described him as "extremely condescending, belligerent, illogical and disrespectful," and documented that Mullins "flashed his business card to get out of ticket."
The Mullins story has been picked up by The Daily Mail, The New York Post, and People. Mullins frequently mirrors Donald Trump in using the slogan "Flagler First," similar to Trump's recycling of "America First" from President Woodrow Wilson's 1916 re-election campaign, which was then picked up by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. As you might have guessed, Mullins goes in for all the usual tropes about "backing the blue" (police) and promoting law and order, despite his recklessness and belligerence to the police.
Mullins was elected in 2018 and is up for re-election in 2022. His leading opponent is a fellow Republican, Leann Pennington, who bills herself as a "TRUE conservative" and is spotlighting Mullins' corruption in her campaign, and he also faces a lesser-known no-party-affiliated candidate (Jane Gentile-Youd) on the ballot. (Note: In Flagler County, county commission elections are statutorily partisan, unlike Volusia.) Mullins presently receives an annual salary of $59,637 and is eligible for various reimbursements for food and fuel in his official capacity, which is more generous than the starting salary of a schoolteacher in most if not all of Florida, despite the fact that the board only meets twice a month.
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Notes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_(policy)
https://penningtonforflagler.com
https://penningtonforflagler.com/opponents-record-1
https://www.flaglercounty.gov/government/board-of-county-commissioners/meeting-information
Richard Not my county Flagler so I have no dog in this fight. But I know lots of people and cops in Flagler County. The Commission Chairman Mullins he's a loud mouth boisterous scoundrel. I'm sure he's like the majority of the MAGA morons who love cops until they get a ticket or arrested for beating someone up. Yeah eventually they all end up hating cops once they can't buy them with a donut and oh I back the blue kiss I think that the Citizens run Flagler County that pays Moon Mullins. Resign Moon Mullins because you're the nasty ingrown hair on the arse of Flagler County