Hi, Kids!

Welcome to the weekend!

Wow.  What a week it’s been.

The long-anticipated primary election has come and gone, and in its wake, we are left with a lot to think about.

As I’ve previously written, I’m not a political scientist – just another disgruntled asshole who is fed up with our collective condition in one of the highest taxed counties in Florida – helplessly bearing witness while those we have placed our trust in piss good money after bad, then demand more.

You see, I have this naïve belief that we’re better than this.

When I travel to other places around the nation, I see communities that are similarly situated to our own that have done remarkable things under equally difficult circumstances to improve those cultural, civic and social factors that give a sense of place and enrich the quality of life for residents and visitors.

I believe we are infinitely capable of changing course, correcting the sins of the past, and returning a sense of basic fairness and equity to our democratic process.  One that allows constructive input from those who pay the bills – not just a few politically connected insiders with a profit motive and direct access to the public trough.

Apparently, the majority of those who actually took the initiative to vote in Volusia County this week disagree with me (about 3 out of 10 registered voters) – and that’s okay.  It’s democracy in action, and while I don’t have to agree with all of it, I accept the will of the electorate.

However, going into the general election, I hope people will look beyond the goofy soundbites, the superficial social media sites and colorful brochures that tout the dubious “accomplishments” of incumbents while ignoring the sights, sounds and smells that you and I drive by every day here in Volusia County.

Look, I get it – not everyone is a “high information” voter – in fact, most people can’t tell you their Mayor’s name, let alone describe the make-up and collective vision of the City Commission – or the County Council for that matter.

It’s not that they don’t care.

Most are just too busy trying to scratch-out a living, buy groceries, educate their children and make a life in a place where making ends meet is an increasingly difficult proposition for working families mired in a service-based economy.

They understand how hard it is to make a good life here – and they fear the coming tide of new residents who will clog our already overburdened roadways.

They shake their heads in disbelief when they drive by another environmental atrocity where old-growth oaks and wildlife habitats are sacrificed on the altar of greed by yet another speculative developer to make way for another convenience store – yet they don’t equate those issues with those they elect to govern their very way of life.

As a result – they vote like they are told by those with the money to get their message out – or they don’t vote at all.

In his own inimitable way, the late, great author, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, summed it up when he said:

“Anybody who thinks that ‘it doesn’t matter who’s President’ has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid war on the other side of the world–or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public property–or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons–or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted.”

 How’s that for some no-bullshit wisdom, eh?

The stakes are high this time – and we find ourselves in a dire situation that threatens our very way of life because the mechanism of massive, unchecked growth has already been set in motion by those who stand to benefit most.

With it comes increased competition for the non-existent “high-paying” jobs we were promised every time one of our ‘Rich & Powerful’ held out their greedy hand and asked for more of our hard-earned tax dollars to underwrite a private project, the impact of thousands of new residents on our aquifer recharge areas and greenspace, the inability of our current crop of compromised politicians to ask their political benefactors to pay their fair share in impact fees – even as they impose “Enhanced Amenity Fees,” “User Fees” and other cleverly disguised taxes  on our purchases at shopping and entertainment centers that were underwritten with our tax dollars.

Yet, Volusia County voters continue to elect the same names, the same tired facilitators, while expecting a different outcome?

There is an old saying that if you’re fortunate enough to live near the beach, then you’re fortunate enough.  And we are truly lucky to live near the natural beauty where the land meets the sea.

There is a unique energy in places where moving water creates negative ions that lighten our mood and create positive feelings.  Those are places people want to visit, and that creates opportunity.

I happen to believe that it is important to protect and preserve our access to these special places and prevent the looming disaster of massive sprawl from Farmton to the Flagler County line.

We can do that by carefully selecting leaders who will put our collective interests first – and that’s not as easy as it sounds.

It’s going to be interesting, folks.  Buckle-up, we’ve got a bumpy ride ahead this fall.

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

 Angel:             Volusia County Sheriff’s Office

 Kudos to Sheriff Mike Chitwood and his deputies for the recent arrest of eight degenerate assholes who were misusing our public parks for open sexual liaisons.

It’s damn difficult work, and I applaud their efforts.

During my long career in law enforcement, I was involved in numerous operations to suppress this dangerous behavior in parks and public restrooms – and many years ago I participated in the arrest of one of the subjects charged in this recent operation.

Just goes to show you that some people never learn – and the arrest and release of these scumbags is no deterrent.

In my experience working these cases, the activity is mercurial – and when pressure is applied in one location – they simply move to parks in other areas.  During surveillance operations, I’ve observed known offenders move between a half-dozen parks in a geographical area until they find like-types.

And anyone who thinks these are “victimless crimes” can stow that shit around me.

I once worked a tragic case where a child was attacked by a predatory sex offender in a park bathroom stall – and I have seen this repulsive activity take place in close proximity to playgrounds.

In my view, it’s high time our legislature and justice system got tough with these crimes and mandate serious jail time for anyone who engages in this disgusting behavior in any public park.

Given the habitual and consistent nature of these criminals, clearly the psychological pathology that results in this compulsion cannot be effectively treated over time – so it must be removed and isolated for everyone’s protection.

This needs to stop.

In many areas of Volusia County, the problem is so pervasive that municipalities have spent thousands in taxpayer dollars to convert restrooms to single-use facilities, or removed them from parks altogether.  That relates to a significant expense and inconvenience to residents and families who wish to enjoy the public amenities they pay for.

As we continue to spend handsomely on trails, parks and ecotourism, the prevalence of deviate sexual behavior by these shitheads will continue to dissuade residents from taking advantage of outdoor recreation opportunities.

Frankly, after what I’ve seen over the years, I wouldn’t set foot in a public park – and I damn sure wouldn’t take my precious granddaughter to one.

And that’s a shame.

Asshole:          Former Volusia County Council Members Art Giles, Frank Bruno, Josh Wagner and Joie Alexander

 Former Volusia County Council members Art Giles, Frank Bruno, Josh Wagner and Joie Alexander earned their way into the Asshole category this week.  I wrote about this in a recent piece entitled, “On Volusia: A Convenient Memory” but it bears repeating.    

I said that I would never mention former County Manager Jim Dinneen in this pages again – then I opened The Daytona Beach News-Journal last Sunday and did a spit-take with my Café Bustelo.

 Look, I hate to paint all of these former Volusia County Council members with the same brush – but anyone who would put their name on a fantasy puff piece entitled, “Jim Dinneen made a big contribution to Volusia County” is stretching the limits of credibility.

In fact, glorifying poor performance and asking the good citizens of Volusia County to suspend reality while they deify an ineffectual asshole who ruined constituent trust in county government, only serves to perpetuate the mediocrity and slimy backroom practices that have brought us to this dismal point in our history.

In my view, Jim Dinneen was the embodiment of all that’s wrong with this bastardized Oligarchy we find ourselves trapped in – a fetid slit trench where uber-wealthy insiders maintain political control of our future by contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively to the campaign accounts of hand-select candidates for public office.

During his tenure, Jim Dinneen facilitated the wholesale giveaway of tens-of-millions of dollars in public funds couched as “economic development incentives,” orchestrated the discounted sale of public land to private interests, pissed away our heritage of beach access to appease the overweening greed of speculative developers, concocted patent falsehoods about the pressing need for new, astronomically priced courthouses, public works facilities and other county buildings – even as those he is currently responsible for maintaining literally rot into the ground.

In exchange for his complicity and facilitation of these and other atrocities against the taxpayers of Volusia County – our ‘powers that be’ granted him the political insulation to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and damn the consequences to those who were expected to keep quiet and pay the bills.

And make no mistake, the citizens of Volusia County paid a high price for Dinneen’s malleable ethics and preternatural ability to dodge accountability.

From his patented ‘public policy by ambush’ tactic of surprising us all with off-the-agenda sneak attacks – to his vilification of whistleblowers, including sitting Councilwoman Heather Post – he was a mendacious asshole who, in my view, would rather lie that eat.

As I have written before, Mr. Dinneen was perfectly willing to lie like a cheap rug whenever a blatant falsehood served his purpose or those of his political handlers.  In fact, I believe – as Sheriff Michael Chitwood said – Mr. Dinneen is a pathological liar with a compulsion to fabricate situational responses on the fly – a strategy that ultimately cost county government the trust of the people it exists to serve.

The staggering level of incompetence, government waste and resource mismanagement during Mr. Dinneen’s administration – and the continuing, almost institutionalized, lack of substantive oversight by our elected officials that allowed this atrocious course of conduct to continue – will haunt Volusia County for years to come.

In fact, the lasting memory for most of us will remain Mr. Dinneen’s Tom & Jerry skit with the intrepid WFTV reporter Mike Springer – with Little Jimmy scurrying out of a public meeting and ducking into a private area like the rat he was, actively dodging the legitimate questions of the working press regarding the latest five-alarm fuck-up he was personally responsible for orchestrating.

In government, strong leadership maintains sound discipline, controls the awesome power inherent to public entities, identifies objectives, communicates effectively, exercises judgment, builds esprit de corps, trusts the ability of subordinates and congratulates their performance, instills confidence in constituents, and directs personnel and resources under their command – efficiently and effectively – to accomplish difficult goals important to our collective welfare.

The Dinneen administration was the antithesis of these important attributes.

In my opinion, the rotten legacy of Jim Dinneen will remain failure, mismanagement and the wholesale giveaway of public assets and amenities to meet the needs of those who could afford to pay-to-play.  Nothing more.

For years to come, We, The People of Volusia County will continue to deal with the fallout of unchecked growth and sprawl, the almost criminal lack of preparedness and infrastructure to handle the massive influx to come, the abject failure to even attempt to have development pay its fair share and the cowardly inability of incumbent Volusia County Council members to reign in Dineen’s shadowy maneuvers and cloistered backroom collusion that brought us to this sad place in our history.

Sometimes I wonder how current and former politicians develop such a conveniently selective memory?

Is it that the reality of the situation they helped create is too disturbing to recall accurately – so they mask reality with horribly skewed hallucinations of times that never existed?

Angel:             Votran Driver Paul Okumu

 Many years ago, when I was pursuing primary flight training, my very wise, infinitely patient and dedicated instructor gave me an important piece of advice for dealing with in-flight emergencies:

“In a negative situation, I will do the best I can.  If that fails, I will try again.  I cannot change destiny, but I may be able to affect it in some positive way.”

 That inspirational thought was exemplified by the heroic actions of Votran Driver Paul Okumu, who jumped into action when an armed thug attempted to sexually assault a passenger as his bus traveled through Ponce Inlet in June.

Last week, the City of Ponce Inlet formally recognized Mr. Okumu’s courage and quick thinking in physically engaging with Michael Lemuel Speaks, 34, a habitual offender with an extensive criminal history – including at least 34 arrests in Volusia County since 1983.

In presenting the award, Ponce Inlet Police Chief Frank Fabrizio quoted writer Edmund Burke, “Evil succeeds when good men and women do nothing.”

Thank God this mild-mannered man was in the right place to intervene and bring a positive solution to potential tragedy.

Congratulations to Paul Okumu on this well-deserved recognition – and to the City of Ponce Inlet for honoring Mr. Okumu in such a thoughtful and meaningful way.

Asshole:          Florida Governor Rick Scott

 Even in the heat of a hotly contested political campaign, somehow Governor Rick Scott still found time to orchestrate one of his patented “WTF?” moments for Florida residents when he – once again – reappointed Long John Miklos to yet another four-year term on the St. John’s River Water Management District’s governing board.

For years, Miklos has represented public and private clients of his Bio-Tech Consulting, an Orlando-based environmental consultancy, in wetland permitting cases before the very state regulatory agency he oversees.

You read that right.

In fact, the perennial conflict of interest between Mr. Miklos’ advocacy for his paying clients – and his moral and ethical responsibilities to the citizens of Central Florida as board chairman – have been documented and reported in dozens of newspaper stories, including the incomparable Dinah Voyles-Pulver’s reporting on the Debacle in DeBary in The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

In that case, Miklos was hired by a few greed-heads that then inhabited DeBary City Hall, to ramrod the acquisition of sensitive conservation land at Gemini Springs Annex for the development of a massive mixed-use development near the SunRail station.

The contract called for the citizens of DeBary to pay John Miklos $155 an hour for his personal attention to the matter.

That shitstorm resulted in an ill-fated ethics complaint against Miklos which initially concluded there was probable cause that he violated state ethics laws; however, our neutered ethics board – also appointees of Governor Scott and other state politicians – cleared Miklos of all charges by voting not to pursue the inquiry.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “District records show Miklos’ business boomed after he was appointed chairman of the water district in 2013. Although state laws allow district board members to have knowledge of the kinds of issues that come before the district, no other St. Johns board member has declared as many conflicts as Miklos. Several previous water district board members have raised concerns in the past that Miklos uses his position on the board to solicit business or has too much influence in permit decisions.”

I don’t make this stuff up, folks.

While several Central Florida lawmakers – and candidates – have gone on record saying they will not vote to confirm the Miklos appointment during the next legislative session.

Yet – inexplicably – Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast, had the unmitigated gall to shrug his shoulders and tell his constituents with a straight face that he doesn’t have a clue who John Miklos is.

“I haven’t seen or heard anything about him,” said Hutson, “so I have no clue whether I would confirm or deny.”

 Again, WTF?

 Look, Sen. Hutson is either a despicable liar – or the most uninformed and completely detached State Senator, well, in this history of colossally unaware state senators. . .

