Hi, kids!

Wow!  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go!

It’s that time of the year when we can put our differences aside, be thankful for the many blessings in our lives, put joy in our hearts and try to forget one of the most divisive political seasons in recent memory – a contentious period that pitted neighbor-against-neighbor – with one of the largest voter turnouts for a midterm election on record.

Now that the interminable recounts are complete, and the carcasses have been cleared from the political fast lane, we will begin to see some of our wide-eyed “leaders” who successfully stood for public office begin the metamorphosis from citizen-servant to preening politician.

This isn’t universally true, of course.

I know some wonderful people who currently hold various elective offices throughout Volusia County and beyond – people I trust – true servant-leaders who work hard to represent their constituents with honor and an unwavering commitment to service above self.

Unfortunately, for many newly elected officials, the swearing-in ceremony marks the first step in becoming everything they hated.

After raising their hand and taking the sacred oath of office, the “system” begins the well-honed process of separating those we have elected to represent our best interests from those they are sworn to serve – painting constituents as an impediment, rather than partners – and conspiring to make our “commissioners” and “council members” increasingly reliant on appointed officials, well-heeled insiders and entrenched bureaucrats for information and acceptance.

The trappings of office – the power, status and perceived social standing – complete the self-aggrandizement and help confirm their outsized sense of superiority and infallibility.  Even before they realize it, the casual double-standard set for their political benefactors dissolves into gross hypocrisy.

This transformation is most evident in career politicians who glide into positions of increasing control based solely upon their demonstrated ability to serve the self-interests of their uber-wealthy masters.

Trust me.  Intelligence, vision and character don’t mean shit to those seeking a cheap means to a profitable end.

A prime example is our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley – arguably one of the most painfully dull and blatantly compromised elected officials in a region rife with the breed – who routinely ignores the very real needs of his long-suffering constituents while flagrantly shilling for his ‘friends’ in the real estate development community.

He’s not alone.

For example, I recently came across an interesting letter from the Ormond Beach City Commission (speaking of compromised shitheels. . .) dated February 2, 2016, that told me all I needed to know about why speculative developers spent hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to ensure the return of incumbent politicians in Ormond Beach, Volusia County and elsewhere.

The correspondence was signed by then Mayor Kelley, and addressed to former County Manager Jim Dinneen, recommending that Volusia County eliminate its wetlands regulations like Ormond Beach did in 2010.

You read that right.

“In keeping with the County’s and the Cities efforts toward economic development and reduced regulation, we would urge the County Council to step away from additional and onerous regulations of wetlands that may inhibit future economic development of the region and let the Saint John’s regulations govern wetland impact for consistency throughout the region.”

All the “code words” are there – along with the abject arrogance that shines brightest when the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker become convinced they know what’s best for the rest of us.

Apparently, Old Ed forgot that the Chairman of the St. John’s River Water Management District, Long John Miklos, has been widely exposed as a cheap huckster who, in the opinion of many, makes his living lobbying for paying customers in front of the very regulatory agency he oversees.

How dumb do they think we are? 

The fact is, Ed Kelley doesn’t know squat about the vital importance of Florida’s endangered wetlands and aquifer recharge areas to the overall health of our sensitive ecology, wildlife habitat and, ultimately, our own drinking water.

But that batty old coot and his greedy ilk can tell you everything you need to know about what it takes to get perennially elected to high office in this self-perpetuating oligarchy.

They’ve got that down to a science.

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:             Daytona Beach Police Officer Kevin Hird

 While responding to a call for service last Sunday evening, Daytona Beach Police Officer Kevin Hird was shot by a violent career criminal – aptly described by Chief Craig Capri as a “typical street maggot” – armed with an AK-47.

Although seriously wounded, thanks to his incredible courage and training, Officer Hird was able to place a radio call alerting other officers.

After exchanging gunfire with responding officers, ultimately, the piece of human excrement, later identified as Raymond Roberts, was tracked down and taken into custody.

Now, Officer Hird is recovering after two surgeries and has bravely vowed to overcome his physical injuries and return to duty once he is able.

According to Mike Scudiero of the Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association, “In the meantime, this rising star within the agency will be placed on light duty, which means he will be unable to work outside details or voluntary overtime, which are things often important in the life of an officer. To that end, the Coastal Florida PBA is helping raise funds for Officer Hird to help offset the lost wages. His recovery is expected to take several months.”

In this season of giving, I can think of no greater way to honor the outstanding service and sacrifice of this brave law enforcement officer who put it all on the line to protect your family and mine.

A fundraising effort has been established to help Officer Hird and his family during what will be a long recovery.

Please find more information on how you can help here: https://tinyurl.com/y7yjd5ew

In addition, on Thursday, December 6^th, Planet Smoothie, 2525 West International Speedway Boulevard, will donate 20% of all sales – and 100% of all raffle tickets sold – to Officer Hird and his family!

God Bless you, Officer Hird.  You are a Barker’s View Archangel and a fierce warrior in the fight for right and good.

You acted in the finest traditions of the police service, stayed in the fight, and did your very best to provide for the safety and security of Daytona Beach residents.

Thank you for your remarkable courage under fire.

Asshole:          Volusia County School District

I like words.

The great American author Mark Twain once said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

It’s part of what I enjoy about writing.

I’m clearly not a “good” writer – but I write a lot – over 265,000 words this year alone – and nothing brings me more joy than discovering just the right descriptor or colorful phrase that brings depth and clarity to the point I’m struggling to make.

Whenever I read details of the latest five-alarm fuck-up at Volusia County Schools – one word continues to shine through: Asinine.

The Oxford English Dictionary claims the adjective originates from the Late 15th century: from the Latin asininus – or ‘ass’ – defined as something ‘extremely stupid or foolish.’

The word is apropos because invariably the manqué Superintendent Tom Russell and his goofy “Cabinet” seem to gravitate to the most imbecilic non-solution possible when reacting to the very real problems facing our seriously flawed educational system.

Our elected officials (at least on the previous Volusia County School Board) recognize the pervasive nature of the problem, yet they seem physically incapable of doing anything about it?

For instance, 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 curriculum modifications as part of a comprehensive strategic plan to provide a quality educational experience and set achievable goals for our precious children while paying our hard-working teachers a living wage?

Instead, the District is mired in glaring incompetence at the highest levels of the organization – anchored by pencil-pushers who speak in that weird patois known as “bureaucratese” that results in inane “Performance Targets” such as,  “Academic improvement for all students by enhancing academic relevance and rigor, measured by an increase in the Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO) targets.”

I have no idea what that means.  But, more frightening – neither do the people who wrote it. . .

Whatever.

Now, with some three-quarters of Volusia County elementary schools languishing in hopeless mediocrity – rather than listen to the concerns of teachers who are actually in the classroom – District officials have opted to simply extend the student day by 30-minutes.

As one would expect, parents and stakeholders are beginning to question the necessity of this wholly disruptive measure – especially in the conspicuous absence of a larger strategy for turning around foundering schools.

In response to growing questions by The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the district’s Executive Director of K-12 Curriculum Rachel Hazel said, “Change is inevitable, but pain is optional.”

There is another old axiom I’m quite fond of that says, “Change for change sake does not equal progress.” 

It means that making nonsensical, but highly visible, modifications – like lengthening the school day by a few minutes – as a cheap smokescreen to convince constituents, “Hey, look, we’re doing something!” – simply creates animosity and erodes confidence by adversely impacting family routines, working hours and transportation methods while driving up costs with no demonstrable benefit beyond bringing .5-hour parity to teachers in elementary, middle and high schools.

That’s asinine.

In my view, elementary teacher Amy Dorton said it best in a recent News-Journal treatment of the daily routine of Superintendent Russell,  “We’re putting out fires with water guns,” she said. “We have big problems.”

“Dorton cites the lack of textbooks available for elementary teachers and the district’s progress-monitoring tools as initiatives the district started “without having a plan to implement it properly.”

 I mean, this administration can’t even successfully work a “plan” to replace and consolidate office printers. . .

 How telling.  How terribly sad.

Now, I’m hearing some very disturbing, but unconfirmed, reports of serious problems in the District’s maintenance and operations department.  If that develops, you can rest assured I’ll have something to say about it. . .

In my view, it’s time Superintendent Russell admit that he doesn’t have a clue how to turn failing schools around – he’s clearly in over his head – and begin the process of receiving real-time advice and constructive criticism from active teachers and experienced staff on how best to fundamentally improve the core curriculum to better serve the educational needs of our children.

Asshole:          Volusia County Council

 I’ve said it before, but Volusia County needs a free-flow of our hard-earned cash like a parasitic insect needs the blood of its host – so, I’m not going to beat-around-the-bush:  The abject greed of County government has reached epic proportions. 

 It’s just one reason why I wasn’t surprised to see the glaring front page headline in The Daytona Beach News-Journal last week announcing, “Beach driving revenue soars.”

When the Volusia County Council voted to double beach access fees, the increase resulted in a nearly 50% decline in the number of daily passes sold this year – while allowing county bureaucrats to haul in some $1 million more than last year – when over 200,000 more passes were sold overall.

Now, the always arrogant Councilwoman Deb Denys wants to charge out-of-county beachgoers (you know, ‘tourists’) even more for enjoying our century old heritage of beach driving – the only amenity that makes Volusia County beaches unique from any other coastal destination in the state (other than the open blight, dilapidation and omnipresent feeling of hopelessness that recently saw the Halifax area listed #1 on the “Most Ghetto City in Florida” list. . .)

Our elected and appointed officials in DeLand never seem to understand that it is immoral and unethical for a government ostensibly of the people, by the people, and for the people, to place undue additional financial burdens on taxpayers (and the visitors we spend handsomely to attract) with little or no increase in amenities beyond a few extra trash barrels.

(Riddle me this:  Why is it whenever politicians are increasing revenue by raising access fees, visitors are derisively referred to as “non-residents” and “day trippers” – but when we are spending millions in public funds on the apparatus, personnel and goofy advertising campaigns to lure them here, they are affectionately called “tourists”?)

In my view, using financial leverage to price a day at a public beach out of the reach of many Central Florida families is simply wrong – and the adverse effect on our areas reputation will be long-term.

Especially when public funds seem to pass like shit through a dyspeptic goose directly into the hands of political insiders in the form of “economic development” incentives, tax breaks and other for-profit projects which use our hard-earned tax dollars to alleviate overhead.

Despite the fact that beachside businesses and neighborhoods are suffering the inevitable impacts of Volusia County’s failed beach policies – where ramps are arbitrarily closed, construction projects take precedence over public access, blighted areas are strategically ignored and there is seemingly no limit on stratospheric fee increases unless you are a member of a politically protected class – we continue to re-elect these same congenitally corrupt dullards with no strategic vision, no leadership and no qualms about raising taxes and fees on those who can least afford them.

Screw it.  I guess, at the end of the day, we truly do get the government we deserve.

Quote of the Week:

“It was as if commission incumbents were offended simply to have competition. Campaign advertising from the pro-growth side was mean-spirited to a fault. When the election was over and pro-growth commission candidates won, there seemed an unnecessary effort to rub it in.”

–Pat Rice, editor of The Daytona Beach News-Journal, highlighting the animus surrounding the recent Ormond Beach City Commission race in, “The steps toward a half-cent infrastructure tax,” Sunday, November 25, 2018

Let this cogent snippet of Pat Rice’s beautiful prose stand as the final epitaph on the death of political civility, unity and civic cohesiveness in Ormond Beach. . .  

And Another Thing!

Guilty as charged.  I’m an unabashed member of that weird tribe known as Cave People – Citizens Against Virtually Everything.

Admittedly, I routinely poo-poo government initiatives that seek to perpetuate the status quo in a region that seems intractably mired in an oscillating cycle of unbridled growth followed by paralytic stagnation.

The one step forward, two-steps back syndrome where we seem all too willing to give up our natural places and foul our own environmental nest simply for another horrific “theme” subdivision or ghastly strip center.

