Last Updated:4:40 p.m.
Circuit Judge Chris France today handed Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris a stinging defeat in his lawsuit against his own city, challenging the legality of the council’s appointment of Charles Gambaro to a vacated seat last summer.
In a hearing lasting less than an hour, and in a courtroom with more than two dozen Norris supporters filling the gallery, France ruled against Norris both on standing–he had none–and on the merits.
France could have simply ruled on the standing issue, but by ruling on the merit, the ruling is strengthened in case it’s appealed. Speaking with FlaglerLive weeks ago, Norris claimed he would appeal “all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Norris through his attorney, Anthony Sabatini, contended that the Gambaro appointment was illegal past election night in November, and that his tenure on the council since was illegitimate–that Gambaro was not even a council member. France’s ruling ends that claim. Norris was in the audience rather than next to Sabatini, sitting in the gallery’s first row, mostly texting on his phone during the lawyers’ arguments, putting the phone away only when France ruled.
Gambaro in a statement said the ruling reaffirms the legitimacy of his appointment and repeated what he had said before about the lawsuit: that it was “frivolous.” Gambaro called it “the action of a toxic and isolated leader” filed to “deflect attention from the serious and well-documented concerns about his own derelict conduct in office since taking the oath in November of 2024.” (See the full statement at the foot of the article.)
The judge questioned both sides–Rachael Crews of GrayRobinson represented the city–and asked more than a dozen questions, tipping his hand well before the ruling as he questioned Sabatini more skeptically than he did Crews.
“We have the words that we have in the charter. They did what they could do,” France told Sabatini, referring to the council’s actions. “We all agree that they had three choices and they did what they could do. Correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Sabatini conceded, a fatal concession, though even if he had not made it, the matter of standing would have dealt him an equally fatal blow: France agreed with the city that only the attorney general or a candidate for the Gambaro seat would have had standing to sue, not Norris.
Even if the Norris got past standing and the court disagrees with the city on the merits, even if the court were to remove Gambaro, Crews argued, that would create a vacancy. The charter says any time there is one, it has to be filled by appointment. “You certainly don’t get a special election,” except for the mayor, or if there is a recall, Crews said.
“We were well in our rights to make this appointment,” Crews said, “and a special election is not a proper remedy. I mean, it’s a very radical thing that they’re asking this court to do. They’re asking the court to issue a mandatory injunction against the city, to force the city to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to hold a special election that is not authorized by the charter, that is a separation of powers issue, that is asking the court to invade the legislative sphere to take out somebody’s potential political rival and I don’t think that’s the best use of judicial system.”
Sabatini objected to Crews alluding to the political overlay of the situation, and France agreed that those elements are to be kept out of the arguments. But that was a moot point.
Thirty-three people, most of them Norris supporters, three reporters and a photographer filled the gallery. The supporters were for the most part the regulars who fill public-comment segments at council meetings, sometimes loudly, sometimes rudely, often with Norris’s indulgence as they succor his conspiracy theories and have echoed his attacks on Gambaro. Bailiffs warned Norris supporters in sharp terms before the hearing to conduct themselves with decorum, to be silent throughout, and to put away the “We stand with Norris” signs many of them had brought with them. “You hold it up, you’re out,” a bailiff told the supporters. They behaved.
France immediately wanted the lawyers to establish Norris’s standing to sue, what he called “the most conspicuous argument.” Sabatini argued that Norris has standing because suing was his only remedy, because “there is an injury, there is a charter violation,” and that “ charter violations in themselves are against the public interest.” Notably, he did not cite the law, sounding more like a polemicist than a lawyer.
He said Florida law grants Norris standing, “both as a citizen, a taxpayer, and as an elected official.” He said Norris’s votes were “affected concretely” by other members of the council, including the fate of ordinances. But again, he did not cite case law. France pressed him more on Norris’s “injury” to prove standing.
If he had no standing, he said, “there would be no remedy under Florida law to remove a person who is unlawfully occupying seat,” Sabatini said. That is not the case: if, for example, one of the 10 people who’d applied for Gambaro’s seat had filed suit, standing may have been more arguably established.
“Plaintiff does not have standing,” Crews said when it was her turn, immediately citing law and precedent, elaborating on the “quo warranto” standard (the words mean by what authority) and to which the kind of challenge Norris filed is limited. There are no exceptions, she said.
Crews, who can be subtly biting, put air quotes when she referred to the emergency motion Norris filed as she explained the timeline of elections under the city charter. She gave a brief lesson on the charter language controlling vacancies and explained the “logistical impossibility” of meeting certain deadlines.
Norris walked out as soon as he could after the ruling, in a glum moving huddle with his protective supporters, one of whom–a frequent commenter at City Council meetings who is unlikely to end her appearances there–said she was moving to unincorporated Flagler County.
On May 15 in a social media post, Norris had said “Independence Day is gonna get a lot better this year” and predicted France’s ruling after the court scheduled today’s hearing: “This is a HUGE win for the people of Palm Coast and the right to elect your city leaders! We are confident given the responses from the judge that on July 4th 2025, the unelected and illegitimate Gambaro will be removed from the council!”
Based on his conduct since November, it is unlikely that Norris will take the defeat gracefully or concede Gambaro’s legitimacy.
None of the other council members were in the courtroom, nor was anyone else from the city, leaving the case in Crews’s hands.
“I’m looking forward to moving poast this and focusing on good policy for the future of our City,” Council member Theresa Pontieri said in a text. Pontieri as vice mayor has all but filled the role of mayor for months as Norris has abandoned most of those “I think City Council and staff have been very professional while this case has been pending, and I think we all just want to move forward in a positive way.”
“I’m not surprised by the ruling, because the law, I think, is very clear,” Crews said afterward. “I was a little surprised he ruled from the bench with all those people in the room. I thought maybe you take it under advisement.” But France was clearly not affected by the audience.
Crews said that Norris can try to appeal. “Of course, every time you appeal, it gets harder and harder to win,” she said. “I do a lot of appellate law as well, and so I don’t think he would even get the appeal resolved in time to make a difference. The November election would be basically right there anyway. By the time he appeals over, it takes about a year to go through the appellate process, so it would be sort of an exercise in futility.”
Council Member Charles Gambaro’s Statement Following Ruling:
As I have stated before, I joined the Palm Coast City Council in full accordance with all established city and state procedures through a process that was carefully designed and unanimously approved by the previous Council. My appointment followed all legal requirements and proper protocols as outlined in our City Charter and Florida state law. The above facts were reaffirmed today.
Despite this lawful and transparent appointment, Mayor Norris chose to file a frivolous lawsuit against the city he was elected to serve. This is without question the action of a toxic and isolated leader. This unprecedented legal action is clearly a calculated attempt to intimidate and deflect attention from the serious and well-documented concerns about his own derelict conduct in office since taking the oath in November of 2024. Mayor Norris’s malicious actions have caused unnecessary stress to our city council, our city staff, and our residents.
Mayor Norris’s attacks against me personally are a true disappointment given that he is a fellow veteran. In our profession of arms, we are taught to conduct ourselves with dignity and respect. Mike Norris is incapable of either. Today’s legal defeat is well earned by a terrible leader who has no business serving as our Mayor.
I would like to thank our legal team for professionally and effectively defending our city against Mayor Norris and I would like to thank Judge France for his ruling in support of the citizens of Palm Coast. It is truly going to be a wonderful 4th of July!! With sincere respect and commitment to our shared future,
Charles A. Gambaro, Jr. Palm Coast City Councilman, District 4