In my view, it is simply inconceivable that a sitting legislator could have avoided reading or discussing the dozens of newspaper articles, media reports and good old-fashioned scuttlebutt around the Capitol watercooler regarding the myriad ethical issues surrounding Mr. Miklos’ “fox in the henhouse” routine – perhaps the most brazen example of open cronyism and quid pro quo corruption in the history of a state that was built on it.

Now, I’m just spit-balling here, but in most places, promoting the interests of personal customers coming before the very same regulatory board that you chair would be considered a colossal conflict of interest – if not a criminal misuse of public office.

In most places, a person that engaged in that level of influence peddling would be slapped in irons and publicly humiliated for high crimes against the environment and public corruption.

In most places, slimy environmental consultants who just happen to serve as the high-powered chairman of a state environmental protection and regulatory board would come to the attention of an equally high-powered state senator – whose constituents just happen to rely on that very agency to protect their drinking water and natural places.

One would also think that in a tight race for the United States Senate, Slick Rick would have grown tired of the near-constant embarrassment of his hand-picked chairman’s greed-crazed shenanigans – but this is Florida – the rules truly are different here.

Screw it.  We’re doomed.

Quote of the Week:

 “Every election is important to me, every single one,” she said. “We live in a place where it’s up to us, and being lazy just isn’t an option.”

–Sandra Edmunds, a former Delaware resident voting for the first time as a Flagler County resident, speaking in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, was among those who chose to go to the polls on Tuesday.

 And Another Thing!

 Earlier this week, the Volusia County School Board took a vote on a “combined” evaluation of beleaguered Superintendent Tom Russell after a convoluted assessment that turned what should have been an honest performance appraisal into another useless waste of time.

The board’s review of Dr. Russell’s stewardship and oversight of Volusia County Schools came amid a very tumultuous year, including:

• The mysterious “secret” negotiations with AdventHealth that alienated our long-time healthcare partner Halifax Health and sold district marketing rights to a single entity for peanuts.

 

• The hopelessly deadlocked “negotiations” with Volusia’s teacher’s union who continue to suffer under a top-down system of micromanagement that has stifled classroom creativity and left our long-suffering teachers woefully under compensated for their contributions.

 

• The failure-to-thrive syndrome suffered by Volusia County schools that saw seventeen schools districtwide fall one letter grade or more – leaving 59% of our schools with a C or D rating, including 72% of our elementary schools.

 

• A systematic failure by administrators to retain enthusiastic new talent, with some 46% of first-year teachers failing to return to the district.

 

• The tragi-comedy of watching senior officials shamelessly beg for spare change from the municipalities to cover their failure to strategically plan for adequate security upgrades in the face of an underfunded state mandate – in spite of an unprecedented $900 million budget – the largest of any taxing authority in Volusia County.

 

• When senior administrators were caught quibbling material facts, dragging their feet on public records requests and artificially embellishing the professional qualifications of at least one individual tapped to serve in the all-important role of School Security Specialist in a feeble attempt to add credibility to the new School Guardian program.

 

• Now, media outlets are reporting that the Volusia County School District is under Federal investigation after complaints of discrimination against student’s suffering from autism.

 

According to The Daytona-Beach News-Journal, “Earlier this month, School Board Chairwoman Linda Cuthbert and School Board Attorney Ted Doran took all five of the individual evaluations and compiled them into a single board evaluation. The combined document says Russell is on the right track, making “reasonable progress” on all six areas they measured.”

 Yep, nothing to see here, folks.  We’re making “reasonable progress.”  Move along. . .

 Seriously, I don’t make this shit up.

This nonsensical “combined” non-evaluation sounds like something only an overprotective lawyer with a knack for providing elected and appointed officials with political insulation could come up with.

In typical Volusia County fashion, what should have been a healthy and transparent process of identifying administrative strengths and growth areas became a neutered exercise, another hot-air generator, that accomplished nothing.

And why was Lawyer Doran involved in the process at all? 

I thought this important responsibility sat with those we elect to represent our interests and provide oversight of the superintendent – and our tax dollars – not an appointed attorney with no real political accountability.

I hate to dig up old ugliness, but – like Superintendent Russell – Mr. Doran has led something of a charmed life during his tenure on the school board payroll as well.

In a December 2013 piece in The Daytona Beach News-Journal entitled,  “Volusia schools attorney Ted Doran to begin Florida Bar suspension,” the Volusia County School Board admitted renewing Mr. Doran’s contract with the full knowledge of pending complaints against him to the Florida Bar – serious allegations which ultimately resulted in a 60-day suspension:

“The School Board was aware of The Bar complaints when it approved a three-year renewal of Doran’s legal contract this summer. The complaints had been reported in The News-Journal in 2012. The board wasn’t aware of a pending suspension when it voted, but some members said they were comfortable renewing because none of the complaints involved any school district-related issues.”

 “The 2006 complaint involved a bitter divorce case in which Doran obtained a confidential document and used it for an advantage. A second complaint in 2010 also involved a divorce case in which Doran had one sexual encounter with a client. He initially denied the encounter to The Bar, then admitted it in a later deposition.”

 “The most recent complaint was from a female attorney working her first case in Miami, with Doran opposing her. He sent her emails complimenting her and asking her to dinner; she was offended by the content. Doran has been active in Volusia politics and business for years, long before his 2012 campaign for county chair. He ran for a state House of Representatives seat in 1996. He is also a past chairman of Team Volusia, the Halifax Area Advertising Authority and the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce.”

 Look, I’m not saying these are bad people – just ineffectual – and with nearly One Billion of our hard-earned tax dollars at stake, perhaps its time We, The People, elect and appoint the best and brightest we can attract – true servant-leaders with a desire to serve the needs of their constituents – and the best interests of Volusia County students and teachers.

I agree with School Board member and former principal Carl Persis who was recently quoted in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “I’m not satisfied, and I think the superintendent’s been here for three years. I think that’s ample time,” Persis said. “I don’t have faith that any system is in place right now that’s any different than the previous year. I just don’t see it.”

 I’m not satisfied either.  It’s time for Tom Russell to go. . .

That’s all for me, folks!

Have a great Holiday weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXTRA! EXTRA! BIG MONEY WINS AGAIN!

Did anyone with two synapses still firing really think the outcome of Tuesday’s primary election would be different?

Just me?  Whatever. . .

Look, it’s okay to have ‘Hope’ – it’s false hope that we must avoid – and make no mistake, this bastardized oligarchy that masquerades as governance here on Florida’s Fun Coast didn’t evolve overnight, and a lasting political solution is going to take time.

Despite the setbacks and slow pace, I believe change is in the air.  Just don’t expect to wake up the morning after an election and find all the tinker toys miraculously in place.

That’s not the way it works – and there are hundreds-of-thousands of dollars why.

I’m certainly no political scientist – just another disgruntled asshole who is fed up with our collective condition in one of the highest taxed counties in the state of Florida – helplessly bearing witness while those we have placed our trust in piss good money after bad, then demand more.

A place with devastatingly low wages, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness among families –many of whom continue to live below the poverty line – where economically important areas of our county have taken on the appearance of a depression-era Hooverville, overrun with homeless mendicants with no where to go, all while political insiders and well-connected big money interests continue to receive massive corporate welfare, dubious ‘economic development’ incentives and direct access to the public tit.

Apparently, the majority of those who actually took the civic initiative to vote in Volusia County disagree with me (about 3 out of 10 registered voters) – and that’s okay.  It’s democracy in action, and while I don’t have to agree with all of it, I accept the will of the electorate.

The fact is, it is difficult – if not impossible – in this political age to run an effective campaign against an uber-wealthy collective with the financial wherewithal to pour massive amounts of cash into the coffers of hand-select candidates who promise to maintain the status quo and protect the “system” – which allows the same five people to pass the same nickel around in this artificial economy we have allowed our ‘powers that be’ to create.

In my view, Tuesday’s primary results weren’t all doom and gloom.

Unfortunately, Jeff Brower – the hard-working candidate for the District 1 Volusia County Council seat against the well-financed incumbent “Sleepy” Pat Patterson, and West Volusia realtor Barbara Girtman – won’t be moving forward to November.

That’s a damnable shame.

In my view, Jeff ran a very clean, focused and energetic campaign – and his fundamental grasp of the issues and strong commitment to those things that make our area unique, such as our century-old tradition of beach driving, was refreshing.

The good news is, I don’t think we’ve heard the last from Jeff Brower – he’s in it for all the right reasons – and I believe committed citizens like Jeff represent the future of Volusia County.

Not unexpectedly, former Sheriff Ben Johnson won the at-large race against Rev. L. Ron Durham handily – and despite the fact his campaign was heavily financed by all the usual suspects – he has personally assured me that he will continue his legacy of public service as a representative of all citizens of Volusia County – not just the special interests who can afford to pay-to-play.

Time will tell.

In my many years of professional dealings with Ben, he has always been a man of his word, so I have no reason to doubt his sincerity.  However, I don’t believe Councilman-elect Johnson is a change-agent either – and neither is the Right Reverend Fred Lowry – who was returned to his well-worn seat on the dais of power by District 5 voters.

Perhaps that lack of substantive change in DeLand is what appealed to voters?

It’s pretty clear to regular readers of this forum that I don’t agree with the direction of Volusia County – and no one ever accused me of having a “mainstream” view on the issues of the day – or a viable solution to the problems we face.

Maybe the idea of the “high information” voter is a fallacy, and people truly are moved more by the glossy mailers, newspaper ads and radio soundbites that money buys – rather than past performance – I don’t know – but the County Council results speak for themselves.

If yesterday’s primary was a bellwether of the general election in November – the “new” Volusia County Council will be almost indistinguishable from the “old” box of rocks.

Barker’s View would like to congratulate Holly Hill Mayor-elect Chris Via, and returning Commissioners Penny Currie, John Danio, Roy Johnson and John Penny on their well-deserved victories this week.

In my view, the Holly Hill City Commission embodies constituent trust in their elected leaders – and represents the kind of stability, leadership and civic continuity that entrepreneurial investors look for in community government.

I believe the best small town around is poised for great things over the next four years.

Congratulations to returning Volusia County Judge Dawn Fields, who – despite the nasty campaign rhetoric of her opponent – is exactly what we need on the bench, a thoughtful, caring and genuinely nice person who also happens to be a damn fine judge.

I was also delighted by Amy Pyle’s impressive showing in the Daytona Beach City Commission race.  Her simple platform of putting neighborhoods first was obviously well-received – and we can all look for exciting things from Amy as her hard-fought campaign moves forward this fall.

Now, our focus turns to the ‘Big Dance’ – the general election in November – and the stakes have never been higher for places like Ormond Beach, New Smyrna and Deltona.

It’s going to be interesting, folks.

Buckle-up, we’ve got a bumpy ride ahead this fall.

Former Volusia County Council members Art Giles, Frank Bruno, Josh Wagner and Joie Alexander just earned their way into the Asshole category this week.

I said that I would never mention former County Manager Jim Dinneen in this page again – then I opened The Daytona Beach News-Journal this morning and did a spit-take with my Café Bustelo.

Look, I hate to paint all of these former Volusia County Council members with the same brush – but anyone who would put their name on a fantasy puff piece entitled, “Jim Dinneen made a big contribution to Volusia County” is pushing the ragged limits of credibility.

In fact, glorifying poor performance and asking the good citizens of Volusia County to suspend reality while they deify an ineffectual asshole who ruined constituent trust in county government, only serves to perpetuate the mediocrity and slimy backroom practices that have brought us to this dismal point in our history.

In my view, Jim Dinneen was the embodiment of all that’s wrong with this bastardized Oligarchy we find ourselves trapped in – a fetid slit trench where uber-wealthy insiders maintain political control of our future by contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively to the campaign accounts of hand-select candidates for public office.

During his tenure, Jim Dinneen facilitated the wholesale giveaway of tens-of-millions of dollars in public funds couched as “economic development incentives,” orchestrated the discounted sale of public land to private interests, pissed away our heritage of beach access to appease the overweening greed of speculative developers, concocted patent falsehoods about the pressing need for new, astronomically priced courthouses, public works facilities and other county buildings – even as those he was responsible for maintaining literally rotted into the ground.

In exchange for his complicity and facilitation of these and other atrocities against the taxpayers of Volusia County – our ‘powers that be’ granted him the political insulation to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and damn the consequences to those who were expected to keep quiet and pay the bills.

And make no mistake, the citizens of Volusia County paid a high price for Dinneen’s malleable ethics and preternatural ability to dodge accountability.

From his patented ‘public policy by ambush’ tactic of surprising us all with off-the-agenda sneak attacks – to his vilification of whistle blowers, including sitting Councilwoman Heather Post – he was a mendacious asshole who, in my view, would rather lie that eat.

As I have written before, Mr. Dinneen was perfectly willing to lie like a cheap rug whenever a blatant falsehood served his purpose or those of his political handlers.  In fact, I believe – as Sheriff Michael Chitwood said – Mr. Dinneen is a pathological liar with a compulsion to fabricate situational responses on the fly – a strategy that ultimately cost county government the trust of the people it exists to serve.

The staggering level of incompetence, government waste and resource mismanagement during Mr. Dinneen’s administration – and the continuing, almost institutionalized, lack of substantive oversight by our elected officials that allowed this atrocious course of conduct to continue – will haunt Volusia County for years to come.