My reluctance to believe most anything a politician says comes from a Pavlovian conditioning resulting from repeated exposure to the machinations of government in Volusia County – a slow erosion of trust and the expectation that those who stand at the nexus of public funds and private interests will side with those who can pay-to-play every time.

Fortunately, there are bright spots.

It’s no secret that Holly Hill – “The City with a Heart” – holds a very special place in mine.

Last week, we learned of a plan to develop a state-of-the-art Pickleball center at beautiful Hollyland Park in Holly Hill.  Given the fact that the sport of pickleball – a sort of hybrid between tennis and paddle ball – is the fastest growing sport in the United States, this facility has the potential to become a huge draw for the Halifax area.

This unique project also represents one of the first new public recreation and sports facilities in recent memory.

According to the plan, Rainer and Julie Martens of Ormond Beach have donated some $3 million for construction of what’s being hailed the “Wimbledon of Pickleball,” with the city of Holly Hill providing $1 million to see the vision become reality.

In exchange, the citizens of Holly Hill will receive a return on their investment in the form of a new Senior Activity Center offering health, fitness and social activities, a player’s café serving refreshments, along with a clubhouse and retail center.

I’ve often said that no municipality routinely does more with less than Holly Hill.

That sense of community pride is evident in the many historic city facilities which have been thoughtfully cared for and curated – not knocked down so massively expensive Taj Mahal government buildings can be erected in their place.  This common sense practice has allowed the community to retain such beautiful architecture and maintain a true connection with our past.

Now, I’m proud to see community leaders doing something innovative for the future of this very special place.

Kudos to the officials and citizens of Holly Hill for bringing this exciting new amenity to the Halifax area!

I hope you’ll join me tonight beginning at 6:00pm on the front steps of Holly Hill City Hall, 1065 Ridgewood Avenue, for the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony!

It’s a true slice of Americana and a great way to kick off this most joyous season, and I have it on good authority that Santa Claus will make his grand appearance!

Then, on Saturday morning, the 59^th Annual Holly Hill Christmas Parade will roll along the traditional Ridgewood Avenue route beginning at 10:00am!

More information on both of these great events is available at www.hollyhillfl.org

That’s all for me!  Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

For some strange reason, in Volusia County, elections change the face of the Council, county managers come, and they go – but the fundamental symptoms of a much more virulent and deeply rooted disease remain.

My suspicion is that the political kabuki that passes for our manner and means of governance is deftly manipulated by shadowy outside forces – with the strings and cables only becoming visible during times when official leadership is required – or it becomes necessary to hold a political insider accountable.

Then, utter paralysis ensues.

Don’t believe me?

Then take a long look at how consecutive councils sidestepped the matter of raising impact fees on their political benefactors in the real estate development community – while attempting to place the financial burden for transportation infrastructure improvement on the backs of every man, woman and child in Volusia County in the form of a sales tax increase.

Earlier this year, those of us paying attention stood in shock as everyone who is anyone in the Volusia County Inner Circle joined for an invitation only cocktail party at then still very much under construction Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach.

It was quite the soiree – replete with a live band, goofy ‘rock star’ laminates, a VIP “guitar smash” and an on-the-beach professional pyrotechnic display – all on the first evening of sea turtle nesting season. . .

The problem was, in the view of many locals, the hotel clearly failed to meet the performance standards set by Volusia County by the contractually set deadline.

On February 23, 2018, then County Manger Jim Dinneen accepted the following missive from Hard Rock International, which he claimed met the exacting standards required by Volusia County before the hotel took ‘410 linear feet of our century old heritage of beach driving and access:

“Please accept this letter as notice that the property at 900 N. Atlantic Avenue, is a beach side resort and full-service hotel under franchise agreement with Hard Rock International.  Moreover, the luxury design of the hotel meets, and upon opening the operation of the hotel will meet, Hard Rock International’s aforementioned brand standards and franchise requirements, and comply with all operations and service requirements of Hard Rock. . .”

 As evidence that this was a complete fabrication – and in no way depicted actual physical conditions on the property – I took the liberty of taking documentary photographs on February 24, 2018.  You can view those here:  https://tinyurl.com/yakpzluv

Yet, the party went on without us – even as our elected and appointed officials shit on every performance benchmark, date certain, and amenity standard they promised us before collectively kowtowing to the arbitrary whims and notions of the developer.

In Volusia County, the one certainty is that history always repeats itself.

Now, Volusia County has rolled-over and completely abdicated its enforcement responsibility as Russian developer Alexey Lysich and Protogroup (or whatever it’s called this week) continue to violate the terms of a “Use, Easement and Access” agreement with Volusia County which ensured public beach access during construction of the monstrous Daytona Beach Convention Hotel & Condominiums project in exchange for closing the Oakridge Boulevard approach for construction purposes.

When the intrepid Paul Zimmerman, president of Son’s of the Beach, Florida’s premiere beach driving and access advocacy, brought the issue to the attention of Volusia County – his concerns were met with exactly what we have come to expect: Vociferous denials from the developer and complete paralytic inaction by our elected and appointed officials in DeLand – followed by a “Ah don’t know what yer talkin’ about” from our dimwitted County Council Chair, Ed Kelley.

Jesus.

Now, we’re seeing the classic Volusia County strategy of sidestepping responsibility by laying the blame on the municipalities.

Last week, the City of Daytona Beach wisely opposed a plan by Mr. Lysich to erect a weird pedestrian bridge over an active construction site, citing the very real public health and safety danger to the public that was apparently obvious to everyone but interim County Manager George Recktenwald.

After Councilwoman Billie Wheeler complained – for the third time in two months – to county staff about the clear breach of the access agreement, Recktenwald had the stones to tell her that it seems the city is “unwilling to work with the county” to resolve the issue.

Say what? 

According to Recktenwald, “The city, which we have partnered on for many projects, I don’t think has been much of a partner in this case here.  This is the first time in my 21 years (with the county) I’ve ever encountered that another government didn’t support us or work with us.”

I’m going to call this tactic taking elected officials for a ride on “The Georgie Go-Round.”

The fact is, Volusia County has been at war with the municipalities for over a decade – in fact, I cannot recall one “partnership” – from the issue of homelessness to the debacle in Daytona Beach Shores – that didn’t dissolve into a shit show of political bullying.

Can you? 

Now, County Attorney Dan “Cujo” Eckert – who works like a rabid dog when he’s suing the eyeballs out of Volusia County taxpayers with our own money – has turned into a toothless lapdog when it comes to holding Protogroup to account.

According to a recent article in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, when pressed by Councilwoman Wheeler, Dan cooed, “. . .he understands the source of the aggravation and that he “wishes” the developers would have resolved the beach approach problem sooner.”

My ass.

Further, Mr. Eckert has virtually thrown up his hands, claiming that absent terminating the agreement, “the county has done all it can do.”

(Except issuance of a stop work order to demand compliance with the agreement.)

So, like clockwork, County Chair Ed Kelley has stepped forward and demonstrated that whale-turd level of whatever the antithesis of leadership is when he described the easement contract with Protogroup as a “poorly-worded, hastily written agreement.”

(If so, then who wrote it?  And more important – who do we hold accountable?)

Now, according to Old Ed, “The only thing we can do is kill the project and tell them they have to stop the building.”

 Hey, Eddie – we’ve had enough of your hillbilly hysterics.

The purpose of a contractual agreement is to establish legally enforceable provisions before things get started – like construction of a massive 30-story condominium project in the middle of our main tourist district – that will protect the public’s interest.

And if it takes a stop work order to make that happen – then it’s time Volusia County live up to their responsibility to their constituents, show some resolve, and protect our civic right to unfettered access to our most precious natural amenity.

Dammit.

 

 

Photo Credit: The Daytona Beach News-Journal

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, kids!

It’s that time of the year when I am reminded of just how much I have to be thankful for.

Everyone who takes time from their busy lives to read these missives holds a very special place in my heart.  You returned a sense of purpose to my life when I really needed it, and you have shown me in the most remarkable way how the power of the written word can help motivate change and drive a larger discussion.

While we have many seemingly intractable problems here on Florida’s Fun Coast, we are also blessed with many grassroots advocates dedicated to protecting our environment, promoting responsible growth, maintaining beach driving and access, beautifying our community, preventing crime and victimization and ensuring a level playing field for everyone.

Unfortunately, all too often your activism and hard work is met with frustration – yet, you never quit standing tall for that which is right, and good and honorable.

I admire that.

Thank you for your service.

Thank you for helping.

Thank you for discussing the issues.

Thank you for standing for office.

Thank you for absorbing the slings and arrows of political criticism and pressing on.

Thank you for arguing with such passion and keeping me honest on the issues.

Thank you for your sense of humor.

Thank you for working hard to improve our quality of life.

Thank you for your kindness.

Thank you for your activism.

Thank you for never giving up on this beautiful place we call home.

Thank you for your friendship.

Thank you for reading Barker’s View.

I also want to thank all those who I’ve mentioned in these goofy essays over the past year – those, who in my warped view, tried to screw us and those who tried to save us this year.

While I realize it is a dubious distinction to appear in this space, please know that even if we disagree on the issues, in my view, you represent our “Movers & Shakers,” those who are actually in the arena striving hard to make a true difference in the life of our community – and I sincerely respect that.

If you didn’t make ‘the list’ this year – don’t worry, there’s always next year – and I’ve got an opinion on just about everything!

Just for today, you are all ‘angels’ in my book. . .

From Barker’s View HQ to all of you – here’s wishing all loyal readers and community leaders a very Happy Thanksgiving and a joyous Holiday Season!

2018 Barker’s View Honor Roll

Chairman Ed Kelley

Jim Chisholm

Patti Barker

Volusia United Educators

Dave Arcieri

Chief Craig Capri

Dan Eckert

Jeff Feasel

Paul Zimmerman

Larry Bartlett

Tom Leek

Tim Curtis

Gale Lemerand

Sheriff Michael Chitwood

Dr. Marie Herrmann

Jeff Boerger

Anne Ruby

International Speedway Corporation

Jim Dinneen

Pam Brangaccio

Fran Gordon

Claire Metz

Deb Denys

Pat Patterson

Chief Stephan Dembinsky

Rev. Fred Lowry

Billie Wheeler

Michael Arminio

Mike Scudiero

Amy Pyle

Brendan Hurley

Jane Shang

NASCAR

John Danio

The Root Family

Joe Petrock

Dr. Kent Sharples

Edison O. Jackson

Big John

Sheriff Rick Staley

Heather Post

Volusia CEO Business Alliance

Paul Holub, Jr.

Troy Kent

Charles Lichtigman

J. Hyatt & CiCi Brown

Mori & Forough Hossieni

Jim Purdy

Kevin Lowe

Marc Bernier

CANDO II

Susan Cerbone

Brian Pohl

Dustin Wyatt

Joanne Magley

Clay Ervin

Jim Morris

Rob Walsh

The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Abbas Abdulhussein

Brandy White

Penny Currie

Chris Nabicht

Ormond Proud

Ray Manchester

Summit Hospitality Group

Ric Goss

J. Powell Brown

Judge Angela Dempsey

Brown & Brown

Ofc. Kera Cantrell & River

First Step Shelter Board

Derrick Henry

Joe Forte

Sons of the Beach

Joyce Cusack

Joyce Shanahan

Pat Rice

Lewis Heaster

Dan Gaetz

Mike Dew

GeoSam Capital

Bob Dallari

Lesa France Kennedy

Tony Grippa

John Albright

Ormond Beach Observer

Maryam Ghyabi

Pat Northey

Ruth Trager

Joe Yarborough

Heidi Shipley

Roy Johnson

Don Miller

Jamie Seaman

Jim Landon

Bob Apgar

Thomas Kehoe

Mark Watts

Governor Rick Scott

Nick Conte

Judge Leah Case

Mary Synk

Sandy Kaufman

Bellaire Community Group

Steve Koenig

Weegie Kuendig

Clayton Park

Volusia County Professional Firefighters Association

Mike Springer

Chris Noe

Ray Shaffer, Jr.

