I’m always surprised by the depth to which County Manager Jim Dinneen’s administration will stoop to ensure that the incredibly expensive follies he personally facilitates come to fruition.

Mr. Dinneen always gets what he (or the politically influential) wants – and damn whoever suffers in the process.

I am also dumbstruck by the complete incompetence displayed by a senior public administrator commanding over $300,000 annually.

This week – after spending some $1.3 million to remediate flood damage at the City Island Library and the nearby County Administration facility – the Volusia County Council will now decide the dim future of the administration building – an important facility that holds everything from the tag office, to building permits, to veteran’s affairs, to traffic court.

You read that right – Remediate the damage.  Then, tear it down.

Typical.

Our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, said in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Maybe they should consider not opening and just demolish it.” 

In other words, screw you – the public can drive to New Smyrna or Deland if those hapless dupes need to do business with Volusia County government.  After all, it’s not about public convenience – it’s about not inconveniencing county bureaucrats.

Speaking as the voice of reason, Council Vice-Chair Deb Denys pointed out the painfully obvious, “There are a lot of crucial services there and we have to give the citizens the ability to access those services.”

No shit.

Only in Volusia County would that statement need to be voiced by a public official.

Is it possible that our county government failed to have a continuity of operations plan in place to ensure essential services in the aftermath of a catastrophic event?

Is it possible that County Manager Jim Dinneen and his administration failed in their basic duty to ensure governmental facilities in core population centers – like, I dunno, Daytona Beach – have alternate local sites identified in advance?

According to George Baker, our clearly challenged “Director of Facilities” – the vital services once provided at 250 North Beach Street have been moved to “every nook and cranny” of county buildings in New Smyrna Beach, Deland and Orange City.

Great plan, George. . .

Let’s call it the “English Muffin” approach to emergency response and recovery.

In any private business, this level of base ineptitude – this colossal blunder – and painful lack of strategic foresight would result in the immediate termination of every senior manager responsible for this gross oversight.

But not in Volusia County.

How long do you think these bumbling incomps would last at a “meritocracy” like Brown & Brown?

Hell, how long would they last in any responsible organization?

I’ll just bet in the backrooms of power, J. Hyatt and the boys laugh and tell Little Jimmy that he should count his lucky stars he found a niche in government – because he wouldn’t last a minute in the Real World.

This is proof the Dinneen administration could screw up a wet dream. . .

And no one cares.

Anyone want to bet that both Jim and George receive hefty pay raises before the year is out?

Anyone?

Hide and watch.

In Volusia County, our elected and appointed officials capitalize on disaster damage to strategically close a key service center and ensure that the proposed $260 million-dollar Taj Mahal courthouse/county office complex is brought to fruition.

They will inconvenience us into submission.

See, if you withhold essential services and force taxpayers to drive from Ormond Beach to Orange City every time they need to renew their tags, invariably the masses will come around to your way of thinking and beg for an enormously expensive facility.

Also, when developers begin swarming City Island like a pack of sharks, let’s see what ultimately becomes of our flood-damaged library.

Care to take a guess?