In fact, the lasting memory for most of us will remain Mr. Dinneen’s Tom & Jerry skit with the intrepid WFTV reporter Mike Springer – with Little Jimmy scurrying out of a public meeting like the rat he was, actively dodging the legitimate questions of the working press regarding the latest Five-Alarm Fuck-Up he was personally responsible for orchestrating.

In government, strong leadership maintains sound discipline, controls the awesome power inherent to public entities, identifies objectives, communicates effectively, exercises judgment, builds esprit de corps, trusts the ability of subordinates and congratulates their performance, instills confidence in constituents, and directs personnel and resources under their command – efficiently and effectively – to accomplish difficult goals important to our collective welfare.

The Dinneen administration was the antithesis of these important attributes.

In my opinion, the rotten legacy of Jim Dinneen will remain failure, mismanagement and the wholesale giveaway of public assets and amenities to meet the needs of those who could afford to pay-to-play.  Nothing more.

For years to come, We, The People of Volusia County will continue to deal with the fallout of unchecked growth and sprawl, the almost criminal lack of preparedness and infrastructure to handle the massive influx to come, the abject failure to even attempt to ask development to pay its fair share and the cowardly inability of incumbent Volusia County Council members to reign in Dineen’s shadowy maneuvers and cloistered backroom collusion’s that brought us to this sad and desperate place.

Sometimes I wonder how current and former politicians develop such a conveniently selective memory.

Is it that the reality of the situation they helped create is too disturbing to recall accurately – so they mask reality with horribly skewed hallucinations of times that never existed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, Kids!

Well, this week I drove down to the Ormond Beach Public Library to cast my “early vote.”

As usual, the parking area was awash in campaign signs, each blending into the other to form a kaleidoscope of bright colors and shapes that encircled the entire lot like an impenetrable blockade.

So many signs in such tight confines that the individual messages became meaningless.

Like in years past, I navigated the cheap nylon tents and lawn chairs occupied by perspiring candidates and their supporters, each wearing campaign t-shirts like battledress, sucking on water bottles, and staking out territory at what must be the ragged edge of the solicitation restrictions.

Getting to the polling place can be a pain in the ass, but once inside, Volusia County elections volunteers make the process relatively painless.  Besides, I consider this simple act my sacred civic duty, and I hope you do too.

As a confirmed member of the growing non-party known as “No Party Affiliation,” my choices in the primary were limited to just three questions – two judicial seats and the at-large Volusia County Council race.

Hardly seemed worth the time, but it was.

A group called Florida Fair and Open Primaries recently filed two proposed constitutional amendments to open Florida primary elections to all voters regardless of party affiliation.  Under the plan, the top two finishers would move on to the general election – even if they are members of the same party.

With the number of NPA voters increasing by leaps and bounds, it’s certainly something to consider.

Regardless of your affiliation, I hope you will take the time out of your busy schedule to cast a vote in Tuesday’s primary races – or perhaps you’re one of those who prefers to wait until autumn when the field is set, the also-rans have had their hopes dashed, and the real players have taken the field.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our friends and neighbors who boldly stood for election in races large and small this season.  It takes courage to participate in this incredibly important process, and many who worked very hard won’t be moving on after next week’s primary.

I find it inspiring that there are still people who will disrupt their lives and livelihoods, walk many hot and humid miles knocking on doors, talking issues, attending civic meetings, pressing the flesh and sitting through living room gatherings to try and convince an often-disinterested electorate that they have a better idea for our collective future.

Recently, I read a post by NPR Weekend Edition host Scott Simon who wrote, “Democracy also needs people who are bold enough to try and lose.”  

Whether we agree on the issues or not, if you held yourself out for high office – willingly entered the pressure cooker of Volusia County politics for all the right reasons – then you have my eternal respect and appreciation, regardless of outcome.

From Barker’s View to you – thank you for the effort.

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Angel:             Bethune-Cookman University Marching Wildcats

Those of us who live in Central Florida have long known the precision and excitement of B-CU’s Marching Wildcats.  Now, thanks to the school’s participation in the Netflix documentary series ‘Marching Orders’ – the world will get a chance to know the most innovative band around.

The 12-episode series began earlier this month and follows Director Donovan Wells and documents the hard work and dedication required of talented B-CU students – many family legacies of former musicians – as they struggle to earn a place in America’s best marching band.

With B-CU facing an uncertain future, it’s nice to see that the true attributes and traditions of this historical university have the opportunity to shine on the national stage.

Recently, the wonderful journalist and blogger J. L. Carter, Sr. wrote in HBCU Digest:

“Most of us want to be able to separate the two realities of band and institution. It is the same challenge for schools like Southern and FAMU, which while not in the same financial crisis as Bethune-Cookman, face similar challenges in the politics and corruption eating away at their leadership infrastructure and profitability while their bands help strengthen the blinders for students and alumni, while camouflaging the work of campus enemies.

 We cannot separate the two. If marching bands were the marketing and branding cure for all that ails HBCUs, the sector at large would have more than one out of every 10 black students enrolling in our institutions. If the Marching Wildcats could go on tour like the Fisk Jubilee Singers of generations ago and raise the money to pull Mary’s school out of debt, they would have published the traveling schedule by now.

 So, we can watch the series, help it to trend on Twitter and make it a feel-good story for the weekend. But that won’t raise the attention or the resources necessary to save this school — which even if it can broker and settle its way out of its bad contracts and lawsuits, will still have big bills, big distrust amongst its core stakeholders, and likely the same old board calling the shots.”

Kudos to Director Wells and everyone connected with bringing our own Marching Wildcats to the attention of the world.  These dedicated young people deserve our highest respect for their incredible dedication to the university, our community, and each other.

They make us all very proud.

Asshole:          Volusia County Schools

Imagine this scenario:

You are a young student on the first day of class at Orange City’s University High School.

It’s a stressful time – the back-to-school jitters – not knowing what to expect – a different routine, meeting teachers, seeking out old friends and making new ones while learning your way around campus.

You don’t have much, but your mom has taken steps to ensure that breakfast and lunch will be available under a program that provides free or reduced-price meals for less fortunate students.

After selecting lunch in the cafeteria, you approach the cashier, provide your account number – and are promptly told – in direct view of your new classmates – that you will be going hungry the rest of the day because your account is, wait for it – .15 cents short.

Then, in some sick attempt to make a point, reports indicate that a cafeteria worker physically took the food away from the student and threw it in the garbage – leaving the student to walk away humiliated and hungry.

Who does that?

I guess this is the curriculum approved by Volusia County School Superintendent Tom Russell – and our elected representatives on the School Board who refuse to hold him accountable – for teaching indigent and low-income students the hard lesson that those who have eat, while those who don’t go without.

According to Roger Edgcomb, a professional mouthpiece for Volusia County Public Schools, “The school is always willing to work with students and families as needed – The school will be contacting the family directly to help resolve this issue,” whatever that means. . .

Apparently, they weren’t willing to work with this student when it mattered most – so, who will be held accountable for this and other nonsensical policies that have seen School Board members and senior administrators begging spare change from area municipalities to pay for school security initiatives in the face of an obscene $900 million budget – the largest of any taxing authority in Volusia County?

The answer is:  Nobody.

The very concept of responsibility and accountability among senior officials in Volusia County is anathema in a system that shamelessly quibbles facts, covers the sizable asses of senior administrators and openly admits that it doesn’t have a clue how to turn around our struggling schools.

Once again, the abject ineptitude and tone-deaf policies of another Volusia County bureaucracy has brought us to the attention of the World.  This ugly incident was reported by network news outlets and international media and has offended the sensibilities of good people around the globe.

In a valiant effort to ensure that district staff never have the opportunity to embarrass another student, the child’s mother, Kimberly Aiken – with the assistance of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – has started a GoFundMe account to provide a safety net for Volusia County students.

Thanks to the international exposure, good people from as far away as Qatar – where a member of the United States Air Force offered financial assistance – and the famous rapper “T. I.” – are selflessly donating to fund an account that cafeteria cashiers in Volusia County Schools could access in the event a child’s account falls a few cents short of the cost of a meal.

Once again, this sick joke of a School Board needs to be bailed-out by external funding sources and the largess of well-meaning people who care about the education and welfare of Volusia County children.

My God.

Here’s a Barker’s View tip o’ the hat to Ms. Aiken and her daughter for bringing this despicable policy of shaming children – and forcing them to go hungry – whenever their meal account falls pennies short.

Given the number of homeless and indigent students in Volusia County Schools, on-campus meals may well be the only sustenance they receive all day.  Think about that.

Obviously, these dullards on the dais of power in DeLand don’t have the common human decency to step down and turn this out-of-control shit show over to someone – anyone – who can figure out how to educate 63,000 students, and provide our dedicated teachers a living wage and benefits package, with a budget approaching One Billion dollars.

So, maybe its time we find someone who can?

I think that process begins at the ballot box.

These assholes should be ashamed of themselves.  But they’re not.

Angel:             The Taxpayers of Volusia County

 Last week, the physical transformation of the former Hurst Elementary School was completed – making way for Hope Place – a transitional homeless shelter for families with children and unaccompanied youth.

We first learned of this plan back in late 2015 when The Daytona Beach News-Journal did a story on Halifax Urban Ministries, a faith-based non-profit that has been engaged in homeless support services in Daytona Beach for many years.

At the time, Forough Hossieni, the civic-minded wife of ICI Homes CEO and King Power Broker Mori Hossieni, was working hard to establish a family-based residential homeless assistance center in Daytona Beach.

At the suggestion of Mrs. Hossieni, in just six short months, County government identified the Hurst Elementary site as a suitable location for a homeless assistance center.  It purchased the property from the School Board (with the structures valued at $1.3 million alone) for the bargain basement price of $200,000, then negotiated a land transfer and operations contract with Halifax Urban Ministries, allocated $3.5 million for renovations, ignored the recommendation of the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission and unanimously voted to approve the project.

Six months.

At last week’s ceremony, during which the keys were turned over to the new “owners,” HUM Executive Director Buck James thanked everyone in attendance – including the individuals and business owners who gave thousands in in-kind donations and services.  It was reported that he also took the time to thank the Volusia County Council, our elected representatives on the School Board, and the HUM building committee.

In turn, Mrs. Hossieni took the stage and presented a check in the amount of $50,000 to Anne Evans, board chair of Halifax Urban Ministries, on behalf of ICI Homes to assist the Hope Place endowment.

A generous contribution which will go a long way to assist struggling families in the Halifax area.

“This is a faith-based ministry,” said Evans. “So, I just want to thank God and everyone who helped.”

 According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “In an interview before the meeting, Hosseini said Evans and former County Manager Jim Dinneen were key in making Hope Place a success.”

 Yep.  Everyone who is anyone was recognized for their efforts to make Hope Place a reality:

Mr. & Mrs. Hossieni’s

ICI Homes

Little Jimmy Dinneen

The Volusia County Council

The Volusia County School Board

Business owners

The HUM Building Committee

God

(Probably in that order. . .)

So, I wanted to take a minute to thank you – the hardworking, long-suffering taxpayers of Volusia County who – without any direct input in the matter, and against the serious concerns of many living in the already challenged Derbyshire neighborhood – contributed public land and nearly $5 million of our hard-earned tax dollars – making you and I the largest collective contributor to seeing the dream of Hope Place become a reality.

I’m sure We, The People were just an honest oversight – so I won’t be a petty asshole and bring attention to the fact that no one bothered to recognize our significant contribution.

After all, I’m sure those dullards we elected to represent our interests on the dais of power in DeLand accepted everyone’s glowing thanks and congratulations as much on our behalf as their own. . .

Right?  Right.

Asshole:          Former B-CU Trustee Joe Petrock

In my view, anyone who wants a primer on all that’s wrong with Volusia County government – and the slow deterioration of important institutions that have been seized by a small coterie of ‘Rich & Powerful’ insiders – need look no further than the classless departure of former Bethune-Cookman University Trustee, and past board president, Dr. Joe “Community Pillar and Philanthropist” Petrock.

After Mr. Petrock and his fellow board members stood idle while so-called “administrators” and various hangers-on financially gutted Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s sacred institution, leaving the school hundreds-of-millions in debt – then were less than transparent with local media and concerned alumni about the school’s dire financial condition – while fleeing the building, Petrock had the balls to sidestep any responsibility:

“I’m fed up with it. I’m out of there,” Petrock said. “But it’s not because I did something wrong.”

He’s fed up with it?  Really?

Jesus.  I don’t make this shit up, folks.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Petrock said he resigned because he has grown tired of being unfairly blamed for B-CU’s financial problems, in particular the fallout over a deal to build new dormitories that school officials have since said they can’t afford.”

 “I wasn’t the chairman when the housing project was presented, and I wasn’t on the executive committee,” Petrock said. “I was just a member of the board. We weren’t given all the information.”

Wow.  How’s that for leadership, folks?

You’ve heard of the Nuremberg Defense – the “I was just following orders” and should not be held accountable for the directives of a superior, regardless of how clearly immoral those orders may be?

Well, let’s call this the Halifax Defense – the idea that a person in a position of vital oversight and high responsibility can be inexplicably struck deaf, dumb and blind while the institution they are ethically and fiduciarily responsible for is looted from within – then claim, “I was just a member of the Board of Trustees – but we weren’t given all the information.” 

Seriously? 

Since when did simply admitting “I was an ignorant asshole” become the universal alibi that permits someone to walk away from the steaming wreckage without accepting responsibility for the crash?