Gus Massfeller

Gerald Monahan, Jr.

Ron Wright

Dr. Sara Zydowicz

Scott Kent

Mark Lane

Dan Parrott

Kurt Ardaman

John Miklos

Kassandra Blissett

Stacy Tebo

Greg Aiken

Dr. Jon Thogmartin

Richard Kelton

Bill Inklesbarger

Dennis Bayer

David A. Vukelja

George Recktenwald

Evelyn Fine

Lori Campbell Baker

Brownie the Town Dog

Peggy Belflower

Michael Booker

Lonnie Groot

Glen Storch

Glenn Ritchey

Henry Wolfond

Ted Doran

Carl Persis

Ida Wright

Pat & Chuck Gleichmann

Vanessa Blair-Lewis

Lyndsey Edwards

Christopher Durgin

Dr. Stephen Nelson

Patricia Nelson

Graig Pender

John Masiarczyk

Chris Via

Judge Dawn Fields

Paul Okumu

Jake Mays

Rosalyn Velasquez-Morales

Tom Russell

Judge Belle Schumann

Jennifer Chasteen

Clint Johnson

Richard Bryan

Anita Bradford

Mary McNally

Gwen Azama-Edwards

Mary G. Bennett

Chief Tomokie

Dr. Bud Fleuchaus

Art Giles

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Josh Wagner

Frank Bruno

Joie Alexander

Sandra Edmunds

Travis Hutson

Chief Frank Fabrizio

Dinah Voyles-Pulver

Linda Cuthbert

Rev. L. Ron Durham

Ben Johnson

John Penney

George Anderson

Ken Willis

Barbara Girtman

Jamie Pericola

Roger Edgcomb

Kimberly Aiken

The Taxpayers of Volusia County

Dan Hunt

Fred Costello

Lowell & Nancy Lohman

Anne Evans

Mark Geallis

Rob Merrell

Reed Berger

Jacob F. Bryan

Michelle Carter-Scott

Hubert Grimes

Mary Ann Trussell

Melody Johnson

Harry Jennings

Lisa Lewis

Troy Kent

Jim Tiller

Seth Robbins

Brian France

Elizabeth Albert

Tom Laputka

R. J. Larizza

Erika Benfield

Suzanne Hirt

Jon Cheney

Heidi Herzberg

Lola Gomez

Jim France

Theresa Doan

John Saunders

Chase Tramont

Tucker Harris

Dave Byron

Donald O. Burnette

Bob Ford

John Booker

Terry Sanders

Bill Hall

Dr. Kelly Long

Jason Yarborough

Mary Anne Connors

Ken Strickland

Jeff Brower

Luke Zona

Lee Rhyant

Allen Green

Gloria Max

Lynn Thompson

Sonja Wiles

Rob Gilliland

Aaron Delgado

Ron DeSantis

Tony Ledbetter

Ron McLemore

Lamar Burch

Ruben Colon

Mike Ignasiak

Thomas Tinsley

Krys Fluker

Charlie Lydecker

Alexey Lysich

Eddie Hennessey

Linda Smiley

Jay Cassens

Nancy Keefer

Jimmy Buffett

Jim Henderson

Teresa Rand

Gary Conroy

Katie Kustura

Mike Mullis

Bill Partington

Scott Edwards

Ken & Julie Sipes

Sheriff Guindi

Judy Grim

Sandy Kaufman

Kathy Maloney Johnson

Tracey Barlow

Amy Vogt

Megan O’Keefe

Joe Dugan

Dan Ryan

Chris Bridges

David Tucker

Tony Holt

Mark Lane

Jim Abbott

Tony Jarmusz

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean

Patricio Balona

Casmira Harrison

Denise Mott

Dwight Selby

Susan Persis

John Hill

Robert Baumer

John Walsh

Rob Littleton

David Glasser

Barry du Moulin

Those who cannot be named – you know who you are. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

A version of this entitled “Qui Bono?” first appeared in Barker’s View in January 2016 when the effort to lash a half-cent sales tax to every man, woman and child in Volusia County was gaining traction.  

It was equally prescient in April 2017, when something called the Roundtable of Volusia County Elected Officials joined forces with the Star Chamber at the CEO Business Alliance to frighten us into passing the tax initiative – even as those compromised screw-job’s on the Volusia County Council repeatedly refused to increase impact fees on their sugar daddies in the real estate development community – – since 2003. . . 

Today, The Daytona Beach News-Journal ran a piece entitled “Volusia County sales tax talk returns.” 

This go-around features the same names – with South Daytona City Manager Joe Yarbrough serving as the chief mouthpiece and Dr. Kent Sharples, president of the Volusia CEO Business Alliance, as his slack-jawed, yammering sidekick.  

In an ever-changing world, the gross money-grubbing of Volusia County government is the one constant.  So, I ask you again, “Qui Bono?”

Here’s my take on it: 

Way back in January 2016, when Barker’s View was still struggling to find its voice – and a regular audience – I penned the following screed on Volusia County’s efforts to move the proposed “half-cent” sales tax for transportation infrastructure:

“The Volusia County Council’s inability to sell the half-cent sales tax initiative this summer is indicative of a larger problem. 

 In my view, our elected officials are missing the key element of any successful marketing strategy – or tax proposal:  Trust.

 Oblivious to the fact that they have lost basic credibility, County officials are once again staging their tired Kabuki – dramatically performed with equal parts apocalyptic prophecy, name calling, and threats against municipalities – all designed to wring additional dollars from a tax-weary constituency.

(Former) Councilman Doug Daniels surmises that the cities hesitation (to fund a citizen survey) was the result of a “failure to communicate.”  Mr. Daniels and his fellow council members should understand – we read you loud and clear – we simply don’t trust you anymore. 

Given the number of grassroots efforts seeking accountability, it is increasingly clear to everyone but County officials that they no longer have the consent of the governed.

I believe the seeds of this institutional distrust germinate in the County Manager’s office. 

In my view, Jim Dinneen’s mismanagement of this and other important public policy issues best exemplify all that’s wrong with county government.  Team Dinneen wants higher taxes because they need higher taxes – and spending cuts, the reduction of exorbitant executive salaries or curbing insider handouts are inconceivable.

A bureaucracy – especially one as bloated as this – requires tax dollars like a parasitic insect needs the blood of its host. 

Its very life depends upon it.

Public confidence in County government has been slowly eroded by the steady flow of missteps, bullying and legislative slight-of-hand that invariably benefits a privileged few while laying the financial burden squarely on the back of Volusia County residents.

As a result, we no longer assume the county council’s decisions serve the common good.  Now, we instinctively ask ourselves the darker question, “Who benefits?”

Interesting how nothing really changes.

You may remember those heady days when the sales tax increase was all but put out of its misery – and everyone agreed that, given the state of the county’s relationship with the cities, and the increasing lack of public trust in the system – that selling this pig would be difficult, if not impossible.

You may also remember when the always diplomatic Councilwoman Deb Deny’s took a rolled-up newspaper and whacked municipal residents and elected officials across the nose while lecturing in her most condescending way, “I think the public will buy in once their elected leaders have a clear vision,” Denys said, something that’s been lacking in the past.

“There has been no clear vision.”

Deb Denys moralizing about vision?

That’s rich.

Regardless, in Volusia County, no tax increase is ever really dead – and now that the election cycle is over – it’s festering cadaver is crawling out of its sandy grave like Frankenstein’s monster on a stormy night.

In today’s Daytona Beach News-Journal, we learned that county and municipal officials sat down and cobbled together a $1.5 billion (with a “B”) wish list of bridges, roads, sidewalks, trails, intersections, traffic lights, spans, etc., etc. that could benefit from our collective acquiescence to their demand that we give government seven cents of every dollar we spend.

Clearly, our municipal and county officials have come to the stark realization that – as citizens of the third highest taxed county in the State of Florida – there is no way in hell we will buy their scary stories and Armageddon scenarios.

We don’t have to – we’re living it.

With planned residential developments stretching from Brevard to Flagler – we understand that developers are intent on putting the cart before the infrastructure horse – and those who know better are letting them do it.

Hell, Jimmy Buffett’s “Shangri-La in the Swamp” west of I-95 could bring as many as 15,000+ new Walmart shoppers to our area alone.

That’s a lot of traffic, kids.

But we need assurances that the increase in tax revenues will be used in the public interest – and therein lies the rub.

Our elected officials will now use the same marketing strategy that won the School Board approval of its “half-cent” – an itemized list of specific projects – a public indoctrination program – and a citizen committee to ensure oversight and coordination.

Will it succeed?  Who knows.

The good citizens of Volusia County have seen first-hand the inability of our elected and appointed officials to live within their means.

They have witnessed the mismanagement, exorbitant executive salaries, raises and benefit packages, the “Taj Mahal” construction projects, the half-price sale of public lands to private interests, the dubious “economic incentives” and cash giveaways, and the council’s almost supernatural ability to fund every pet project, infrastructure improvement and private venture of the uber-wealthy political insiders.

For instance, we watched intently as the $15.8 million-dollar extension of South Williamson Boulevard was completed, specifically to accommodate the High Panjandrum of Political Power, Mori Hosseini’s, swansong – the Woodhaven development.

Weird how there is always money available to ensure the needs and wants of the “rich and powerful” (to use the News-Journal’s descriptor) are met, but that pothole on your street just gets bigger, eh?

In my view, that’s the problem.

When we reach the point where we demand ‘citizen oversight committees,’ and require that our elected officials demonstrate clearly defined ‘need vs. want’ lists of projects to keep them honest – can we truly say that we are better governed that the residents of Port-au-Prince?

Or any other Third World shithole?

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

At the end of the day, I suspect that what passes for “local leadership” will get the tax increase they are so desperately begging for.

Anyone who drives in Volusia County understands the current and future needs we face, and we damn sure don’t need a $150,000 study to point it out (and I, for one, damn sure don’t need to hear that doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley, crowing, ad nauseum, that “impact fees won’t cover our transportation infrastructure needs.”  Jesus.  We get it, Ed.)

In my view, the tragedy is that in 2017, we are still required to ask ourselves the dark question:  Qui bono?

Who stands to gain?

Who ultimately benefits from the estimated $42-million in annual revenue the sales tax is estimated to bring?

You?  Me?  P$S Paving?  ICI Homes?  ISC?

Who?  I’m asking.

Because we are forced to demand transparency – and clear accountability – from this pompous cabal of elected and appointed county officials before we throw good money after bad, knowing full well that in a few short years they will be crawling back with another dubious money grab.

Always demanding more, more, more.

Tragic indeed.

 

 

 

 

By any metric, J. Hyatt Brown, the long-time Chairman of the billion-dollar insurance intermediary Brown & Brown, is a master of manipulating our system of governance to his personal advantage.

While I don’t know Mr. Brown personally, I know many people who do, and he is clearly a brilliant man, an expert tactician, with an aggressive business sense and no qualms about using his massive personal and professional assets to position his interests.

For instance, when J. Hyatt decided he wanted to build his corporate headquarters in Downtrodden Downtown Daytona, he carefully orchestrated an invitation only roll-out that had our “movers & shakers” eating out of his hand with tall tales of all the new Brown & Brown campus will do for us long-suffering denizens of the Halifax area.

In fact, at the time, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported, “The new Brown & Brown building, coupled with other new development being pursued for the riverfront, could catapult the heart of downtown into a new stratosphere.”

Wow.

Once he set the hook – Mr. Brown began reeling-in massive governmental incentives from his hired chattel on the Dais of Power – taking millions in infrastructure improvements and tax credits from both the City of Daytona Beach and the County of Volusia.

In my view, it was the perfect example of our legally approved quid pro quo campaign finance system in action – where those with the financial wherewithal to influence elections later reap the benefits of “corporate welfare” and skewed public policies which place the whims of the few over the needs of the many.