Unfortunately, former funeral director Nancy Lohman, who, along with her husband Lowell, have become wildly successful developing and managing apartment complexes, also resigned from the board after just seven months, even as the financial conflagration continues to consume the school.

Look, I like Nancy Lohman – she and her family continue to do wonderful things for our community – including a $1 million matching donation to the Halifax Humane Society which recently allowed the organization to reach its goal of raising $3.6 million to renovate its facilities off LPGA Boulevard.

“I thought I could help but I have concluded that I can’t.  I remain committed to the importance of HBCUs and I believe in access to education for all Americans. My love for the B-CU students and for Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and all she stood for has not wavered.”  

I guess its easier to talk about leadership than it is to actually roll up your sleeves, get down in the trenches and say, “Follow me.”

Things are about to get ugly – and I understand the need for well-connected people to get as far away from this brewing storm as possible – but I hope we can all agree on one thing:

Folks like Joe Petrock, Dr. Kent Sharples (who led Daytona State College into the expensive quagmire of the American Music Festival debacle, now leader of the secret society of millionaires known as the CEO Business Alliance, and recent industrial real estate speculator) and any of our other ‘Movers & Shakers’ who were involved in the B-CU catastrophe – should not be allowed within 500 yards of an institute of higher learning ever again.

Look, if these pathetic dupes want to give each other awards and accolades at elegant circle jerks year-in-and-year-out – what do I care?

But they should never again be granted the opportunity to bring a once venerated institution to its knees – then simply walk away – acting as though their hands, and their conscience, are clean.

Angel:             City of Holly Hill Mayor John Penny

 Kudos to Holly Hill Mayor John Penny on his recent nomination for the prestigious 2018 E. Harris Drew Municipal Official Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by the Florida League of Cities!

Every so often a politician emerges at the right time and place to make a true difference in the lives of others.  As a five-term member of the Holly Hill City Commission, Mayor Penny has provided exceptional leadership – and through his personal example – fostered a strong sense of community pride among constituents and fellow elected officials.

The fact that Mr. Penny’s neighbors have consistently reelected him to office is a testament to his commitment to the community he serves.  In my view, that is the very essence of constituent confidence in an elected leader.

The City of Holly Hill can be proud of the fact that, in November, Mayor Penny will resume his role as the District 1 Commissioner after being term limited for another mayoral run.  He will replace the equally dedicated long-time public servant Commissioner Arthur Byrnes.

It is heartening to know that the community I love so dearly is so well represented by true servant-leaders like John Penny.

Congratulations on this exceptional recognition of your dedication and spirit in service to others.

Quote of the Week:

“We need stronger ethics laws. We need to address that issue in short order.  It is up to us as citizens to ensure that our federal and state lawmakers strengthen ethics laws in a comprehensive and meaningful manner which protected the public.”

–Lonnie Groot, Attorney for the City of Daytona Beach Shores, writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Florida needs tougher ethics laws,” Sunday, August 12, 2018

Amen, Mr. Groot.

We need a lot of things here on Florida’s Fun Coast – but, in my view, a revamp of our toothless ethics apparatus and campaign finance reform is a damn good place to start.

And Another Thing!

By any metric, politics is a dirty business, and most people really don’t give a shit how a candidate wins – because the losers will be forgotten to the ash heap of history before the victory celebrations wind down on election night.

It’s an all or nothing proposition and, trust me, there are no participation trophies for those who tried and failed – only personal shame and the stark knowledge that 51% of your neighbors reject everything you stand for.

To the victor go the spoils.

During election cycles, I take a perverse glee in watching arrogant incumbents prostrate themselves and grovel for votes, hoping against hope everyone will forget how rotten they truly are – and reading the righteously indignant social media posts and letters to the editor of once respected (and highly partisan) locals who throw their good name to the wind as they become weird surrogate defenders for their candidate.

They crow and cry, lambasting the campaign rhetoric of his or her challengers as “despicable lies,” accusing them of all forms of wrongs, and calling their very character into question – all while portraying their choice as a “local hero.”

A great example of this mean-minded mudslinging is the heated battle between perennial politician Fred Costello and the so-called ‘carpetbagger’ Michael Waltz – both Republicans running for Florida’s 6^th Congressional District seat.

Whatever.

But, in my view, the weird maneuvering of incumbent Volusia County Councilman – the Right Reverend Fred Lowry – who denied his qualified opponent, Dan Hunt, the opportunity to debate the issues in a public forum (and blocked the rest of us from actually hearing Rev. Lowry’s position on the issues of the day) was a new low – even for Volusia County politics.

I understand that Rev. Lowry’s father is ill – and I can respect the need to step off the campaign trail to spend time on important family matters – but when the intrepid News-Journal reporter Dustin Wyatt asked Councilman Lowry if, and when, he would debate his challenger, he said, “I’d challenge him (Hunt) to a fishing tournament.”

WTF? 

 I can only guess that Rev. Lowry has bought into the notion that with enough money – from the right last names – Volusia County ‘elections’ are little more than a foregone conclusion.    

He may be right.

My hat’s off to Daytona Beach News-Journal Editor Pat Rice who took the time to sit down with Mr. Hunt yesterday and videotape an interview.  During the session, Mr. Rice allowed Hunt the opportunity to answer the questions he would have been asked if Rev. Lowry hadn’t made the strategic decision to dodge the debate.

That’s a stand-up move by Pat Rice – and Dan Hunt – and I, for one, am glad the candidate had the chance to speak.

Now, I won’t watch the interview – and I doubt many of you will take the time to track down the video – but I do hope that constituents in District 5 remember that, to his credit, Dan Hunt didn’t run and hide when it came time to answer the hard questions.

 By any metric, this current iteration of the Volusia County Council has been the worst in recent memory – and given our dismal history – that’s saying something.

I suppose, under the circumstances, if I were Rev. Lowry, I wouldn’t want to stand in front of my friends and neighbors and attempt to defend my abysmal record of lockstep conformity in service to my political benefactors while my opponent hammered away at me either.

But in this era of ‘high-information voters’ – We, The People want to hear from our so-called “leaders” – we want them to look us in the eye and explain themselves and their positions on the important issues of the day.

We learn from the honest debate of competing ideas.

Most of all, we want candidates to tell us – in very specific terms – how they plan to deliver us from the cycle of blight, dilapidation and prevailing sense of hopelessness – that continues to cast a pall over large sections of Volusia County.

We want to know what they plan to do about the plague of low pay and high taxes.

We want to know that they care enough to defend their decisions in an open and public way.

Dr. Lowry may think he’s just playing cute political games – or maybe he finally lost his marbles – but, in my view, his weird taunts of a “fishing tournament” in lieu of a debate merely expose his Fear.

In my view, Dan Hunt – and Rev. Lowry’s long-suffering constituents – deserve better.

That’s all for me!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caveat Emptor.

According to the venerated Black’s Law Dictionary, that’s Latin for “Let the buyer beware.” 

“This maxim summarizes the rule that the purchaser of an article must examine, judge, and test It for himself, being bound to discover any obvious defects or imperfections.”

Similar to the old horse-trading phrase, “Sold as is. . .”

There is a lot of money moving around during this rotten summer of 2018 – some of it mine – and politicians are working overtime to win our sacred vote now that nut-cutting time is here.

Next week’s primary will cull the wheat from the chaff – and not all who were called will be moving forward.

Last weekend a smart friend and I enjoyed a beautiful late summer afternoon at a fundraiser for Sons of the Beach and Friends, a recently formed political action committee, and sister organization to Sons of the Beach, Florida’s premiere beach access advocacy.

The SOB and Friends PAC provides financial support for candidates with a proven commitment to beach driving and stopping the privatization of our most precious natural resource.

I laid a hundred-dollars down for what I hope were the right reasons.

As the late, great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was fond of saying, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

I rail against our weird campaign finance laws that permit uber-wealthy political insiders to spend hundreds-of-thousands of dollars collectively to openly buy access and influence on the dais of power in DeLand and beyond.

Unfortunately, money greases the political wheel, and it allows candidates to purchase those glossy mail-outs, radio and television ads and ugly, yet ubiquitous, yard signs.  In fact, with enough of it – a politician’s rapid ascent to a position of power is all but assured – a fact that has left Florida’s Fun Coast in one hell of a predicament over time.

During the fundraiser – I met a lot of folks who have boldly ‘thrown their hat in the ring’ and are running for high office.  Some I agree with – others I don’t – but it was nice to press the flesh and talk issues with people who think enough of their neighbors and community to stand up and try like hell to make a difference.

For all my demeaning bluster and satire toward politicos – I admire that.

I spend a lot of time fixated on the machinations of Volusia County government.

It’s not that I’m some weird masochist who derives perverted gratification from pain and humiliation, I’m just fascinated by the fact that ostensibly smart people who hold high public office continue to allow local government – and our important civic, social and educational institutions – to wither and die a grotesque and painful death.

Yet, no one who should seems to care.

So long as all the right last names get their share of the pie, everyone involved knows the cycle will continue and our anointed insiders will get what they need from it, i.e., a campaign contribution, an elective office, a job, a promotion to a position they are wholly unqualified for, an ‘economic development’ handout, etc.

Those we elect and appoint to administrate Volusia County government have exposed themselves as half-bright dullards – wholly-owned chattel or compromised bureaucrats who have learned that simply serving the needs of the highest bidder in lockstep conformity allow them to avoid the difficult process of strategic thinking and visionary leadership.

Instead, our ‘powers that be’ seem to feel they can simply do as they are told by their wealthy political benefactors – then feign moral outrage when We, The People, take a dissenting opinion and point out our heartbreaking reality – the blight, dilapidation and prevailing sense of hopelessness all around us – and demand positive change.

When we oppose clearly lop-sided public policies – or question the who, what and why of a nonsensical arrangement that allows the same people to remain firmly ensconced in positions of power and influence as Rome metaphorically burns – we are marginalized, chastised and told we are not “paying attention” or are simply too stupid to understand the difficult concepts.

Bullshit.

In my case, I’ve been labeled a contrarian, a radical, a troublemaker and a malcontent; and I’ve become virtually unemployable – something best kept at arms-length.

And they’re probably right. . .

The fact is, I am an outcast who would rather reveal my troubled opinions on the important issues of the day – to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves – and expose the flaws in our deteriorating system to the disinfecting light of day – even if it costs me the approval, security and financial gain that come from ‘going along to get along.’

Trust me, I’m no more courageous than the next citizen – I just don’t have that much to lose – and I can no longer, in good conscious, stand idle.  While I may not have any direct influence on the situation – or even an articulable solution – I can damn sure shine a light into the dark places.

The base arrogance of our elected elite seems to have given the rest of us a collective inferiority complex.

Now, during the heat of an election year, incumbents who have run roughshod over our wants, needs and dreams stand before us, and – with a straight face – tell us that public confidence in county government remains high, and that if we only give them one more bite at the apple, they will use their “experience” to our advantage.

Yeah, right.

In my view, when we spend hard-earned money to support the candidate of our choice – just like Mori Hosseini, J. Hyatt Brown or any of the other “King Makers of Volusia County” – it is important to vet, scrutinize, and clearly understand the views and motivations of those we contribute to.

Are they an empty suit – a pretty talking head on the television who seems clueless about the issues whenever they are forced off-script?

Are they in the race for the right reasons?

Do they have a personal and professional record of serving others – putting the needs of their community above their own self-interests?

Do their values and beliefs align with yours?

If they are an incumbent – do their past actions and statements comport with their campaign rhetoric?  Or have they leveraged their position and compromised themselves to the ‘Rich & Powerful’ special interests for personal or political gain?

Simply put – are they in it for us – or themselves?

I realize it’s hard to tell.  But I also know a Leopard doesn’t change his spots, either – and the only true predictor of future performance is past deeds.

Look, I don’t particularly care about ideology – I’m neither a Republican or Democrat – just an ‘every-man’ who still believes in the sanctity of governance, and the notion that we are all equal under the law – that everyone deserves to be heard, and have real input in the process of local government – regardless of socio-economic status or the power of our last name.

Perhaps naïvely, I still believe that political power and self-determination should derive from the people, by the people and for the people – not just those fortunate few who can afford to ‘pay-to-play.’

Caveat Emptor, folks.  It’s important this time.

 

 

 

Did you see the report by The Daytona Beach News-Journal entitled “Riverfront carnival a flop”?

Most agree that traveling carnivals are like any guest:  You’re glad to see them come – and equally glad to see them go.  After all, the time-honored ‘Carny Code’ is GTFM – “Get the Fuckin’ Money” – and after the local rubes have been fleeced, it’s time to move along.

Like ice cream and orgies – they’re only fun for a little while.

The News-Journal recently told the story of some slightly down-at-the-heels midway amusements which inexplicably set up for the second year in a row in an unlikely location on Beach Street between the no man’s land of Manatee Island and the News-Journal Center.

I found it strange.  But what else is new?      

This isn’t the first time Hildebrand Rides, Inc. have parked their gimcracks and whirligigs – complete with garish neon lights and fading paint – some dotted among high weeds near the neglected Riverfront Park – others still loaded on semi-trucks and trailers.

In 2017, the King of Empty Promises, Daytona Beach Redevelopment Director Reed Berger, beat his chest with pride when he “convinced” the ride operator to put a few amusements at the Boardwalk – something Berger touted at the time as the next big thing – it was to be the beginning of our renaissance, “This is where we needed a catalyst to get that place cleaned up,” Berger said. “The timing all worked out.”   

So, how did that work out for us, Reed?