Recently, we learned that all is not as it seems in J. Hyatt’s kingdom – with allegations of corporate intrigue and betrayal – resulting in massive lawsuits and other punitive measures designed to bring former-executives-turned-competitors to heel.

According to reports, in October, Brown & Brown filed suit against several former executives – including Charlie Lydecker, a former regional president who left the company in 2016, before forming Foundation Risk Partners – alleging a “betrayal of executive loyalty” and conspiracy to create a competing insurance company.

(You can read my goofy take on it here: https://tinyurl.com/ycn7k53l )

I recently introduced myself to Mr. Lydecker when I ran into him at a local craft brewery.  While we didn’t discuss the Brown & Brown case directly – I found him to be a true gentleman – incredibly bright, personally engaging and, as one would expect, very well-versed in local civic issues.

In the few minutes we spent together, I came away with the impression that Mr. Lydecker is committed to building a better community – as evidenced by his service on the ill-fated Beachside Redevelopment Committee – and participation in other civic improvement efforts.

Although I doubt we agree on the mechanics of how best to alter the ugly trajectory of the Halifax area – I find it refreshing that an established business leader like Charlie Lydecker is focused on improving our collective future – not just his company’s bottom line.

At the end of our conversation, I came away with a completely different impression of Mr. Lydecker than the Machiavellian image of him crafted in the Brown & Brown lawsuit.

Now, thanks to the excellent reporting of the News-Journal’s Clayton Park, we’re getting the other side of the story as Mr. Lydecker and others defend their honor and good name with counter-accusations against the industry behemoth.

According to the legal response to Mr. Brown’s allegations, this may well be a case of corporate nepotism – where blood ultimately proves thicker than talent, effort or loyalty.

Apparently, in 2009, J. Hyatt promoted his son, J. Powell, to succeed him as CEO, over “longtime Hyatt loyalist Jim Henderson (Brown & Brown’s then vice chairman) to whom Hyatt had promised the promotion,” according to the legal response.

This flew in the face of J. Hyatt’s long-time leadership strategy which structured the company as a “meritocracy” – where the cream rose to the top based upon hard-work, talent and ability – rather than an employee’s surname.

According to the News-Journal’s report:

“The sudden elevation of the younger Brown to chief executive “created a crisis of confidence in the current and future leadership of (Brown & Brown) that, in one fell swoop, shattered the trust of a workforce who was led to believe in the meritocracy Hyatt had preached,” according to the legal response.”

“Right there, for the (Brown & Brown) world to see, merit and loyalty were discarded for nepotism,” the legal response states.”

“The executive ranks of the company soon became the Brown family employment center, with Brown family children and relations being elevated to the highest positions in the company regardless of the merit,” the legal response adds.”

According to Foundation Risk Partner’s rebuttal, J. Powell Brown brought a “new indecisive and odd leadership style” resulting in “internal strife and doubt” in the company’s sizable workforce.  In addition, there are allegations of “awkward and disconcerting behavior” by J. Powell as the President and CEO, along with a “disingenuous explanation of his sudden and extended leave of absence in 2012” that ultimately resulted in some 52 senior leaders jumping ship.

Damn.

In addition, the court filing alleges that Brown & Brown manipulated commission revenue “to show that the retail division was more profitable than it actually was, to meet the expectation of (stock) analysts” – and when Mr. Lydecker objected to the practice – he was “asked to leave because of his questioning the ethics of Powell’s management.” 

Wow.

I don’t know who is right and who is wrong – that’s for a judge to ultimately decide – but what I do know is that this clash of the titans isn’t good for the Halifax area.

For good or for ill, companies like Brown & Brown – and the successful newcomer, Foundation Risk Partners – form a sizable portion of our economic bedrock here on Florida’s Fun Coast.

With hundreds of people currently employed by Brown & Brown – and the promises of more jobs to come – along with the anticipation of the new headquarters campus and a symbiotic riverside park complex – Brown & Brown’s local expansion in downtown is bringing hope to an area that deeply needs something to look forward to.

The health and vitality of the insurance industry needs new and innovative companies, like Foundation Risk Partners, with the ability to contend on a level playing field, free from threats and intimidation from its much larger competitor.

In my view, perhaps Brown & Brown should stop bludgeoning former executives who have the courage to go forth and create a better product, provide a higher quality of service and bring spirited competition to the ultimate “meritocracy” – the free and open marketplace.

That’s good for everyone – and for the Halifax area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Terman’s original Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, my “IQ” and cognitive function would be classified as “Dull Normal – Bordering on Feeble-Minded” – in other words, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

But what I lack in smarts is compensated for with a highly-developed sense of right-and-wrong – an almost instinctual ability to discern those with a highly evolved sense of moral and ethical behaviors – such as honesty, fairness, respect, dignity and kindness – from those who compromise their personal and professional values for an unquenchable thirst for money and power.

I suspect you can too.

It’s part of why I find it so interesting to watch the machinations of government – where by popular vote we elect others to represent our collective interests, provide essential services and utilities, enact laws and ordinances, steward our hard-earned tax dollars and set a strategic vision for our future.

Invariably, with time, we see some weak-minded politicians become everything they hated when they stood for election – compromised by the trappings of high office or beholden to those who use massive campaign contributions to gain influence and control their personal and professional environment.

Once assuming power, these horribly broken politicians say one thing – then do something completely different – serving their new masters like lapdogs – acting contrary to our collective best interests and counter to what we thought were their core values and vision when we voted for them.

But in the council/manager form of governance – it is the city or county manager that sets the agenda and serves as the sole source of information on the important issues of the day – and that places him or her in the catbird seat.

I’ve previously described it like this:

In a Council/Manager form of government, the manager is given extraordinary powers over every aspect of government services.  For instance, the executive has complete autonomy to hire and fire employees, set internal policies, personally direct the operations of all departments, agencies and services of the government and administrate all financial processes and budget recommendations.

We, The People, elect the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker to serve on a council or commission – similar to a corporate board of directors – who appoint a manager who they hope has the strong managerial and organizational skills to run the day-to-day operations of the government, make internal policy determinations, suggest budget allocations and provide information to serve the legislative function.

Most do a fine job – and some do an exceptional job – serving multiple masters while bringing economic and civic progress to their communities.

The system also insulates career civil servants – the professionals who provide government services to the community – from the often politically motivated nature of elected officials who are normally prohibited by charter from directing or interfering with operations.

That’s important.

Why?  Just take a look at what’s happening in the City of Edgewater.  That’s why. . .

Perhaps the one aspect of the system that gives the manager ultimate power is the fact that he or she personally controls the flow of information to the members of the elected body.

That can be dangerous.

Florida’s open government laws specifically prohibit two or more elected officials from discussing matters coming before the collective body in private.  As a result, the only conduit they have to the “real story” – the nuts and bolts of the issues – is through individual meetings with the manager.

While elected officials do have some leeway to conduct independent fact-finding – some charters, and transparent managers, allow commissioners to speak with department heads – but most rely solely on what they are told by the manager.

As a result, many times the legislative process dissolves into little more than a rubber-stamp of the manager’s prerogative.

In our representative democracy, the only thing standing in the way of a government executive transmogrifying into a tyrannical despot is the elected body – politically accountable policymakers charged with the direct oversight of an extremely powerful individual.

It’s a tough gig – on both sides – and requires a balance of power that is influenced by many factors.

In Volusia County, perhaps the biggest factor is the enormous sums of cash which are infused into local political campaigns by those special interests seeking continued access to the public trough.

This morning, I read an interesting editorial in The Daytona Beach News-Journal entitled, “Openness key to manager search.”

Following the departure of former County Manager Jim Dinneen in June – and now that our “new” County Council has finally been seated – the time has come to select our next chief executive.

I happen to agree with the News-Journal’s opinion that the process should be open, transparent and include the suggestions of constituents – you and I – whose lives and livelihoods will be directly impacted by this person’s decisions.

Don’t hold your breath.

In keeping with government’s need for political insulation, Volusia County has employed the services of a headhunting firm, Georgia-based Slavin Management Consultants (the same group that brought us Little Jimmy in the first place. . .), to handle the logistics of selecting qualified available candidates based upon the leadership and administrative strengths (and salary and benefit package) established by our elected officials.

On the surface, it will appear to be a canned process that will bring in a few “managers in transition” (read: those that have been thrown out on their ass elsewhere) and others who are looking to move to a warmer climate.

There will be the obligatory public interviews, goofy “meet-n-greets,” and, ultimately, those dullards we have elected to represent our interests on the dais of power will select the final contenders and roll the dice.

At least that’s how it will appear to uninitiated.

But this is Volusia County – we pride ourselves on being the most dysfunctional political shit-show since those heady days of the Duvalier regime – so rest assured our “Rich & Powerful” overseers who manipulate the strings and wires of the political marionettes they have bought and paid for in this bastardized oligarchy will have something to say about who ultimately serves as our next county manager.

Trust me.  We can “hope” for public input in this important process all we want – but at the end of the day – the successful candidate will be the one who gets the nod of the Camera Stallata over at the Volusia CEO Business Alliance and the anointment of our High Panjandrums of Political Power in the real estate development, insurance and motorsports industries – not that absurd clown troupe on the dais of power in DeLand.

Period.

The good suggestions of the News-Journal – and us peons who are expected to pay the bills and keep our collective piehole shut, have already fallen on deaf ears – because We, The People, have become totally irrelevant in an environment where special interests influence our elections with unlimited campaign contributions to hand-select candidates.

After all, the chief executive stands at the nexus of public funds and private interests – and if the reign of Jim Dinneen proved anything – its that when influential insiders provide the manager with protection from any reasonable political accountability – their access to the public trough is assured.

Please don’t expect that to change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, kids!

Welcome to the weekend!

I’m Barker – your hyper-opinionated scribe – bringing you my inane thoughts on the important issues that affect our lives and livelihoods here on Florida’s Fun Coast!

Regular readers of this weekly grab-bag of political bloviations know that what you see, is what you get.

I don’t sugarcoat it, folks.

There’s no hard-candy shell on my viewpoints – and they are best taken with a stiff cocktail – an open mind – and an evolved sense of humor.

In addition to this blog site – on the second Monday of each month, Barker’s View is proud to co-host GovStuff Live! with Big John – Central Florida’s premiere educational, informational and inspirational local forum broadcast daily from 4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. on 1380 AM “The Cat.”

Those of you familiar with the program know that Big John provides a wealth of information – “Snippets” of news and information important to residents of the Halifax area – and his in-depth knowledge of the players – and behind-the-scenes machinations of government – provides his listeners with a great overview of the issues during the “fastest two-hours in radio.”

For as long as I can remember, every Friday afternoon, a smart friend and I gather for what we call “Beer and Big” – a listening party of sorts – where we take in GovStuff Live! over a few cold brews, contemplate the week that was and solve the problems of the world.

My role as Big’s once-a-month slack-jawed sidekick is to add an alternative opinion – and while we don’t always see eye-to-eye – those who listen tell me they enjoy hearing our distinctly different points of view and often irreverent take on current events that drives a larger discussion in the community.

But, not everyone agrees. . .

Earlier this week, the radio station received a terse note from a dissatisfied listener who commented, “Barker is a person who is totally opinionated. Too much for me. Please do not allow him to be on your show anymore.”

 Well, he’s nothing if not observant. . .

 Look, I get it.  But that’s kind of my schtick.   

These screeds aren’t for everyone – and sometimes they rub the right people the wrong way.

In today’s hyper-partisan, incredibly divisive environment, we are increasingly limited where and when we can voice differing opinions in a setting that values diversity of thought, considers innovative ideas and encourages the old-fashioned notion that we can still “agree to disagree.”

In my view, the thought of disallowing (or “dis-inviting” in the parlance of our times) those who have strong opinions that differ from ours is ignorance personified.

Why?

Because it stifles the free exchange of information and opinions – and perpetuates the “I’m always right, thus, you’re always wrong” mentality that has crushed the competition of ideas in this country.

Frankly, I wear these barbs from close-minded churls who seek to “ban” those whose views they disagree with from the public discourse (because it’s easier than actually forming and debating an original thought) like a badge of honor.

The feedback I receive from readers and listeners – even those who vehemently disagree with my positions – adds to my knowledge base and helps me learn more about what my friends and neighbors think is important to our future.

In fact, those who disagree with me and point out the folly of my thoughts on a given issue  through rational dialog, or even heated debate, are helping build a sense of community – whether they realize it or not.

When people who make their lives together in neighborhoods and communities – especially in the mosaic of unique cities in Volusia County – come together to engage in meaningful discussions and seek alternative solutions – we begin to build a shared vision for our future.

The beauty of talk radio – or political blog spots – is that when we disagree, or find something personally offensive in the content, we can simply turn them off with the click of a button.

Unfortunately, it’s not so easy to flip the switch on the myriad problems we face on this salty piece of land we call home – but that shouldn’t keep us from reaching for the stars.

I recently read an interesting piece by Tallahassee-based writer Rob Rushin discussing the concept of “tactical urbanism” – a concept that stresses low cost, temporary changes in the built environment to improve local neighborhoods and community gathering places.

Mr. Rushin cited the work of innovative town planners, like Dover, Khol & Partners, whose clients include some of my favorite places – like Charleston, Arlington, Virginia, Thomasville, Georgia, Winter Park and Port Royal, South Carolina.

In sum, my takeaway from this important study of grassroots efforts and neighborhood-based ideas for community improvement was summed up in the quote, “Get people talking to each other and things start to happen.”    

I encourage everyone to keep talking.  Keep arguing.  Keep lending your voice to help people understand and discover that there truly is a better way – we don’t have to settle for this strategic stagnation that benefits all the right last names while tens-of-thousands of Volusia County residents continue to live beneath the poverty line.

Accept the challenge and frustrations that come from being active and engaged citizens who are seeking permanent solutions in an inclusive environment that values everyone’s thoughts.

Remember that nothing in life worth having comes easy.

If you aren’t already involved, I encourage you to join a grassroots advocacy or community service organization in the coming new year.  It’s a great way to meet other civic-minded people – and there is a special satisfaction that comes from spending yourself in a cause greater than your own self-interests.

Work toward the lofty goal of “whole community” local decision-making and demand that your elected and appointed officials on the dais of power actually listen to your concerns – then hold them politically accountable for considering the needs, wants and dreams of all residents – not just those of the special interests who can afford to pay-to-play.

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

I haven’t always agreed with former Volusia County administrator Mary Anne Connors, but when she’s right, she’s right.

In my view, when it came down to it – after more than a decade of kicking the can down the road on impact fees – those cowardly shitheels on the Volusia County Council couldn’t muster the personal or political courage to stand with their long-suffering constituents when they voted to “phase in” an increase – the first since 2003 (?) – once again kowtowing to the greed of their uber-wealthy handlers in the real estate development industry.

In Volusia County, an elected official simply does not bite the hand that feeds him or her.

It’s a well-accepted fact that a key prerequisite to elective office here on the Fun Coast involves the time-honored ritual of kissing the sizeable backside of the High Panjandrum of Political Power, Mortenza “Mori” Hosseini, president of ICI Homes – a prolific and highly-successful developer of massive “lifestyle” communities and incestuous commercial projects.

Look, most of these compromised rubes on the dais of power in DeLand don’t have much in the way of personal pride (or self-respect) to start with – so brown nosing our “Rich & Powerful” is simply the cost of cloaking themselves with the coveted public perception of power in this bastardized oligarchy.

This week, the Volusia County Council voted to increase impact fees on new development over a protracted two-year period – 75% of the consultant’s recommendations next year – with an additional 25% added in 2020.

When you add the requisite 90-days before implementation, you see that developers have more than enough time to ram, oh, thousands of new building permits through the system. . .

Interestingly, this extended arrangement wasn’t the recommendation of our highly paid consultant, or that of concerned residents who spoke out at time-buying “town hall” meetings and again during Tuesday’s Council meeting – and it wasn’t the recommendation of former Volusia County Deputy County Manager Mary Anne Conners – who said, “Anything less than full implementation of this study moves the (cost) burden (for road fixes) to someone else.”

 “It’s been 15 years, this is the time when government is supposed to do government business and catch up and fund the infrastructure needs of the community. This is time to catch up and correct where we need to be for the future.”

Damn straight.

At the end of the day, the prolonged plan adopted by our elected officials mirrored that of their political benefactors in the Volusia Building Association and those developer’s shills over at the Volusia County Association for Responsible Development (really, that’s what they call it. . .).

In addition to her very cogent remarks on the urgency of increasing impact fees ahead of crippling traffic gridlock, increased service demands and the very real possibility we’ll all be drinking our own effluent in a few short years – Ms. Connors poked holes in our doddering fool of a County Chair, Ed Kelley’s, scary stories about pricing new homes out of the range of some buyers when she explained that if affordable housing is truly a Council concern – then real estate developers should pay the impact fees instead of lashing them to the backs of home buyers.

Don’t hold your breath. . .

Angel:             Teresa Rand, CEO Volusia-Flagler YMCA

I had the pleasure of working with Teresa Rand, the long-serving doyenne of the Volusia-Flagler YMCA, when she expertly assumed command of recreational programs for the City of Holly Hill.

Regardless of the challenge, I was always impressed by Ms. Rand’s infectious enthusiasm and ‘can-do’ spirit that permeates everything she does.

In addition to the beautiful Holly Hill gymnasium, the Volusia-Flagler YMCA has locations in DeLand, Deltona, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, Edgewater and Camp Winona in DeLeon Springs.

During her highly successful 28-year tenure, Ms. Rand served the needs of a diverse constituency – providing innovative fitness and recreation programs for all ages – often in the face of diminishing funding from United Way and other sources.

Regardless of the challenge, Teresa Rand never shied from a difficult task, and always found collaborative partnerships to continue much-needed services to challenged communities.

In addition to her service with the Volusia-Flagler YMCA, Ms. Rand is past president of the Daytona Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce, and was the 2016 recipient of the Marvin Samuel Memorial Leadership Award for exceptional community service.

In addition, in 2015, Teresa was named Most Influential Business Women in Volusia and Flagler by The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

I understand that Ms. Rand is entering a new phase of her career as she launches Rand Consulting – bringing her three-decades of management and leadership experience to “helping anyone wanting to excel in their career or begin their own entrepreneurial journey.”

Here’s a hearty congratulations and a tip o’ the Barker’s View scally cap to Teresa Rand on her well-deserved retirement – and all best wishes for great success in future endeavors.

We’re glad you passed our way!

Asshole:          City of Edgewater

They say a little civic revolution from time-to-time is a good thing – it aerates the stuffy bureaucratic confines of City Hall, settles political grudges, deflates hubristic egos and helps level the playing field – but I doubt the good citizens of Edgewater consider this the best of times.

Like chain nuclear fission, when small-minded politicians let things get away from them in a pique of anger and arrogance – it’s difficult to stop the process before real damage is done – and it appears Edgewater is experiencing the full China Syndrome.

Trust me – I’m a veteran of small-town political wars – and as a career civil servant, it’s never fun.

Sometimes all you can do when the shit flies from on high is hunker down, do your job to the best of your ability and hope for better days.  But if you are a career public servant who has been playing politics and stirring the shit – shame on you – that’s not how the system works.

There will be better days, but it’s going to be ugly in the short-term – and when the cutting is done, alliances will be broken – and  not everyone who holds official and unofficial influence in the halls of power will still be standing.

One thing I know with the assurance of hard-earned experience is that – unless someone with the leadership skills to stop the madness steps in (and I mean fast) – this municipal meltdown has the potential to result in a civic catastrophe that will take years to correct.

Three weeks ago, City Manager Tracey Barlow was taken out in a cheap coup d’etat, painfully orchestrated by Commissioners Gary Conroy, Amy Vogt and Megan O’Keefe.

Was it necessary?

Or was it petty politics?

I don’t know enough about the internal strife at the City of Edgewater to make that call – but to say it was a bloodbath is an understatement.

Apparently, everyone in town (except Barlow) knew in advance it was going to happen – and when it did – the troika’s wet work on the dais set in motion a rapid chain-of-events that has seen the community passed over for a $300 million/500 job distribution center (yeah, right), a torch-lit march on City Hall by pitchfork wielding villagers, and now, the professional destruction of Public Safety Director Dave Arcieri.

All on the heels of a mayoral change.

Whew.  That’s quite a week. . .

To his enduring credit, former City Manager Barlow was able to get down and wallow in the mud hole with his publicly elected antagonist during his backhanded curtain call when he said:

“Get involved. Make a difference in your community. Edgewater’s too good to fail. I pray, and I pray that after tonight we can continue to heal as a community where there’s a lot of opportunities. I continue to pray that Gary can balance his medication, so he can be productive up there.”

Now, that’s a farewell I can get behind. . .

The good citizens of Edgewater deserve better from their elected and appointed officials.

Quote of the Week:

“After seeing beach driving data for the past year, Councilwoman Deb Denys said she’d be interested in charging out-of-town beach-goers (out-of-county only, she stressed) even more next year for daily passes.”

–Reporter Dustin Wyatt of The Daytona Beach News-Journal tweeting from the Volusia County Council chambers, November 13, 2018

And Another Thing!

Back this summer, just as the U.S. Senate race was heating up, I wrote about Floriduh’s weird “fox in the hen house” phenomena when Governor Slick Rick Scott reappointed Long John Miklos to yet another four-year term on the powerful St. John’s River Water Management District’s governing board.

This week Chairman for Life Miklos was re-elected by his peers to an unprecedented sixth term as board chairman.

In my view, it was one of the Sunshine State’s typical “WTF?” moments.

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

For instance, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “In one recent example, a client of Bio-Tech, GeoSam Capital, illegally cleared wetlands at its Coastal Woods development in New Smyrna Beach. In September, the developer agreed to pay the district a $75,000 penalty and restore wetlands on eight acres at its sight off State Road 44.”

 (You can read my take on that environmental atrocity here: https://tinyurl.com/yb8n7ap7 )

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 reported in dozens of newspaper stories after being initially exposed by the incomparable Dinah Voyles-Pulver while reporting on the now infamous Debacle in DeBary in The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

In that case, Miklos was hired by a few greedheads 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 he violated state ethics laws; however, our neutered ethics apparatus – also appointees of Governor Scott and other state politicians – cleared Miklos of all charges by voting not to pursue the inquiry.

Thanks to Mr. Miklos’ incredibly influential appointment – coupled with his twisted situational ethics that apparently allow him to leverage his public position against his private profit motives – his business is booming.

And why wouldn’t it be?

There’s a Gold Rush in the pine scrub – and everyone in the real estate development industry is making hay while the sun shines.  After all, whitetail deer, gopher tortoises and black bears don’t buy houses – and they damn sure don’t make massive campaign contributions. . .

As that tormented pervert, the Marquis de Sade said, “In an age that is utterly corrupt, it is best to do as others do.”

According to the 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 shit up, folks.

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 public corruption and high crimes against the environment.

But this is Florida – the rules truly are different here. . .

That’s all for me.  Have a great weekend, kids!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We remain a nation divided.

Separated by ideology, race, sex, national origin, culture, socio-economic status, political party – you name it – even professional sports, once something we could all rally around with a sense of regional pride, has now dissolved into a place of bitter political divisiveness.

In Florida – which has always been considered the “drunk uncle” to the rest of the United States – we are still squabbling, filing law suits and recounting ballots more than a week after the general election.

We’re like some weird Banana Republic – an utter embarrassment to democracies everywhere – and we deserve the barbs and zingers thrown at us by political pundits and stand-up comedians.

The margins in key races – like who will serve as our next Governor or United States Senator, even Agriculture Secretary – are razor thin; now complicated by the typically Floridian response of multiple law suits and wild allegations of voter fraud. . .

Truly a house divided.