You don’t have to be Hurcule Poirot to deduce that the presence of these shabby carnival rides in Downtrodden Downtown Daytona – like many things in the Halifax area – seem oddly out-of-place.

A check of the Hildebrand Rides website shows their season seems to be the fall fair and festival circuit – October to April (although it hasn’t been updated since 2012) – so my conspiratorial mind quickly went into overdrive and ran through the possible scenarios.

Was this some strange trade-off for Hidebrand Rides setting up on the Boardwalk and taking the heat off local redevelopment and tourism officials in the lead-up to the Shriners “mega-convention” – a clearly rushed process, without any request for proposals or competitive bidding process – or is it merely a misguided attempt to do something, anything, to salve the very real fears of Beach Street Merchants who are hanging on by their financial fingernails?

Or did a savvy carny determine that for the price of a permit he could warehouse his Tilt-a-Karts and Rocket Spinners in plain sight during the off-season – and maybe turn a quick buck in the process?

What gives?

Why were the hours of operation never posted – at least anywhere anyone would see them – and why wasn’t the carnival ever advertised outside the esoteric Riverfront Shops website?

Did they expect word-of-mouth to serve the purpose, “Howdy, neighbor!  We’re taking the kids down to the big Community Carnival near Manatee Island – you know, across from the vacant motorcycle shops, on Uncle Hyatt’s new front yard?  Wanna come with?” 

The operator claims to have spent some $15,000 in radio and television ad’s – but I’ll be dipped if I ever saw or heard one.

And why would the City permit food and drink concessions within a stones throw of places like Rhokkoh’s Frozen Yogurt and Tia Cori’s Tacos – two small year-round businesses that have openly struggled through hurricane flooding, the Great Homeless Occupation of 2016, civic neglect and other natural and manmade disasters?

And if, as the operator said in the News-Journal, he only planned to be on the site from June 29^th to July 15^th – and no one showed – why would he renew the permit to keep his boarded-up midway sitting idle on public property through Labor Day?

Apparently, that’s the plan.

In late June, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that the carnival would run through July 15th – touting the fact that it’s three-day run in May 2017 “did well.”

At the time, Hildebrand president Harlan Bast said, “A lot of the parents will drop their teenagers off and go right down the street and go have a beer and a sandwich or something.”

Look, I don’t know anyone in their right mind who would drop their teenager in the company of itinerant circus folk near Manatee Island – at night – while they drink beer on Beach Street, but I’m overprotective that way. . .

At the time, I commented to my wife that it wouldn’t be long before J. Hyatt Brown came over from the sandy site of his future, publicly-supported, Brown & Brown headquarters building and screamed, “Get off my lawn!”

 Make no mistake, it is most definitely his lawn. . . and something tells me a rinky-dink carnival midway isn’t exactly the image Hyatt and Cici envision for Riverfront Park – yet, there it sits.

Now we’re approaching late August and the rides and concessions are still ensconced.

“City records show Bast paid $15,841 in various fees for a permit he applied for in February and received in May. He applied for a second permit July 19, and still owes close to $9,000 on roughly $13,000 in various charges, records show.”

However, Mr. Bast explained, “The city was more than gracious to us.  They tried to help us out with a discount on the rent.”

Who arbitrarily “discounts” rent on public property?

The City Commission?

Director Berger?

Because if Hildebrand Rides, Inc. receives a discount – I’ll just bet there are some established struggling businesses in the City of Daytona Beach that could use a discount on fees and rent as well.

I’d like to know more about that, how about you?

It’s like some weird Funhouse with one of those Hall of Mirrors that distorts reality.

But, why is this one sitting idle while the weeds grow?

Is this a legitimate Community Carnival – or has our downtown become the summer quarters for a traveling midway – and how, exactly, does that fit with J. Hyatt’s vision for the future economic development of our beleaguered downtown?

Nothing about this makes sense to me.

But maybe that was the plan from the beginning?

 

Photo Credit: The Daytona Beach News-Journal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, kids!

Happy Friday, everybody!  Let’s get to it, shall we?

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

 Asshole:          Bethune-Cookman University Board of Trustees

 Bethune-Cookman University is in real trouble.

A seemingly unrecoverable financial death spiral, and no one who should seems to care.

This week, B-CU’s National Alumni Association did the only thing they could to force positive change when they issued a desperate letter to Board of Trustee chair Michelle Carter-Scott demanding her immediate resignation – and they rightfully want her to take Joe Petrock and former Daytona State College president, and current hired hand of the CEO Business Alliance, Dr. D. Kent Sharples – with her.

I applaud their effort.

It takes courage to stand tall in the face of powerful forces and protect that which is important.

In my view, what has happened at Bethune-Cookman University is criminal.

In demanding the Board’s ouster, the alumni wrote:

“How is it that Kent Sharples, the former president of Daytona State College, Joe Petrock, the former board chair of Daytona State College, Jacob F. Bryan, a wealthy Insurance Magnate, and others on the Board of Trustees who share similar pedigrees, approve a dormitory deal that absolutely no one the Board of Trustees understood! How is it that the Board of Trustees, being such an eclectic group, to this day, cannot adequately explain why $85 million dollars was borrowed to build dormitories that cost less than $60 million dollars? Where is the other $25 million dollars Dr. Carter-Scott? Joe? Kent? If $25 million dollars was misplaced or misappropriated at Florida State University, it would be a matter of great concern, so you can imagine what $25 million unaccounted for dollars means to a small, private school like Bethune-Cookman University?”

Those in a position to know better – the Board of Trustees – had an ethical, moral and fiduciary responsibility to alumni, students and staff to ensure the best interests of this historic university were protected from the self-serving motives of former so-called ‘administrators’ and predatory shysters.

Instead, Petrock, Sharples and the others stood idle while the sharks fed.

That’s unconscionable.

As I’ve previously written,  how many more local institutions of higher learning are we going to allow ol’ Kent to involve himself with?

I’m just asking.

Because only in Volusia County can you go from the American Music Festival disaster that rocked Daytona State College to the boardroom of the CEO Business Alliance and Bethune-Cookman University.

In most industries, senior officials are given one bite at that apple before they are exposed as inept jacklegs and cashiered out of the service, but not in what passes for Halifax area academia – or Volusia County Star Chambers.

Is it possible everyone was too busy accepting honorary doctorates and bullying whistleblowers to notice that Dr. Bethune’s beloved institution was being looted by the very executive leadership charged with protecting and promoting it – or was something even more nefarious afoot?

I mean, how could the Board of Trustee’s not have known?

According to B-CU alumni, during their rotten tenure – Carter-Scott, Petrock, Sharples and the other conveniently deaf, dumb and blind “trustees” are directly responsible for:

Taking the school’s bond rating from A+ to junk status.

The school being place on probation by the school’s accrediting association.

Getting the school embroiled in lawsuits costing thousands of dollars a month in legal fees

Denying alumni representation on the Board of Trustees resulting in a lawsuit filed against the board by the school’s alumni association.

The school being over $120 million dollars in debt.

Causing alumni to place restrictions on funds they donate to the school because of a lack of trust and the lack of ownership of the problems they created.

And for building dormitories that the school cannot pay for.

My God. 

Gentle readers, this is a burgeoning tragedy of monumental proportions.    

In my view, it is past time for federal authorities to move swiftly and intervene to stop the on-going abominations being committed against B-CU before it is too late.

It is also time that the community at large decides how many more opportunities are we willing to give Dr. Kent Sharples, or Joe Petrock, to stand around with their thumbs wedged firmly in their ass while this venerated place of higher learning is financially gutted on their watch?

In my view, not only should these ineffectual scumbags find the door – but they should be required to explain their almost strategic inaction to the proper authorities.

Frankly, the CEO Business Alliance should take a long hard look at the weird happenings at B-CU during the board tenure of their exalted president, Kent Sharples – and decide how much more damage and embarrassment the university – and our community – should be expected to endure.

If, in fact, our secret society of millionaires at the CEO Business Alliance truly care about the future of Daytona Beach and the health of our colleges and universities as the economic engines they are – then it’s time to put their money where their mouth is and get control of Dr. Sharples and this coterie of shameless posers that have brought a once proud institution to its knees.

Frankly, barring outside intervention, they are the only ones I know locally with the power to effect positive change.

I stand firmly with the Bethune-Cookman University National Alumni Association in their desperate efforts to save the institution – and preserve the important legacy of Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune – and all it means to our region and beyond.

Clearly, the current B-CU Board of Trustees lack the common decency to step down and permit strong, ethical and prudent leadership to take the helm before this crippled ship founders.

I sincerely hope the National Alumni Association is successful in returning sanity to this abysmal tragedy.

Angel:             City of Holly Hill Police & Fire Departments

The good Lord blessed me.

A long time ago, we made a deal that he would allow me a lifetime of happiness in my dream job – the chance to perform work worth doing in service to others – so long as I agreed to do it with honor and integrity.

He lived up to his end of the bargain – and I tried like hell to live up to mine.

Although I failed time-and-again, the result was a career most can only imagine.

And, for over 30-years, I was given the wonderful gift of serving a grateful community in the company of some of the most talented, dedicated and courageous men and women I have ever known.

I hope I was faithful to my end of the bargain – and when the Great Scorer comes to write against my name – he will say I played the game well, and for all the right reasons.

The members of the Holly Hill Police and Fire Departments will always be my personal heroes.

Imagine my overwhelming sense of pride when I opened the newspaper last week and read the most heartwarming letter thanking the outstanding men and women of the Holly Hill Police and Fire Departments for their service at the scene of a recent fatal traffic crash near Flomish Avenue and Nova Road.

In her touching tribute, Ms. Mary Ann Trussell of Holly Hill wrote in The Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“I was recently involved in a motor vehicle accident.

 I would like to applaud the Holly Hill Police Department, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department, the Holly Hill Fire Department, the ambulance emergency medical technicians and all the first responders.

 There was also a gentleman in street clothes who was immediately assessing everyone involved in the accident, then informing the first responders as they arrived.

 Professionalism, compassion and extreme competence were all displayed by this team. It did not go unnoticed! Thank you, and God bless all of you for your dedication to helping others during such frightening and helpless situations.”

The greatest privilege of my life was serving alongside these brave men and women for most of my adult life, and I am forever grateful just to have been counted in their number.

Well done.

Asshole:          Volusia County School Board

I wrote about this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating.

Recently, Volusia County School Board Member Melody Johnson crawled before the Deltona City Commission with her hand out – moaning the blues over the fact that the municipality had previously declined to be openly fleeced by the school district.

“I was very concerned when I was notified by our School Board chair that you declined to help our schools,” she said. “It is our intention to only ask for a one-year assistance — only 30 percent of what we need.”

“As you know it’s challenging to do something without any funding.”

 Without any funding?  My ass.

Folks, the sight of our School Board begging for change like some penniless mendicant is not only unbecoming of elected officials who know better – but it crosses the line on how our hard-earned tax dollars are allocated.

The Volusia County School District is an independent taxing authority with the responsibility and political accountability for managing public funds, organizing assets, preparing a budget and levying assessments to meet the needs of thousands of students, teachers and staff.

With a current budget approaching $900 million – the largest of any government entity in Volusia County – I find it incredulous that our elected officials on the School Board seem physically incapable of identifying internal funding cuts to provide for this priceless service to our precious children.

Where is it written that when a taxing authority fails to live within its means – or refuses to take austerity measures to prioritize and reorganize allocations to meet emergent needs – it can simply cry poor mouth and shame the cities into handing over tax dollars they collected from us for critical municipal services?

The School Board seems perfectly capable of lashing us with millions in debt for Taj Mahal building projects, on top of a half-cent sales tax increase, then engaging in serial poor decisions – such as appointing wholly unqualified middle-managers to fill the vitally important role of School Security Specialist, rather than finding the very best expert we can afford – or keeping Superintendent Tom Russell in place after some seventeen Volusia County schools dropped one letter grade or more last year.

Or how about the ham-handed “secret negotiations” that resulted in our elected officials approving a five-year contract with Florida Hospital – sorry, “AdventHealth” – naming the healthcare provider the “exclusive student education and student wellness partner of the School Board for all purposes and on all levels” – for just $200,000 in cash each year. . .?

The agreement ended some 15-months of shadowy, back-alley negotiations by district officials that resulted in an agreement that gives AdventHealth all the marketing exposure they could have dreamed for – including naming rights, sponsorship options, districtwide distribution of branded material, and graduate recruitment options, among other benefits.

One might have thought that given our current dire financial straits – a direct advertising campaign reaching some 63,000 Volusia County families might have been worth a tad more?

Whatever.

At a recent meeting, School Board member Carl Persis said, “It seems like with $21 million (in federal Title 1 funds) you can fix anything,” he said. “My whole point is we’re not doing well. Systematically we have failed.  And it’s okay to say that we’ve failed.  Now we have to do something about it.”

Here’s an idea, Carl – fire Superintendent Tom Russell and his toady’s in the “Superintendent’s Cabinet” (really?), then get some visionary leadership in place who can turn things around – someone with a clearly defined systemic action plan to save our students and teachers from this curse of mediocrity.   Do it now.

In the meantime, we are left in the untenable position of having a decades old backlog of school infrastructure projects, complete stagnation in negotiations with our teachers – who are desperately seeking a living wage for their important work, along with benefit improvements to stop the hemorrhage of talent as educators continue to flee Volusia for more responsible districts or professions that appreciate their contributions – and the stark realization that we cannot adequately fund prudent and necessary security measures.

In my view, this situation is serious – and only getting worse.  In fact, I can’t think of anything more important.

Now, it is time for the Volusia County School Board to stop bumming money from the municipalities in some weird double-dipping scheme and begin the difficult process of living within their means.

That will require taking the politically difficult steps necessary to adequately fund service delivery in this new reality and focus precious resources where they belong – in the classroom.

If they are incapable of doing that, perhaps it’s time We, The People, elect someone who can.

Asshole:          City of Ormond Beach

Hey, Ormond Beach City Commission – thanks for nothing.

After sitting in utter silence for years as area residents living near the city’s main tourist corridor watched their property values circle the toilet bowl of dilapidation while the county-owned shopping center at Cardinal Boulevard and A-1-A physically rotted into the pavement – now that the eyesore is being demolished – our local ‘powers that be’ finally take notice?

Bullshit.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Ormond Beach Deputy Mayor and Developers Shill Troy Kent yammered, “I’m pleased that we are going to have more off-beach parking, but I wish it were on the east side of A1A.  I have concerns about safety and convenience. When you don’t have to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the beach, that’s always a good thing.”

Now you have concerns?

Jesus.

Hey, Troy – where were you as this godforsaken blight generator was destroying the quality of life for hundreds of citizens, and thousands of visitors, whose last memory of Ormond Beach will forever be the mildewing wreck of a haunted shopping center in the very heart of our core tourist area?

Or the place was used as an open dumping ground by Volusia County Beach Management – a hodge-podge of overgrown weeds, signage and lifeguard towers haphazardly stored in plain view of a neighborhood?

We, the long-suffering residents of Ormond Beach didn’t hear a peep out of you.

And where were you, and the other lackeys who have ensconced themselves on the dais of power for over a decade, while Volusia County took some of the most expensive real estate in our community off the tax rolls in favor of “off-beach parking” and a warehouse?

A fucking warehouse?

 (Hell – once someone explained it to him – even our doddering old fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, found that one tough to swallow. . .)

Now, Mr. Kent whines with pseudo-concern that his constituents have to schlep their children, beach gear and worldly belongings across four lanes of traffic to get to the beach?

Really? 

After all the shit we’ve eaten, the horrible abuse we’ve suffered, and the damage to our image and quality of life caused by this festering shithole – Mr. Kent is worried about residents being inconvenienced? 

Wow.   I don’t make this shit up, folks.

I hope my friends and neighbors will join me in voting for someone – anyone – who stands for election against these compromised shitheel incumbents.

Let’s take our beautiful community back while there is still something left to worry about.

Angel:             Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis

 A Barker’s View tip o’ the hat to our intrepid Supervisor of Elections for her efforts to bring all but two of Volusia County’s mosaic of municipalities into the light of day.

In a wonderful effort to make things easier for area voters – and increase transparency in our cockamamie campaign finance system – Supervisor Lewis undertook an initiative to require municipal candidates for public office to file campaign treasurers reports electronically – allowing her to consolidate that important information in one convenient location on the County website.

I dig that.

The electronic filing allows voters a clear glimpse into our weird oligarchical system which allows a few well-heeled political insiders to openly purchase access and influence by funneling massive amounts of cash into the campaign accounts of hand-select candidates for local office.

Unfortunately, two east Volusia communities – Ponce Inlet and Ormond Beach – have refused to come out of the dark ages, preferring instead – for dubious reasons – to keep it business as usual.

In a current election season awash in insider money, you don’t need a hack like me to explain why some politicians might want to keep their benefactors close to the vest.

However, in my view, their reluctance speaks more to the dubious concerns of those trying desperately to hold onto positions of power, than to the needs of an increasing number of high-information voters.

Good work, Ms. Lewis.

Quote of the Week

“I think it stinks, forcing the issue to get what it wants.  I think this is a terrible agreement. This city gets nothing from this. We get absolutely zilch.”

–Daytona Beach Shores Mayor Harry Jennings, speaking in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, after casting the lone vote to reject a ‘settlement’ with Volusia County that will turn prime oceanfront real estate into a county owned parking lot, a move that will cost the small community some $200,000 in tax revenue annually.

Some things are worth fighting for – like the sovereignty of an incorporated municipality.

For far too long, the County of Volusia has stomped around inside the cities like an aggressive behemoth – a rich tyrant with no qualms about spending our hard-earned tax dollars on lawsuits and threats against any city or constituent who dared challenge the omnipotence of the Monarchy in DeLand.

During a wild spending spree – more akin to a drunken sailor on shore leave from the USS Piss Money than a well-planned public property acquisition – in 2015 former County Manager Jim Dinneen slinked into the small village of Daytona Beach Shores, literally behind the back of city officials, and surreptitiously bought two parcels east of A-1-A in exchange for some $4.5 million of our tax dollars.

Two-years on, those arrogant assholes on the County Council shit on a proposal that would have provided the Shores a well landscaped off-beach lot with park-like amenities for residents and visitors, in favor of a spartan, high-density, 190 space parking slab.

Rightfully, Shores officials balked at this aggressive buggery and, for a time, mounted a tepid legal effort to fight for their independence from Volusia County tyranny.

Unfortunately, that effort was short-lived when Shores Councilman Richard “Caspar Milquetoast” Bryan, pulled his appeasement strategy, a cowardly unilateral move which resulted in divisive infighting between the elected officials, who ultimately agreed (wrongly, I believe) to capitulate, roll-over, and take it like the good little submissive serf’s they just became.

You know, I vehemently defended Councilman Bryan’s First Amendment right to speak his mind before the County Council – even though I felt what he said was wrong – and I still believe that elected officials must be permitted the same Constitutionally protected rights and responsibilities as everyone else without fear of having the will of the voters overturned in a cheap coup d’état.

However, I also believe the voters of Daytona Beach Shores should jettison his sycophantic ass from the dais of power at their first opportunity.

Bryan can crow all he wants about protecting taxpayer dollars from expensive legal bills – but if you are not willing to use the full force and might of the local treasury to fight for the community’s independence and right to self-determination – then I believe you are doing your constituents a true disservice.

In my view, standing down and cowering away from an aggressive bully only emboldens that despicable behavior.

Where does it end?     

And Another Thing!

 On Wednesday afternoon, Florida Today published the following interesting tidbit:

“The Naples City Council selected six city manager finalists Wednesday morning from a pool of more than 80 applicants. The finalists, in order of the number of votes received:

1. Joyce Shanahan, city manager of Ormond Beach
2. David L. Andrews, town manager of Carrboro, North Carolina
3. Charlie Chapman, county administrator for Hendry County
4. Mike McNees, city manager of Melbourne
5. Jim Dinneen, former county manager for Volusia County
6. Erdal Donmez, former city manager of Coral Springs

Finalists are scheduled to visit Naples for a tour and public reception Sept. 12, with formal interviews on Sept. 13 and 14. The Naples City Council is expected to make a decision Sept. 14.

Dinneen?  I could care less – just so he’s not within 200 nautical miles of Volusia County.

Joyce Shanahan will be hard to replace.

Also, Sons of the Beach and Friends, a political action committee and sister organization to Sons of the Beach, Florida’s premiere beach driving and access advocacy, will hold a fund raiser this Sunday, August 19^th, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at the Oasis Tiki Bar & Grill!

This will be the first fund raiser for SOB and Friends, and all proceeds will go to support current political candidates who have demonstrated their commitment to protecting beach access and stopping the privatization of our most precious natural resource.

If you are interested in meeting the candidates and talking issues, this is a great opportunity.

The Oasis Tiki Bar & Grill is located beachside at the Fountain Beach Resort, 313 South Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach.

Hope to see you there!

That’s all for me, have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

 

In the words of the immortal Walter Sobchak – “Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?”

Look, I admit it.  I can be a curmudgeonly asshole.

When something ‘steams my beans’ I’m not one to let it go – bringing attention to the obvious is kind of my stock-in-trade.

For instance, since I began this experiment in alternative opinion blogging, I have railed against our wholly corrupt campaign finance laws that permit the “Rich & Powerful” to purchase undue access and influence through the infusion of massive political contributions to the campaigns of hand-select candidates – a system that I believe has transformed our representative democracy into a bastardized oligarchy.

Why?  Because it’s wrong.  That’s why.

I’m weird that way.

When I spy something demonstrably wrong – counter to our sacred democratic principles – I spout-off about it, draw attention and scream “Hey, looky here, everybody!  There’s a turd in the punch bowl!”

For my trouble, many powerful people here on Florida’s Fun Coast don’t like me very much.

They believe my screeds are counter to their opaque “plan” to renew, revitalize and ‘bring high paying jobs’ to the beleaguered Halifax Area (while lining their pockets, and those of their friends, with the crumbs along the way) – and a naysayer sitting around in his boxer shorts drinking gin and pointing out our warts isn’t helping.

For the record, our ‘Movers & Shakers’ weren’t exactly inviting me to cocktail parties before I started this blog. . .

Now, our County Council is fretting about our ability to attract a qualified County Manager (a brokeback snake could do a better job than what we’ve experienced over the past decade) due to negative comments on social media.

Then, last week, our contract Medical Examiner (who has apparently made a cottage industry out of telling local government officials what they want to hear) is wringing his hands about the trouble we’re going to have finding a qualified forensic pathologist, what with Volusia County’s dismal reputation on the “Internet” and all. . .

Why is it inconceivable to our ‘powers that be’ that – just maybe – it’s the abject mismanagement, quid pro quo corruption, outsized influence of powerful insiders and the growing public distrust of county government that will have the biggest prohibitive effect on finding quality talent to fill our current executive vacancies?

I mean, why is it always someone else’s fault?

What became of the quaint notion that taking responsibility is the highest mark of leadership?

Like many of you, I have a fundamental problem with people who are elected to serve as stewards of our tax dollars – then carelessly, even maliciously, misuse our hard-earned money – and demand more of the same under the guise they are doing us a favor.  Or worse, when politicians try and convince us – the long-suffering taxpayers – that “things” conspired against them, or they were simply caught off guard. . .

A prime example is the still unfolding saga of the Volusia County School Guardian program, a state-mandated school security initiative which places armed civilians in elementary schools to augment sworn school resource officers posted to middle and high school campuses.

In my view, this program has been rushed from its inception, as the legislature attempted to do something – anything – to palliate the very real fear and outrage in the aftermath of Parkland, leaving county school districts with an underfunded mandate to provide armed security in every school in the state.

Now, the Volusia County School Board has taken the unprecedented step of literally begging money from the municipalities to cover the apparent shortfall.

On its face – it sounds reasonable, and I thought the Daytona Beach News-Journal did a good job of making the school board’s point in their recent editorial “Cities’ stake in school security.”

“The restriction hit particularly hard in Volusia County, which is in tight fiscal constraints and embroiled in negotiations with its teachers’ union. The budget approved last month dips into school reserves and includes a slight property-tax increase — but still falls short of the district’s needs by nearly $2.5 million. Even though the district has chosen a relatively low-cost option for elementary schools, hiring 50 specially trained “guardians” instead of using law enforcement, there’s just not enough money.”

Unfortunately, putting the arm on the cities to fill budget needs is not the way it works.

The Volusia County School District is an independent taxing authority with the responsibility and political accountability for managing public funds, organizing assets, preparing a budget and levying assessments to meet the needs of thousands of students, teachers and staff.

With a current budget approaching $900 million – the largest of any government entity in Volusia County – I find it incredulous that our elected officials on the School Board seem physically incapable of identifying internal funding cuts to provide for this priceless service to our precious children.

Where is it written that when a taxing authority fails to live within its means – or refuses to take austerity measures to prioritize and reorganize allocations to meet emergent needs – it can simply cry poor mouth and shame the cities into handing over tax dollars they collected from us for critical municipal services?

The School Board seems perfectly capable of lashing us with millions in debt for Taj Mahal building projects, on top of a half-cent sales tax increase, then engaging in serial poor decisions – such as appointing wholly unqualified middle-managers to fill the vitally important role of School Security Specialist, rather than finding the very best expert we can afford – or keeping Superintendent Tom Russell in place after some seventeen Volusia County schools dropped one letter grade or more last year.

Or how about the ham-handed “secret negotiations” that resulted in our elected officials approving a five-year contract with Florida Hospital – sorry, “AdventHealth” – naming the healthcare provider the “exclusive student education and student wellness partner of the School Board for all purposes and on all levels” – for just $200,000 in cash each year. . .?

The agreement ended some 15-months of shadowy, back-alley negotiations by district officials that resulted in an agreement that gives AdventHealth all the marketing exposure they could have dreamed for – including naming rights, sponsorship options, districtwide distribution of branded material, and graduate recruitment options, among other benefits.

One might have thought that given our current dire financial straits – a direct advertising campaign reaching some 63,000 Volusia County families might have been worth a tad more?   

Whatever.

Now we are left in the untenable position of having a decades old backlog of school infrastructure projects, complete stagnation in negotiations with our teachers – who are desperately seeking a living wage for their important work, along with benefit improvements to stop the hemorrhage of talent as educators continue to flee Volusia for more responsible districts or professions that appreciate their contributions – and the stark realization that we cannot adequately fund prudent and necessary security measures.

In my view, this situation is serious – and only getting worse.  In fact, I can’t think of anything more important.

Now, it is time for the Volusia County School Board to stop bumming money from the municipalities in some weird double-dipping scheme and begin the difficult process of living within their means.

That will require taking the politically difficult steps necessary to adequately fund service delivery in this new reality and focus precious resources where they belong – in the classroom.