In Volusia County, things aren’t much better – in fact, we could be considered the poster children for political dysfunction – divided by a clear line demarcation between those who have, and those who don’t – victims of an artificial economy created by a select few political insiders who have stacked the deck and used massive campaign contributions to reduce regulatory and impact overhead – and ensure their permanent place at the public trough.

That’s why I laugh whenever I hear politicians – many of whom have done everything possible to alienate and marginalize large segments of their constituencies – now whining about “mending fences” and “stopping the negativity.”

Bullshit.

For instance, outgoing Volusia County School Board Member Melody Johnson used her final meeting to plead for civility and positivity.  “I asked (Superintendent Tom Russell) more than once how do you change perceptions?  Because perceptions are truth even if they’re not really true, we’ve got to stop fussing at every level.  Divisiveness will never bring VCS to greatness.”

Neither will the asinine policies and utter dysfunction that has plagued Superintendent Russell’s tenure – but that didn’t seem to bother Ms. Johnson in late October – when she joined the Troika of Ida Wright and Linda Cuthbert in a mean-spirited, cheap-jack move to defy the teacher’s union call for new leadership by extending Mr. Russell’s contract just ahead of the general election.

Fortunately, Volusia County voters sent Ms. Johnson to the ash heap of history where small-minded politicians who place their loyalty with an ingrained power structure – rather than working in the best interests of students, faculty, staff – and taxpayers – go following their bite at the apple.

Then, in Ormond Beach, where the sight of an environmental atrocity on Granada Boulevard galvanized a large segment of residents who were horrified as slash and burn land clearing operations turned a very visible segment of our community’s greenspace into ugly black muck.

In February, Developer Paul Holub, Jr. eradicated some 2,061 trees – many of them century old hardwoods – and churned approximately 20-acres of natural buffer and wildlife habitat into a muddy gash, while area residents looked on as displaced wildlife attempted to flee the carnage.

Tragic.

What followed was a hard-fought campaign for the future of Ormond Beach – fought by uber-wealthy developers and those who make their living building and selling commercial real estate – and grassroots activists and environmentalists dedicated to smart growth initiatives.

In total, over a quarter-million dollars was spent on a local City Commission race.

Still think the stakes aren’t high?

Now, after incumbents returned to office on a green wave of cash provided by these special interests who feed themselves well transforming our natural places into obscene “theme” communities and half-empty strip centers – a large segment of the population is coming to the realization that their perceptions just became reality.

On election night, our tone-deaf incumbent Mayor and Commissioners posed for a picture on the dance floor of the Rockin’ Ranch – epitomizing the back slappin’ good ol’ boy network they represent – holding a filthy push broom to signify their unanimous “clean sweep.”

To add insult to injury, the most vocal of the bunch – City Commissioner Troy Kent – who long ago became the mouthpiece and chief apologist for speculative developers – was costumed, cap-a-pie, in a ten-gallon cowboy hat and boots – personifying the chummy Old South crony politics many of us have worked hard to escape.

Simultaneous to the Hootenanny over at the Rockin’ Ranch – those aligned with Mr. Kent and his buddies – placed an industrial highway sign on Granada Boulevard in the shadow of the moonscape that will become our new WaWa – blazing antagonistic one-liners (“THANKS ORMOND NO-CANDO”) and other juvenile slogans – as a direct thumb-in-the-eye to a very committed segment of their constituency who fought hard for what they thought was right for their quality of life.

Now – incredibly – Commissioner Kent was quoted in The Daytona Beach News-Journal decrying how divisive the election was and vowing to start “mending fences” with his neighbors whose worst fears were realized in a photograph of four arrogant assholes –  and a cheap low-blow from a non-permitted electronic sign that shit on everything they stood for.

Mr. Kent has a strange way of knitting the torn fabric of his horribly torn community back together:  First engage in antagonistic gloating – then feign reconciliation?

My ass.

Now, we live in different times – and, unfortunately, we’ve gone too far down the road to turn back now.

Many have come to the realization that our quality of life here on Florida’s Fun Coast is under siege by greed-heads and others who would see us drink our own sewerage and sit in gridlock traffic while they throw up even more cracker boxes in “lifestyle communities” while paying little, if anything, in the way of impact fees with absolutely no idea what “growth management” even means.

It’s the Wild West – a gold rush in the pine scrub – and now that all the right facilitators are in place – it won’t end until everyone who is anyone is fat and happy.

As for me and mine – I plan to stand firm in my conviction that clean water, greenspace, wildlife and natural places are more important to the lives of our children and grandchildren – than the overstuffed pocketbooks of uber-wealthy land speculators and the sutlers who make their living on the crumbs of what’s left in their wake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, kids!

There are three perplexities of life that I’ll never understand – women, long division and the reasoning of the Volusia County electorate.

Just when I think I’ve got any one of those enigmatic conundrums figured out – whammo – I realize just how galactically uniformed I truly am.

Such was the case on Tuesday evening as local election returns began to trickle in.

As usual, I spent a very anxious evening sitting in a thick cloud of cigarette smoke, drinking heavily – ear to the radio – listening to Marc Bernier, Mike Scuidero and Pat Northey call the game.

The margins were, by and large, razor thin.

And, three days after the fact – in typical Florida fashion – we still don’t have a clear winner in key races, like the Governor’s office – or know with certainty who our new United States Senator may be. . .

Jesus – does this dysfunction ever end? 

Regular readers of this forum know that I consider myself something of a dilettante editorialist and political critic – which means I’m essentially a self-righteous blowhard who snipes at those actually in the arena from the sidelines.

Let me tell you, it’s not as easy as it might seem. . .

In order to form critical opinions on the issues of the day, it’s important to stay abreast of current affairs (in other words, ‘I read the paper’), occasionally have a cold beer with a few of our ‘movers & shakers’ for an inside peek at what may be happening behind the bureaucratic curtain, and put myself into a coma of boredom skimming consultant reports and studies to get at that kernel of truth our powers-that-be might not want us to know.

But, no matter how hard I try, I cannot predict the outcome of local political races.

For instance, in the Volusia County Council races – “Sleepy” Pat Patterson might be out on his narcoleptic ass (pending a recount) – while the always arrogant District 3 Councilwoman Deb Denys was returned to office.  Handily.

Go figure.

It’s just one reason why Barker’s View stopped making political endorsements – not that most serious candidates for public office want to be associated with these screeds – but, more often than you might think, various candidates for high office  confidentially reach out for my support and advise.

It’s incredibly flattering to be asked.  Foolish and wrong-headed, but flattering. . .

I tell them, if you really want to get elected in Volusia County, you are far better served groveling at the expensively shod feet of billionaire insurance magnate J. Hyatt Brown – or kissing the sizeable backside of the All-Powerful High Panjandrum of Political Power, Mortenza “Mori” Hosseini – than asking a shitheel like me to navigate your budding political career.

The only thing I know with absolute certainty is that candidates bankrolled by Hyatt, Mori and other “Rich & Powerful” Fun Coast insiders rise like fine cream – regardless of how impossibly compromised, incompetent or ethically challenged they may be – while truly good people, like Daytona Beach’s intrepid neighborhood activist, Amy Pyle, come up short despite their incredibly hard work and true commitment to improving their community.

Why is that?

Where is the inherent fairness in a system that allows oligarchs and the corporations and shell companies they control to funnel cash into the campaign coffers of hand-select candidates and compromised incumbents – providing them the financial wherewithal to gain name recognition and regional exposure through incredibly expensive strategic advertising – while grassroots political newcomers (or those who refuse to toe the party line) invariably become also-rans?

I’m asking. . . because it has become incredibly frustrating to watch – and disheartening to those who have the courage to stand for elective office, face the fickle whims of an often-uninformed electorate, and put it all on the line for a chance to serve.

If you figure it out, let me know.

Regardless, here’s a hearty congratulations to those incumbents and newcomers who won on Tuesday – and my sincere appreciation to everyone who worked so hard, endured the slings-and-arrows of political rhetoric, walked hundreds of miles knocking on doors and spent their days and nights meeting with fellow citizens to explain their unique path forward.

It is those who actually participate – as candidates and voters – that make our democracy work.

Regardless of whether or not we agree on the issues – if you stood tall and said “send me” – I am incredibly thankful for your personal commitment to this important process – and for your willingness to serve a cause greater than your own self-interest.

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:             Our Local Journalism Community

Although I write about the news and newsmakers here on Florida’s Fun Coast, I’m certainly not a journalist.

Far from it.

I lack any of those important attributes that separate opinionated hacks like me from those who report on the issues of the day – things like professionalism, integrity, fairness, objectivity and the communication skills to explain complex issues to an often-skeptical and wholly uninformed public.

We have more than our share of self-inflicted problems in Volusia County – but one of our most cherished blessings is the quality of the hard-working reporters and editorialists in our local print and electronic media.

During a long career in public service, I had the pleasure of serving with some incredibly talented reporters, journalists and photojournalists – true professionals who have dedicated themselves to bringing the stories that affect our lives and livelihoods into our homes, and, in the process, enrich our lives and educate our opinions through their work.

When you stand around crime scenes together at three o’ clock in the morning, drinking coffee and swapping stories, you develop working relationships with reporters.

In time, a sense of trust develops that creates a professional bond which allows those who make the news to discuss intimate details “off the record” with those who report it – safe in the knowledge that the integrity of the issue won’t be compromised – while allowing the working press the background knowledge they need to flesh out the story.

In time, if you’re fortunate like I was, lifelong friendships develop.

Last weekend, ‘the best of the best’ in local media joined together in Mt. Dora for the 68^th annual Florida Press Club banquet.  In total, The Daytona Beach News-Journal took home an incredible 25 awards for excellence in journalism – including the prestigious Lucy Morgan Award for In-depth Reporting.

News-Journal honorees include:

Suzanne Hirt, Seth Robbins, Tony Jarmusz, Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, Dinah Voyles Pulver, Jim Abbott, Ken Willis,  Mark Lane, Chris Bridges, Lola Gomez, Jim Tiller, David Tucker, and Tony Holt.

Other local winners include the talented Dan Ryan – Historian and Senior Writer for Bethune-Cookman University Athletics – who received First Place in the Class C-D Sports Column section!

In addition to being one of the best collegiate sports writers in the business, Dan is a loyal member of the Barker’s View tribe who frequently contributes content ideas for this segment.

I am forever grateful for his spot-on analysis, tough criticism, and, most of all, for his consistent and passionate advocacy for the Wildcat Nation.

I also want to recognize the exceptional work of The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s very talented young reporter, Dustin Wyatt – who brings life to the important issues of the day in the difficult arena of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building in DeLand – a tough beat where openness, cooperation and transparency is almost non-existent.

A place where, more often than not, what passes for a “press release” is trotted out by professional mouthpieces – and more than once a senior administrator has been filmed skedaddling away from the glare of a news camera like a diseased rat. . .

And kudos to gifted journalists like Katie Kustura and Patricio Balona – who cover Wild West Volusia for the News-Journal – working reporters who are actually down in the trenches where the news happens, covering accident and crime scenes, working the phones, tracking down stories in the Halls of Power and living rooms of victims and witnesses – to bring us the stories that touch our lives.

Here’s a tip o’ the Barker’s View scally cap to all the reporters and photojournalists whose work is so vitally important to our republic, and our society, as they report the news and hold the powerful accountable.

So, if you’re a working journalist who wasn’t duly honored by your peers in the Florida Press Club last week – give yourself a Barker’s View Gold Star!

Well deserved.

Asshole:          The Baffling Bullshit of “Project Palm”

 I wrote about this earlier in the week in a post entitled, “On Volusia: Keeping Secrets,” but it bears repeating:

Perhaps the most important contribution of this opinion blog in driving a larger discussion of the issues is my intimate familiarity with the inner-workings of municipal government.

I lived it my entire adult life.  The good, the bad and the ugly.