If they are incapable of doing that, perhaps it’s time We, The People, elect someone who can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, kids!

Wow!  I want to thank every member of the loyal Barker’s View tribe who took the time from your busy lives to send so many good notes and best wishes on my birthday this week!

It does my busted old heart good – and I was sincerely touched by your thoughtfulness.

Like most guys, I like to celebrate birthdays in high-style – after all, it damn sure beats the alternative – and it gives us over-the-hill types a good excuse to prove to ourselves we can still party like Rock Stars (until about 9:30pm, anyway) – as we commemorate another successful trip around the sun.

Now, in my 58^th year, you – the incredibly faithful readers of this goofy alternative opinion blog – have given a renewed purpose to my life that I never thought possible.  Whether we agree on the important issues of the day or not – please know that you are never far from my thoughts – and I am genuinely grateful for your friendship, insight and support.

It’s time once again to turn a jaundiced eye toward the newsmakers of the day – the winners and losers – who, in my cynical opinion, either contributed to our quality of life, or detracted from it, in some significant way.

Let’s look at who tried to screw us – and who tried to save us – during the week that was:

Asshole:          Volusia County Council

 Strap in, kids.  This one’s going to be a bumpy ride. . .

There are two things that give those of us standing on the outside looking in a brief peek through the greasy peephole of government – the budget, and those all-to-infrequent “goal setting” and “visioning” sessions – which are usually anything but.

Tuesday’s County Council “workshop” was no exception.

 In the aftermath of former County Manager Jim Dinneen’s murky machinations, physical neglect of public assets, backroom ‘deals’ that always seemed to benefit all the right last names and his abrupt departure, it took our elected representatives just two-hours to establish our collective priorities – this from a group that took the better part of a long day to discuss how many chickens may occupy a residential lot – which direction doors on beachfront portable toilets should face – and authorize an internal study to get to the bottom of perhaps the most perplexing problem of our era: Overfed seagulls fouling the pool decks of Daytona Beach Shores condominiums. . .

My ass.

If we learned anything from Tuesday’s lukewarm “workshop” it is that our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, would rather take an ice water enema than submit to a forensic audit of Volusia County finances.

Seriously.  Old Ed really doesn’t want anyone from the outside looking in.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, rather than do the right thing and live up to his fiduciary responsibility to ensure accountability and increase public confidence in their government – our duly elected Council Chairman crowed, “Transparency, my foot!” he said, arguing that there’s plenty of that already in county government without throwing away money on an audit. “There’s nothing to hide.”

Wow.  I don’t make this shit up, folks.

Ed Kelley really is that dumb – or that compromised. . .

In addition, our County Council decided that Jim Dinneen’s mysterious plan to extend the Daytona Beach Boardwalk – which included looting $2.5 million in ECHO funds each year and stashing cash for a publicly funded boondoggle that was never fully explained or understood (just as Little Jimmy intended) – will never come to fruition.

But what about the $100,000 in public funds that were allegedly spent on a shadowy “boardwalk study” that was authorized in October 2016 – which produced a few pretty sketches and spreadsheets – but has never been released for public consumption?

According to the uber-arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys,  “The boardwalk took a long walk off a short deck and it’s gone.” 

Unfortunately, it was holding hands with $100K of our hard-earned tax dollars when it took the plunge. . .

But who gives a shit? 

Easy come, easy go, right Deb?

During what passed as a “visioning” session, the much-ballyhooed Taj Mahal five-story Beach Street courthouse – which is planned to replace the upgradeable City Island courthouse, and has already resulted in the closure of the New Smyrna Beach facility – was listed as a “priority,” at least by the lame duck Councilwoman Joyce Cusack.

Remember when Old Ed Kelley – you know, our chief elected official – exposed his abject ignorance of the “behind-the-scenes” meetings by county staff when plans for the new and improved $260-million-dollar courthouse were discussed (“Meetings?  What meetings?”)

I do.

Well, now Councilwoman Deb Denys – who is locked in the political fight of her career – would have us believe that nothing has been finalized (except shuttering the New Smyrna courthouse and the Volusia County Administration building on Beach Street) and that the Council needs an “agenda item with all the information.” 

Say what?

Apparently, Deb is just as clueless as the rest of us hapless dupes.

“We haven’t agreed to anything,” Denys said, noting that the original concept never appeared on a council meeting agenda (since when was that a prerequisite for action by this council?)

“We need an agenda item with all the information.”

Am I the only one who remembers when Volusia County paid an Orlando-based consultant – you know, the proverbial out-of-town expert with a briefcase – a quarter-million-dollars to “study” the issue of our aging judicial facilities – then reported on six options with a nod to the total obliteration of existing space on City Island in favor of building a monstrous, five-story consolidated complex near the current S. James Foxman Justice Center on Beach Street?

(Which, as it happens, fit neatly with Old Ed and Little Jimmy’s plan to turn City Island over to their developer friends for condominiums. . .)

At that time, our highly-paid consultant’s presentation to the County Council (during which he telegraphed his institutional knowledge of our area by referring to Ridgewood as “Rockwood”) was repeatedly interrupted by then County Manager Jim Dinneen during a well-rehearsed (and totally contrived) explanation for his ambush-style July 2017 announcement of his Grand Courthouse Plan.

My point being – what became of the Dewberry study?

Probably mildewing in that dank depository of astronomically expensive consultant reports in DeLand where good ideas are sent to die.

I’ve got an idea, Ms. Denys?

How about you – as our duly elected representative – demand that county staff produce the results of the $248,000 courthouse study before the next iteration of the County Council forgets about it and commissions yet another consultant?

Yeah, right. . .

During the workshop we were also treated to another Dog-and-Pony Show by the Martha Stewart of Medical Examiners, Dr. Jon Thogmartin – the best marketing huckster for contract forensic pathology to ever storm a public podium – who reiterated that former Volusia County Medical Examiner and whistleblower, Dr. Sara Zydowicz, was full of ca-ca when she called foul on substandard facilities, a backlog of some 240 cases and dangerous working conditions at the morgue.

“All of the problems with the office were self-inflicted,” he (Dr. Thogmartin) said, adding that it took two weeks to catch up on the backlog and resolve cooler space issues.”

Two-weeks?

Now, you and I will just have to take the Good Doctor’s word for it – because Old Ed and the Funky Bunch on the dais of power aren’t really into transparency and independent verification of facts as a matter of public policy – not when it’s sooooo much more convenient to accept a highly compensated “expert” opinion, anyway.

According to Thogmartin, it won’t be easy finding a new chief medical examiner – what with all the negative chatter on the Interwebz and whatnot.  But I’ll just bet Dr. Jon “Have Skull Saw, Will Travel” Thogmartin could help us out for the right price?

I almost forgot – during the regular meeting of the minds – councilmembers approved yet another study (this time it only cost us $54,000) for an unnamed “third-party company” to set priorities for transportation infrastructure improvements.

You read that right.

According to Jon Cheney, Volusia County’s traffic engineer, “What we are wanting to do is (address) all of this tremendous growth.  The question we have asked is which project do we do next? We are looking at a lot of ‘what-if’ scenarios.”

 I’ve got a ‘what-if’ for you – what if we summarily terminate the employment of every bureaucrat clogging the Volusia County Traffic Engineering Department who can’t immediately and definitively determine, based upon their institutional knowledge and expertise, how to prioritize transportation infrastructure projects?

There now.  That didn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. . .

Angel:              The Long-Suffering Citizens of Deltona

What part of “we want her gone” doesn’t the Deltona City Commission understand?

Here, let Big Daddy help:

For months, residents of Volusia County’s largest municipality have begged, pleaded – and now demanded – the removal of Deltona City Manager Jane Shang.  In my view, the very real concerns of area residents are infinitely well-founded.

As I’ve written before, two ardent critics of the current administration recently found themselves reduced to outlaws when Shang – apparently with the full acquiesce of the elected officials – misused the full force and might of government to silence criticism with dubious criminal charges and the trespass law.

Folks, I can’t think of anything more anti-democratic – or detrimental to the concept of government of the people, by the people and for the people – than the reckless use of a law enforcement agency to bring a politically active citizenry to heel.

During a highly contentious public meeting earlier this week, residents all but hurled rotten tomatoes at the dais as their fervent calls for Shang’s ouster – or at the very least her suspension from office until an independent investigation of her despicable actions by the Florida Department of Law enforcement could be initiated – fell on deaf ears.

In fact, beleaguered Mayor John Masiarczyk had the stones to menace his constituents into compliance with the not so veiled threat, “Don’t force us into doing things that are just going to be ugly.”

You mean there is something uglier in your arsenal than falsely accusing critics of a felony crime?

Just asking.  Because in over 31-years in municipal government, I never saw a sitting mayor – or any other politically accountable official – openly bully taxpayers in that grotesque manner.

To her great credit, Commissioner Anita Bradford made a motion to suspend Shang until an inquiry could be launched into her blatant misuse of law enforcement, dubious code enforcement practices and the flagrant violations of Florida’s public records law.

Commissioner Bradford also pleaded for definitive action by the elected body to ensure that the terror experienced by citizens persecuted by Jane Shang’s vindictive rule never happens again.

Her motion to protect residents was openly ignored by Shang’s toadies on the dais.

Thanks for nothing Commissioner (and current mayoral candidate) Heidi Herzberg.

My sincere hope is that someone – anyone – in a position to do something about the open thuggery being perpetrated by these stool stacks that have the temerity to call themselves ‘public servants’ – will find the courage to flash a badge and launch an in-depth investigation into the myriad issues that have pitted the citizens of Deltona against their own government.

Asshole           Volusia County Attorney Dan Eckert

 Look, there is enough blame to go around on this one – but something about the termination and subsequent financial settlement with former Volusia County Sheriff’s Deputy John Szabo – stinks.

I was a police officer for a long time – over thirty-years – and one of the things you learn early in your career is that cops complain.

It’s too hot, it’s too cold.

We bitch when we get promoted – and we bitch louder when we don’t.

There’s either too much overtime, or not enough.

Your pants are always too tight, and you cuss every new burrito stain on your uniform shirt – then whine about the convoluted call you caught five minutes before the end of a 12-hour shift.

The citizens you protect don’t appreciate your service and the boss is a major league asshole (usually uttered with a few choice expletives while inadvertently sitting on your radio microphone – transmitting to everyone on the channel – including the chief).

It’s what we do.

As a police executive – you understand that its when cop’s stop complaining that you have a real problem on your hands.

Back in September, Deputy Szabo took to a union social media site (if you can’t bitch there, where can you?) to criticize Sheriff Mike Chitwood’s decision to commission an internal affairs investigation into the actions of two deputies who failed to have their body cameras activated during a pursuit on Interstate 95.

During the incident, somehow the tires of the wrong vehicle were deflated by Stop Sticks deployed by the deputies.

According to a recent article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Szabo wrote to his coworkers, “No wonder so many people are leaving. Funny how anyone who legitimately tried to do the right thing gets (expletive) in the (expletive).  Just wondering if Chitwood had his body camera on. Wonder if the deputies didn’t have their (body cameras) on because they were pulled off the highway looking for the suspect vehicle and more concerned with not getting run over.”

 Trust me.  I’ve been called worse by people who worked for me – in retrospect, probably well-deserved – and we’re still friends. . .  Because I did the same damn thing to my boss when I was at their age and stage.

After learning of Szabo’s tirade on social media, Sheriff Chitwood apparently sought the advice of County Attorney Dan “Cujo” Eckert – in my view a mean-spirited asshole who has no qualms about suing his own constituents, with their own money, if it means protecting “the system” – who reportedly recommended that Deputy Szabo’s six-year career with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office be terminated.

Wow.

According to the News-Journal, Chitwood explained, “That decision was based on county legal telling me that his actions by posting on Facebook were a violation of county merit rules and was a terminable offense,” Chitwood said. “And based on the information I received from county legal, is what I went on and made my decision.”

 “I have quote, unquote labor attorneys that are supposed to be specialists in this field,” Chitwood said. “They tell me somebody violated the policies and the penalty is dismissal.”

 For bitching about the boss?  Really?

I mean, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

And therein lies the rub.

Many are wondering how Sheriff Chitwood – an extremely charismatic, outspoken elected official who has made some pretty wild public statements about his own former boss, Jim Dinneen, (lying sack of shit, etc.) and recently made a weird remark about Councilwoman Deb Denys’ knowledge of law enforcement being limited to the “fur-lined handcuffs on her headboard” – can find the moral authority to end a man’s career for speaking out in frustration on what amounts to a union bulletin board?

Sheriff Chitwood would have to be pretty thin-skinned to ruin a good cop’s career just because he spouted off to his coworkers in the locker room – or on Facebook, for that matter.

Look, from past experience watching Mr. Eckert in operation – I’m going to give Sheriff Chitwood the benefit of the doubt and trust that he based a difficult personnel decision in the Szabo case on bullshit legal advice from the County Attorney’s Office.

It wouldn’t be the first time Old Dan fucked up – or wasted our hard-earned tax dollars, for that matter.

So, at the end of the day, who do We, The People, ultimately hold responsible for the irreparable harm to former Deputy Szabo’s personal and professional reputation – not to mention the $42,000 in public funds required to settle the matter?

In my view, it’s time Dan Eckert was shown the same door that hit Jim Dinneen in the ass a few months back.

When is enough, enough?