I’m not talking about the mechanics of essential service delivery, budgets, or the benefits and challenges of the Council/Manager form of government – I’m talking about the crap that binds up the wheels, gears and pinions from time-to-time – the internecine wars, the personal vendettas, the backbiting, the political machinations, the petty power grabs and how some unscrupulous managers and elected officials use information rationing, fear and internal intimidation to control the political and legislative processes in the often cloistered environment of a City Hall.

I lived through some truly strange times during my career – and I’ve come within a hair’s breadth of being sacrificed on the altar of small-town, and small-minded, politics.

That’s why I wasn’t too surprised when I read of the intrigues that lead to the ham-handed coup d’état in the City of Edgewater last week.

The unceremonious firing of City Manager Tracy Barlow had everything a good political thriller should have, a surprise attack at a seemingly innocuous public meeting – a bold move either orchestrated in advance or the result of mob mentality – the “blood in the water” syndrome that drives the sharks on the dais of power into a frenzy.

Before you know it – the voice of the people is silenced or ignored, angry motions are made, votes are taken, and the professional lifecycle of the City Manager comes full circle.

Then, like the song says, it’s all over but the crying.

Nothing left to do but write the massive severance check that normally stands as a deterrent to these knee-jerk reactions. . .

What followed was a hyper-dramatic threat by now lame duck Mayor Mike Ignasiak to step-down – claiming that he would refuse to serve even if the citizens of Edgewater return him to office during the general election.

Turns out Hizzoner didn’t need to worry about it.  The voters sent him packing on Tuesday. . .

What made the Edgewater bloodletting unique is that it exposed something truly disturbing – the all too frequent practice of a local government negotiating public/private partnerships in utter secrecy.

Using the cloak of “non-disclosure agreements” to thwart transparency, and the notion of “open government,” elected and appointed officials hammer out lucrative incentive packages to feather the nests of corporations who blow into town with the promise of “jobs” and leave with wheelbarrows full of tax abatements, infrastructure and financial subsidies.

Clearly, this spurious strategy is alive and well in the City of Edgewater.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Now, some leaders say the mystery project known only as “Project Palm” — which people close to the project say would be “worth hundreds of millions of dollars” to the local economy — seems to be in peril because of the recent upheaval at City Hall. Meanwhile, others say there is still hope for the deal that could bring more than 500 jobs to the city.”

From the little we can glean; the project involves a massive automated distribution center for an unnamed retailer which would be built on 300-acres owned by the Miami Corporation just west of Interstate 95 off State Road 442.

According to Ignasiak, following the council’s tumultuous meeting, he received a message from the Memphis-based site selection firm who has been helping the mysterious company evaluate the Edgewater location – and others – announcing that the deal was off and that the distribution center would be moving “outside of Gainesville.”

Oddly, when the News-Journal reached the always arrogant Volusia County Councilwoman Deb Denys for comment – she contradicted Mayor Ignasiak – claiming “we are still in play, the deal is still very much alive.” 

“We think this is just a political posturing thing by the site selector to get into a better position,” Denys said. “We don’t want to say it’s dead because it’s not.”

Whoever “We” is apparently includes our own Camera Stellata, known colloquially as the Volusia CEO Business Alliance, who is elbow deep in yet another burgeoning fiasco.

Speaking in the News-Journal, president of the CEO Business Alliance, Dr. Kent Sharples (who’s “leadership” has brought us the American Music Festival debacle and assisted in the unraveling of Bethune-Cookman University) told reporters Casmira Harrison and Clayton Park:

“Tracey Barlow was instrumental as a member of our collaborative team,” said Sharples, adding that the team includes the city, county, Team Volusia, CEO Business Alliance and Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development arm. “Taking him out of the equation on Friday didn’t help but Mayor Ignasiak (in a conference call on Saturday) agreed to stay the course. We were able to reassure the client (Project Palm) that the city would fulfill its obligations,” Sharples said.

And herein lies the problem – it seems everyone who is anyone in the Fun Coast Economic Development apparatus is “on the team” – except the long-suffering taxpayers of Edgewater and Volusia County?

Why is it that only those who stand to make a quick buck through the liberal application of public funds to underwrite a for-profit private project are privy to watching the sausage being made?

What about us?  The hapless rubes who pay the bills?

Well, we’re apparently prohibited from participating in the super-secret negotiations – or even being made aware of the existence of this surreptitious $300 million game changer until some small-town political shit show exposed it – under the guise of compromising some competitive advantage.

Bullshit.

Exactly what “obligations” are We, the People required to fulfill?

How will Volusia County ultimately sweeten the deal?

How many tax dollars is a warehouse job worth?

And who the hell is Kent Sharples to speak for the City of Edgewater? 

 Now, Denise Mott, vice president of the Tennessee-based site selection firm J. M. Mullis, Inc., is claiming that Councilwoman Denys’ comments to the News-Journal on the status of the deal were “completely false.”

According to Mott, Ms. Denys’ reckless yammering about things she knows nothing about “. . .caused our Firm to make the decision to remove any other potential sites in Volusia County which could have been considered for this project.”

(That’s why we can’t have nice things. . .)

Apparently, Deb was using the “Royal We” – the majestic plural – when she was spouting off in the newspaper about political posturing, because, come to find out, she didn’t have a damn thing to do with the direct negotiations of this deal at all – now modestly describing her role as more “behind the scenes.”

Right.

Which, given the way our Volusia County Council members are historically kept in the dark and fed on horseshit by senior administrators – Deb probably read about “Project Palm” in the newspaper just like the rest of us. . .

At the end of the day, Mike Mullis, president of the site selection firm, advised that it was Miami Corporations refusal to budge on the price that killed the deal – and assured us they were not posturing and maneuvering to leverage incentives.

(Sorry, I just shot coffee out of my nose. . .)

In my view, this is another prime example why local governments have no business insinuating themselves into the private marketplace – picking winners and losers and skewing the playing field by negotiating bullshit “job growing” subsidies and incentives behind the backs of their constituents in secretive bartering sessions – then writing checks that you and I will ultimately be forced to cash.

 Asshole:          Daytona Beach City Commission

 To his credit, when it came right down to it – Daytona Beach City Commissioner Rob “Gilligan” Gilliland had a crisis of conscience and did the right thing.

On Wednesday evening in a 6-1 vote, with Mr. Gilliland casting the lone “No,”  the Daytona Beach City Commission approved a contract with APM Construction Corporation of New Smyrna Beach to build the languishing First Step Shelter on public land west of I-95 for an estimated $4.3 million.

That’s obscene.

Three years ago when publicly funded solutions to the “homeless problem” were still being debated ad nauseum (back before the Volusia County Council simply threw $2.5 million of our money at the very complex issue and walked away, leaving Daytona Beach holding the bag) I made the prescient prediction that the long-suffering citizens of the Halifax area would get a homeless assistance center the exact minute our ‘movers & shakers’ decided who gets a slice of the pie.

Just as I foretold, a weird ‘cart before the horse’ strategy was set in motion which saw the site prep, foundation and footers being completed before a general contractor was even identified.

In turn, this debacle degenerated into a convoluted scheme that allows P&S Paving – a member in good standing of the camarilla of uber-wealthy insiders over at the Volusia CEO Business Alliance – to extract and sell lucrative fill dirt from the massive 626-acre site – essentially setting the market during perhaps the biggest development surge in Volusia County history.

What 20-acre lakes and fill dirt mining on public property have to do with getting the First Step shelter out of the ground is beyond me – but this confounding arrangement with P&S Paving stands to benefit the prolific government contractor to the tune of an estimated $14 million – over three-times the contracted construction costs for the completed facility. . .

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, citizen activist Anne Ruby all but begged commissioners to abandon the current plan in favor of a less expensive tensile fabric option, “We need a homeless shelter, but this escalating cost requires a review.” 

 I agree with Anne.

Unfortunately, the only ones that seem to matter – the Daytona Beach City Commission – have committed themselves (and our tax dollars) to the rigid view that we’re too far down the trail to turn around now.

According to Mayor Derrick Henry, “I don’t like the price, but we’ve already paid the price as a community,” Henry said. “I’m not prepared to take a road that takes us backwards.”

I have a hobby-job in the flight training industry where mitigating risk is all we do.

We teach fledgling pilots who get themselves into trouble by inadvertently flying into instrument conditions – where the risk of spatial disorientation is incredibly high – to recognize their predicament quickly and initiate a standard rate 180-degree turn, essentially go back the way they came, until they get themselves out of danger.

Because blundering further into the storm is guaranteed to have catastrophic results.

Sound familiar? 

Here endeth the lesson. . .

Quote of the Week:

“This is one of the most divisive races I have ever seen in Ormond Beach,” Kent said. “I look forward to mending fences and bringing our community back together.”

–Ormond Beach City Commissioner and Craven Developer’s Shill Troy Kent, speaking in The Daytona Beach News-Journal following the Grand Slam by the Good ol’ Boy’s Club, “Ormond incumbents fend off growth critics,” Wednesday, November 7, 2018

In a very telling photograph – obviously taken at the victory soiree for the horribly compromised clique of unanimously re-elected incumbents on the Ormond Beach City Commission – Commissioner Troy Kent apparently started “mending fences” with his hopelessly divided community by posing with his back-slappin’ buddies on the dais of power in a goofy cowboy costume – complete with ten-gallon hat and boots – looking for all the world like some self-important “Boss Hogg” cartoon character – brandishing a filthy broom to signify their ‘clean sweep.’

 Yep.  Looked like a regular Hootenanny over at the Rockin’ Ranch. . .

In order to sooth the still raw emotions of many of his constituents who value quality of life over the wealth-building strategies of the privileged few, Mr. Kent’s supporters placed a massive electronic highway sign near the right-of-way on Granada Boulevard – near the scene of the environmental abattoir known as “Granada Pointe” – blazing away with a crude swipe at those dedicated civic activists known as Citizens and Neighbors Devoted to Ormond:

“THANKS ORMOND – NO CANDO”

So much for the old “magnanimous in victory, gracious in defeat” thing, eh?

Great way to start the healing, Commissioner. . .

You know what I found interesting?

Following Tuesday’s election – just for grins – I contacted Ormond Beach City Clerk Lisa Dahme to ask for a copy of the permit for the massive digital sign that also flashed the names of Ormond’s anointed incumbent politicians for days before the election.

I mean, if you or I want to establish temporary advertising or political signage in Ormond Beach – we would expect to submit an application for review, pay the required fee, then receive a formal permit from the Chief Building Official before erecting a lighted industrial sign on the shoulder of a State Road.

That’s why I found Ms. Dhame’s concise response to my inquiry so odd:

“There are no records associated with this request. There was not a sign permit applied for or issued.”

 I guess the rules are different for ol’ Troy and the Boys, eh?

Now, before you wild-eyed members of the new “Ormond In-Crowd” get your ass on your shoulders and start screaming – “We didn’t need a permit, asshole!”

1. Yes, you did.
2. I don’t care.

At the end of the day, Ormond Beach residents got a good look at what passes for the democratic process in our beautiful community – and even if your particular candidate won the day – most will admit it wasn’t pretty.

I’m afraid the rancor and political acrimony from both camps has dramatically frayed the fabric of Ormond Beach – and the cost is still being tabulated.  In addition to seeing our once-respected elected officials sell their very souls to speculative developers and others who make their living churning greenspace into strip malls – we watched as the Ormond Beach Observer imploded in a foul gray fog of political favoritism after getting so deliriously involved with the re-election of incumbent candidates that the community broadsheet took on the appearance of a cheap political propaganda machine.

 

Now, the Observer’s publisher, John Walsh, stands before us like some half-repentant Jimmy Swaggart, begging forgiveness for his transgressions: “Allow me to be straight-forward and brutally honest: We did give the Ormond Proud PAC a discount on our full-page rate. That was wrong, and I take responsibility.”

Mr. Walsh is apologizing to anyone who will listen for the blatant political partisanship that relegated his paper to the driveway litter category – the birdcage liner of hometown news – after having lost the only thing that matters in his business:  Credibility.

In the aftermath of this shit show that pitted uber-wealthy insiders against their environmentally concerned neighbors – good people who simply want common sense growth management and a modicum of impartiality by those who are elected to represent our interests – we are left with the sobering realization that as much as we try and deny it – money and greed remain the controlling factors at City Hall – and the rest of us are a mere nuisance to their twisted idea of “progress.”

I hope it was worth it.

 

And Another Thing!

There is absolutely nothing more important to me than the safety and security of our precious children and grandchildren.

The tragic events in Tallahassee have turned a very bright light on the hiring practices of the Volusia County School District.

I have some experience with the Districts pre-employment process – because earlier this year I answered a call to service from Sheriff Michael Chitwood to stand as an armed “School Guardian” in the aftermath of the Parkland atrocity.

With over 31-years of law enforcement and military training, I felt my unique qualifications and skill set would be a perfect complement to the Guardian program – after all, the management of critical incidents and response to life-threatening emergencies is all I know.

Apparently, I didn’t cut the mustard. . .

For reasons known only to administrators, after a series of very active communications with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office – when my application and qualifications were sent to the School District – I never received so much as a call back.

I was shocked and disappointed (although not surprised) that I wasn’t afforded so much as an interview.  After all, who wants a politically active blogger on the payroll?

I get it.  I don’t agree with it.  But I get it.

What I don’t understand is how Deltona coward, Scott Paul Beierle – the scumbag with an incredibly checkered past – who shot and killed two innocent people and wounded five others in a Tallahassee yoga studio last week, was hired as a full-time teacher at Hinson Middle School before being terminated less than three-weeks later.

Then, inexplicably, he was apparently re-hired and allowed to serve as a substitute in various elementary, middle and high school classrooms some 187 times before again being fired earlier this year after inappropriately touching a female student.

WTF?

But here’s where things really get disturbing:

According to a report by WFTV, “The year before going to the Volusia County School District, officials with Leon County Schools said Beierle was fired from his substitute teaching job in Leon County after looking at porn during class.”

Jesus.

Now, as Beierle rots in hell, School Board member Carl Persis and area media outlets are rightly asking the difficult question – Why wasn’t this information obtained and evaluated before Beierle was allowed unfettered access to vulnerable children in the ostensibly safe environment of the Volusia County School System?

The Channel 9 report claims, “The district says Beierle passed a federal and state criminal background check. Police reports show Beierle was arrested and charged with battery after allegedly groping women at least twice. The charges were later dropped, so there were no convictions to show up on the background checks.”

Perhaps most disturbing – had Volusia human resources and safety managers bothered to ask – they would have learned that when Beierle applied for a substitute teaching position in Leon County, employees reported that he was acting “extremely nervous, was rude, and had a scary and angry look on his face.”

In fact, they were so frightened of this creepy bastard that administrators locked the doors when he left and suggested that he not be hired after learning his on-line application password was “carnifex” – which translates to “executioner.”  Chilling.

The district hired him anyway.

As often happens after-the-fact, within hours of the tragic events in Tallahassee, details of Beierle’s fucked-up life began to emerge – including the fact he had been banned from the Florida State University campus and accused of “grabbing” women.

Clearly, had someone at Volusia County Schools put in the effort they might have learned these minor details about the applicant – like, as a substitute teacher, he likes to pass the time watching porn in the classroom – and sitting around with his hand down his pants – but that would require a genuine dedication to vetting those who have contact with children beyond a simple criminal history check.

Legitimate investigators call it GOYAKOD – “Get off your ass and knock on doors.”

In my view, the professional competency and hiring practices of Superintendent Tom Russell and his “Cabinet” need an immediate top-to-bottom review – including the purge of any senior administrator who failed to have the foresight and good judgement to recognize that this monster was unfit to be in the same room with our children and grandchildren.

To the extent humanly possible, when parents pack their children off to the care of Volusia County Schools, they should be able to do so with a modicum of confidence that administrators have acted in their best interest – rather than just going through the motions – and it is becoming increasingly obvious that they did not.

That’s unacceptable.

Guess what?

Thanks to a petty move by our current Volusia County School Board designed to stick a thumb in the eye of the teacher’s union – we’re stuck with Mr. Russell’s unique brand of “leadership” for another two-years. . .

That’s all for me – have a great weekend my friends. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps the most important contribution of this opinion blog in driving a larger discussion of the issues is my intimate familiarity with the inner-workings of municipal government.

I lived it my entire adult life.  The good, the bad and the ugly.

I’m not talking about the mechanics of essential service delivery, budgets, or the benefits and challenges of the Council/Manager form of government – I’m talking about the crap that binds-up the wheels, gears and pinions from time-to-time – the internecine wars, the personal vendettas, the backbiting, the political machinations, the petty power grabs and how some unscrupulous managers and elected officials use information rationing, fear and internal intimidation to control the political and legislative processes in the often cloistered environment of a City Hall.

I lived through some truly strange times during my career – and I’ve come within a hair’s breadth of being sacrificed on the altar of small-town, and small-minded, politics.

That’s why I wasn’t too surprised when I read of the intrigues that lead to the ham-handed coup d’état in the City of Edgewater last week.

The unceremonious firing of City Manager Tracy Barlow had everything a good political thriller should have, a surprise attack at a seemingly innocuous public meeting – a bold move either orchestrated in advance or the result of a mob mentality – the “blood in the water” syndrome that drives the sharks on the dais of power into a frenzy.

Before you know it – the voice of the people is silenced or ignored, angry motions are made, votes are taken, and the professional life-cycle of the City Manager comes full circle.

Then, like the song says, it’s all over but the crying.

Nothing left to do but write the massive severance check that normally stands as a deterrent to these knee-jerk reactions. . .

What followed was a hyper-dramatic threat by Mayor Mike Ignasiak to step-down – claiming that he would refuse to serve even if the citizens of Edgewater return him to office during the general election – a clearly emotional response that he walked back at warp speed.

It was all pretty standard political posturing.

However, what made the Edgewater bloodletting unique is that it exposed something truly disturbing – the all too frequent practice of a local government negotiating public/private partnerships in utter secrecy.

Using the cloak of “non-disclosure agreements” to thwart transparency, and the quaint notion of “open government,” elected and appointed officials hammer out lucrative incentive packages to feather the nests of corporations who blow into town with the promise of “jobs” and leave with wheelbarrows full of tax abatements, infrastructure and financial subsidies.

Clearly, this spurious strategy is alive and well in the City of Edgewater.

According to The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Now, some leaders say the mystery project known only as “Project Palm” — which people close to the project say would be “worth hundreds of millions of dollars” to the local economy — seems to be in peril because of the recent upheaval at City Hall. Meanwhile, others say there is still hope for the deal that could bring more than 500 jobs to the city.”

From the little we can glean; the project involves a massive automated distribution center for an unnamed retailer which would be built on 300-acres owned by the Miami Corporation just west of Interstate 95 off State Road 442.

According to Mayor Ignasiak, following the council’s tumultuous meeting, he received a message from the Memphis-based site selection firm who has been helping the mysterious company evaluate the Edgewater location – and others – announcing that the deal was off and that the distribution center would be moving “outside of Gainesville.”

Oddly, when the News-Journal reached the always arrogant Volusia County Councilwoman Deb Denys for comment – she contradicted Mayor Ignasiak – claiming “we are still in play, the deal is still very much alive.” 

Apparently, Councilwoman Denys, who is currently in a political knife fight with challenger Michael Arminio for the District 3 seat representing Southeast Volusia – has also been muzzled by “privacy agreements” – but that didn’t stop her from blathering about this deteriorating situation:

“We think this is just a political posturing thing by the site selector to get into a better position,” Denys said. “We don’t want to say it’s dead because it’s not.”

Whoever “We” is apparently includes our own Camera Stellata, known colloquially as the Volusia CEO Business Alliance, who is elbow deep in yet another burgeoning fiasco.

Speaking in the News-Journal, president of the CEO Business Alliance, Dr. Kent Sharples (who’s “leadership” has brought us the American Music Festival debacle and assisted in the unraveling of Bethune-Cookman University) told reporters Casmira Harrison and Clayton Park:

“Tracey Barlow was instrumental as a member of our collaborative team,” said Sharples, adding that the team includes the city, county, Team Volusia, CEO Business Alliance and Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development arm. “Taking him out of the equation on Friday didn’t help but Mayor Ignasiak (in a conference call on Saturday) agreed to stay the course. We were able to reassure the client (Project Palm) that the city would fulfill its obligations,” Sharples said.

And herein lies the rub – it seems everyone who is anyone in the Fun Coast Economic Development apparatus is “on the team” – except the long-suffering taxpayers of Edgewater and Volusia County?

Why is it that only those who stand to make a quick buck through the liberal application of public funds to underwrite a for-profit private project are privy to watching the sausage being made?

What about us?  The hapless rubes who pay the bills?

Well, we’re apparently prohibited from participating in the super-secret negotiations – or even being made aware of the existence of this surreptitious $300 million game changer until some small-town political shit show exposed it – under the guise of compromising some competitive advantage.

Bullshit.

Exactly what “obligations” are We, the People required to fulfill?

How will Volusia County ultimately sweeten the deal?

How many tax dollars is a warehouse job worth?

And who the hell is Kent Sharples to speak for the City of Edgewater? 

Trust me – we will never know the answers to these questions until the “deal” appears as a foregone conclusion on the consent agenda of an Edgewater City Council meeting – followed by an off-the-agenda ambush by the Volusia County Council.

Something doesn’t smell right about this. . .

Why is Ms. Denys wasting time in sketchy negotiations with a private company while the citizens of District 3 are repeatedly treated like the red-headed stepchildren of Volusia County?

Her constituents have been repeatedly ignored while more-and-more essential government services are ripped away from them – from the New Smyrna Courthouse to much-needed drug treatment services – all while their inept representative, Councilwoman Denys, is busy championing the cause of her “Rich & Powerful” political benefactors in Daytona Beach.

Or helping to negotiate secret deals for Edgewater warehouse jobs. . .

Perhaps most disturbing, last week, President Trump signed a package of bills to help communities deal with the raging opioid epidemic which provides significant funding for improving access to addiction treatment programs and other community-based interventions.

Our former federal lobbyist, James Pericola, had been begging anyone in Volusia County government who would listen to get serious and participate in this important program for the past year.

Unfortunately, Councilwoman Denys joined with the super-majority of her “colleagues” in firing and marginalizing Mr. Pericola after he brought allegations of almost criminal neglect in Volusia County’s failure to secure federal funding and loan opportunities to help address serious social and environmental issues.

Then, on Friday, the chickens came home to roost when Stewart-Marchman announced that, due to state funding cuts, it would be forced to “consolidate” some Southeast Volusia services with its outpatient clinic in Daytona Beach.

This change forces some 400 of Denys’ suffering constituents to make their way to Daytona Beach or DeLand for treatment.

My God.

When is Councilwoman Denys going to explain why those who accept public funds to serve in the public interest failed to engage?

Why hasn’t anyone been held responsible for failing to secure our fair share of the $500 million just released by the federal government, particularly when places like Stewart-Marchman were being cut and our bloated bureaucracy in DeLand did absolutely nothing to help them?

I suppose the tragic issue of the ongoing civic abandonment of the good citizens of Southeast Volusia is up to them to decide at the polls tomorrow – but, eventually, Ms. Denys’ reign of incompetence must end.

Hey, Deb – trust me on this:  The mystery company our ‘movers & shakers’ are fawning over will eventually build their distribution center exactly where they believe it will best serve their order-fulfillment needs in the most economically efficient manner possible – and they don’t need your goofy input – or our dollars – to do it.

In my view, local governments have no business insinuating themselves into the private marketplace – picking winners and losers and skewing the playing field by negotiating bullshit “job growing” subsidies and incentives  behind the backs of their constituents in secretive bartering sessions – then writing checks that you and I will ultimately be forced to cash.

It’s also time that political hacks like Dr. Kent Sharples and Councilwoman Deb Denys were put out to pasture.

I’m not sure how much more of their unique brand of “leadership” we can stand.