I sincerely hope that John Szabo goes on to a full life of service in the industry of his choice, and that the indignity of this sorry blemish does not hinder his obvious contribution potential to law enforcement and public service.

Terribly sad.

Asshole:          NASCAR Chairman Brian France

On Sunday, police in the Village of Sag Harbor – a tony summer playground for the rich and famous in The Hampton’s – stopped a Lexus operated by NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, 56, after he reportedly ran a stop sign.

Preliminary reports say that France was shitfaced – driving with a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit.  Following his arrest, France was “found to be in possession of five pills, yellow in color, that were identified as Oxycodone.”

 Unfortunately, this wasn’t Mr. France’s first go-round.

He was charged with reckless driving in Seminole County in 2005, and the following year, the awkward grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France made the papers when he ping-ponged his Lexus down Beach Street before coming to rest at his Marina Point condo.

 Damn.  Even a no-account boozer like me can pronounced the word: UBER. . .

I took some heat earlier this year when I opined on an unfortunate leak from investment bank Goldman Sachs that the France family was exploring the sale of NASCAR.  Naturally, the news sent shockwaves through the industry – and the company’s headquarters on ISB.

Look, I don’t have a financial or emotional investment here – but our community does.

NASCAR lost me a few years ago – just like it lost thousands of other fans and lucrative sponsors – thanks to continuing mismanagement, weird rule changes like “stage racing” and the goofy “playoff” format, coupled with a parade of cartoonish television color commentators who make the “sport” unwatchable.

Add to that the loss of any driver with a real personality not crafted by some marketing department’s image group, and, frankly, it’s become a snoozefest – a  monotonous drone of cookie cutter cars – punctuated with the occasional staged fistfight between 20-something no-names in a feeble attempt to link today’s showbiz dreck with yesterday’s bare-knuckle motor sport.

What I do care about are friends and neighbors who work for NASCAR and its various subsidiaries here in Daytona Beach.  They rely on both the France family’s stewardship – and the viability of the sport – for their very livelihood.

For decades, the Daytona Beach Resort Area has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with DIS and NASCAR.

It was good while it lasted, but clearly our ‘powers that be’ haven’t actively planned for “what comes next” (come to think of it, they haven’t planned for anything, really.)  Instead, our elected and appointed officials throw millions in public funds at the problem (anyone remember the $40-million Daytona Beach and Volusia County gifted to ISC for their One Daytona project?) then hope things work out for the best. . .

Let’s face facts, like most family-businesses, stock car racing was never the same after the founders passed – and history shows that generational wealth is both a blessing and a curse – but I will never understand why the quirky France family, and those they pay to advise them, stood idle as the product slowly died?

Don’t take my word for it, watch any televised race – the grandstands look like a ghost town.

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the France family was, “. . .being criticized by drivers and team owners, who fear the Frances are incapable of reversing the fade in fan interest and retreat by sponsors.

In my view, the oddball behavior routinely exhibited by Brian France (to include his bizarre performance at last year’s NASCAR Champions Banquet when he handed a box containing the 2017 Cup Series ring to Martin Truex, Jr. – then turned and walked away, without a handshake, or even eye contact, with the Champ) has contributed to diminished fan and industry confidence in the ‘brand.’

Look, if Brian France – or any other millionaire with the smarts to know better – wants to publicly immolate himself with booze and recreational pharmaceuticals, who am I to judge?  Just have the common decency to leave the helm of a business that thousands of people rely on to feed their families.

In my view, the time has come for Mr. France to finally gain that elusive sense of personal and professional responsibility that has evaded him for 56-years and step aside.  Permanently.

NASCAR is the foundation of a sport that desperately needs resuscitation – a CEO with a fresh set of eyes, hardworking hands and a renewed focus on returning the excitement of high-speed competition – before uniformity and ludicrous rules made it impossible to tell a Ford from a Chevrolet – and the charismatic, hard-scrabble drivers who appealed to the sports fanbase were replaced with cosmetic models.

You know, a true leader who will actually be at the track on race day – like Brian’s father and grandfather before him – not ripped to the tits on some suburban street in Long Island.

In my view, Brian France – and those who have allowed him to keep his hands on the wheel this far into the crash – are irresponsible assholes who have jeopardized a major source of jobs and revenue for our struggling area.

That’s unconscionable.

After all, the citizens of Volusia County have invested heavily to ensure the success of the France family – and their various subsidiaries.

We deserve better.

Angel:             The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Kudos to The Daytona Beach News-Journal staff writers and photojournalists who recently captured nine awards – including four first-place honors – during last weekend’s Society of Professional Journalists’ State Awards banquet.

The intrepid Dinah Voyles Pulver – who I believe is one of the finest journalists in the business today – took first place in environmental writing for her outstanding “Rising Seas” series.

In addition, chief photographer Jim Tiller was a finalist for photojournalist of the year, and honored in the breaking news category for his memorable image of a teenager who just learned she had been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Sports columnist Ken Willis also took first place in feature writing for his piece about a man who was struck by lightning while fishing on the Ponce Inlet jetty.

The outstanding investigative reporter Seth Robbins received a second-place award in the same category for a series on Puerto Rico’s response to Hurricane Maria – with Lola Gomez taking third place in photography story for her work on the same piece.

In the crime and courts reporting category, staff writer Suzanne Hirt was honored for a series of stories about how underage girls become victims of human trafficking.

One of my favorite columnists – the incredibly insightful Mark Lane – was recognized in the general commentary and criticism catagory for his excellent “Footnote” column.

Well done!

And well deserved.

Quote of the Week:

“Ormond Beach can rejoice yet again if we adopt this rate because the city leaders have made Ormond Beach’s budget yet again our priority.  We run a lean, mean, machine in Ormond Beach.”

 –Ormond Beach Vice Mayor Troy Kent, the face of unchecked development, rejoicing in a proposed tax “decrease” from $4.28 per $1,000 of taxable property value to $4.17 – which remains 2.85% higher than the rolled-back rate of $4.05 so is technically considered a tax increase.

My God.  How do these people sleep at night?

The only lean, mean machine Mr. Kent champions in the City of Ormond Beach is another industrial woodchipper turning acres of old growth forests into cheap commercial development.

And Another Thing!

Well, summer’s over for Volusia County school students who head back to the grindstone on Monday morning.

I’ve been hypercritical of our district administrators for their handling of the new state mandated School Guardian program – a first-of-its-kind security measure that will place armed civilians in elementary schools throughout Volusia County.

My problem isn’t with those brave souls who answered the call, stood proud, and said “send me.”

I have nothing but pride and admiration for their willingness to serve in this important role.

However, I have a serious concern about the Volusia County School Board’s decision to place people, who in my view, are wholly unqualified to provide effective leadership and oversight of this sensitive program.

As many of you know, the results of a recent public records request revealed that our new School Security Specialist is a former band director and assistant principal whose lack of law enforcement or military experience would prohibit him from qualifying for the position he is charged with overseeing.

In another head-shaker, I was told directly by a senior school administrator – apparently in some weird attempt to lend credibility to a program that desperately needs it – that an associate security specialist had “FBI experience.”

I later found out that the individual’s federal law enforcement experience was limited to her time as a secretary in the FBI’s New York field office.

Now, I understand that there are serious doubts if our new school guardians will be adequately trained and equipped to provide their vital service to our precious children beginning Monday morning.

Myriad questions remain – and I, for one, am demanding answers from those who have been elected and appointed to serve the needs of Volusia County children and classroom teachers.

In my view, with a budget approaching $900 million dollars – it’s time we find out why our highly compensated superintendent and school board members failed to conduct a search for the best and brightest school security expert we could afford – rather than simply appointing a senior staffer who happens to be married to the district’s personnel director.

That’s all for me.

Have a great weekend, folks!

 

 

Today starts my 58^th trip around the sun.

Go figure.

I’d like to lay some visionary insight on you, tell you that I’m smarter for the experience and sagely prognosticate about our collective situation here on Florida’s Fun Coast like some sapient Hosea for this weird time and place – a Prophet of Doom and Restoration.

But I can’t.

To be honest, I’m just as dumb as I was yesterday – a prime example that age does not define wisdom.

However, I am firmly convinced that I possess an ancient karmic soul with many lives behind me and many more to come.  This time around, it appears that exposing these shits and charlatans who accept public funds to serve in the public interest – then do the exact opposite – is my spiritual dharma and sacred cosmic mission.

Through the millennia, my preternatural ability to smell political bullshit and spot a cheese stealing rat like a gazehound seems to only get better – sharper, more focused and well-defined – and the longer I wait and watch, the clearer the three-dimensional political landscape becomes.

Trust me – that isn’t an easy feat, and it takes a practiced eye, especially during an election year.

This weekend, the intrepid reporter Dustin Wyatt – with the assistance of Dinah Voyles Pulver, truly one of the finest journalists working today – published an excellent exposé entitled, “Developers, builders fork over big money” – a remarkable piece that shines a very bright light on what I believe is the preeminent issue facing Volusia County.

After all, I’ve written about it, ad nauseum, for the past three years.

It’s the scourge of ‘pay-to-play’ politics that has turned our representative democracy into a bastardized oligarchy where a few well-heeled political insiders have found an effective means of subverting the electoral process, and subjugating the will of the people, through the infusion of massive campaign contributions to hand-select candidates for local offices.

Clearly, our current election cycle is no exception.  (Did any sentient being think it would be?)

The News-Journal’s analysis found that, “Of the $423,729 reported to the supervisor of elections office through July 6, not including contributions made by the candidates themselves, $1 of every $5 has come from a developer or someone in the construction or building industry. . .”

I just hope no one out there believes this is a new phenomenon here in Volusia County – or that the problem is limited to the real estate development industry.

It isn’t.

Following the 2016 Volusia County Council District 4 election – perhaps the worst display of auction house politics in recent memory – the News-Journal identified the largest contributors in that ugly race as, “George Anderson, developer of the Ocean Walk and a real estate investor; J. Hyatt Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown Inc.; homebuilder Mori Hosseini, chairman and CEO of ICI Homes; Theresa Doan, whose beachside properties and investments include three Main Street bars; businesses affiliated with International Speedway Corp. and its president, John Saunders; and companies affiliated with Consolidated-Tomoka, a land holding company.”

In fact, these High Panjandrums of Political Power gave $281,950 (out of total contributions of $503,000) through some 67 different corporate entities, “…many of them showing little to connect them back to their owners besides a mailing address.”

Perhaps what I find most disturbing is that our “Rich & Powerful” – and their obsequious, bought-and-paid-for chattel on the dais of power – would insult our intelligence and attempt to salve our very real fears of quid pro quo corruption by telling us all – with a straight face – that money doesn’t buy influence and access.

According to the colossally arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys, “I have never been told how to vote by any of my contributors.  Not ever.”

My ass.

Surely, they can’t believe we’re that stupid? 

Or worse, actually believe their own gibberish, right?

As I’ve previously written, when you consider the shit train of favorable rulings, millions in “economic incentives,” infrastructure support, tax abatement, multi-year extensions on “temporary” projects, unchecked growth, overlooked environmental atrocities, half-price public land sales to private interests, astronomically low impact fees, corporate giveaways and an atmosphere where the mere presence of these power players at a public meeting ensures an outcome favorable to their personal or professional interests – you understand how our system of county governance has become a shameless plutocratic oligarchy populated by political pimps and whores.

No more, no less.

While these uber-wealthy power brokers may not directly manipulate the figurative rods and strings that animate their elected fantoccini with formal requests, the money and empty accolades they lavish ensure that the selfish needs of those with the ability to control the outcome of elections are consistently met and properly camouflaged by the affectations of government.

They don’t have to ask – the money demands fealty to the process.    

And, in my view, anyone who tells you differently – or crows about their corporate “fiduciary duty to make sure we stay involved in this leadership” is a self-serving shit and a damnable liar.   

According to King Mori of the Exalted House of Hosseini – whose unbridled political power and vast financial influence extends to literally every nook and cranny of local, state and federal politics – “You can call every one of the council members and ask them if Mori has ever called and asked for a favor,” Hosseini said. “None of them will tell you that I have. … I believe the leaders we have are doing a great job altogether and collectively. They make a big difference in the future of our community.”

Bullshit.

Don’t take my word for it, look around.

Wade through the widespread civic stagnation, the creeping blight, dilapidation and overwhelming sense of hopelessness on our diseased beachside – or attempt to do business in this artificial economy where corporate welfare eliminates risks for millionaires and billionaires while small businesses continue to wither, collapse and die.

Or try and earn a living wage as a member of the slavish pool of cheap labor that serves the needs of a rotting hospitality industry – in a place where intractable problems are ignored as the smart money moves west, where taps in the sprawling “lifestyle communities” currently being built on our sensitive recharge areas will soon spew recycled sewerage, and the rest of us hapless dupes struggle under one of the highest tax rates and lowest per capita incomes in the State of Florida – then tell me again how the “leaders we have are doing a great job altogether and collectively.”

Folks, I don’t mind the illusion painted by our ‘powers that be’ – or even watching rich people openly play to the overweening vanity of dimwitted politicians – after all, lying boldly and fueling false hope is all part of modern politics – and the distorted delusion of prosperity and “leadership” espoused by our elected officials and their political benefactors is infinitely more appealing than our current reality.

Just stop blowing smoke up our ass and causing my neighbors and I to doubt our own instincts.

In my view, it is a dangerous proposition – one that threatens the very foundation of our sacred system of governance – when political hubris, bolstered by massive sums of special interest money, results in small-minded politicians believing their own lies.