Hi, kids!

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           County of Volusia

The brilliant mathematician, computer scientist, and US Navy Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper succinctly explained the difference between people and resources for those holding positions of high responsibility:

“You manage things; you lead people.”

Unfortunately, it is now embarrassingly evident that the senior leadership of Volusia County does neither…

This week, the News-Journal’s Sheldon Gardner took a deep dive into a recent report by Volusia County Internal Auditor Jonathan Edwards, who uncovered a year-over-year “alleged fraud” in the Animal Services Division (which, I think, falls under the “Public Protection” bureaucratic umbrella) that has cost taxpayers an estimated $26,000. 

A low-level veterinary assistant who operates a DeLand area nonprofit pet rescue has been singled out for the financial irregularities – which include undercharging, or not charging “…at all for various services for her own nonprofit as well as others.”

The employee has denied the accusations.

According to the report, a subsequent investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office found:

“…about 56 invoices where services weren’t properly charged, which cost the county $1,020. The sheriff’s office forwarded the investigation to the state attorney’s office for possible misdemeanor charges of petit theft and altering records.”

The state attorney’s office filed a notice of intent not to prosecute on March 9.

But more information was uncovered — with a much larger financial loss — during the audit process, County Manager George Recktenwald said. So the county has turned the audit report over to the sheriff’s office for further review.”

Apparently, the largest loss occurred when customers were not properly charged for services by Animal Service employees – including discounted fees, inconsistent billing, and unaddressed situations where an employee had a clear “conflict of interest” – all the result of “weak internal controls” and “a lack of supervisory oversight of daily activities.”

According to the News-Journal’s report, Chairman Jeff Brower and Councilman Danny Robins understand the need for accountability:

“It’s just my … feelings: Obviously this was orchestrated. It was larger than what it was,” Vice Chair Danny Robins said. “And I have a hard time believing the staff at the time or possibly the director or the leadership at the time that oversees that did not or could not know about this, and I’m really curious to see the outcome in this investigation.”

Robins said whoever was involved needs to be held accountable “to the maximum.” Council Chairman Jeff Brower said he agreed and added it “should have been caught by the supervisor there.”

“I’m glad that senior staff had suspicions and instead of kind of letting that out they went to (the auditor) and did a full investigation, and that does need to be carried out,” Brower said.

The veterinary assistant was subsequently terminated by Volusia County for “workplace issues” – “…including using county property for personal gain and unprofessional conduct: slamming doors and cursing at the workplace and at an event.”

The employee is also appealing the dismissal. 

“Keep moving, folks.  Nothing to see here.  We’ve found the culprit toiling away in virtual anonymity in the bottom ranks.  Everything is all right now – move along…” 

Feel better? 

Me neither.

And the hits just keep on coming…

On Monday, former Volusia County Corrections Director Dr. Mark Flowers filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court alleging acts of retaliation and a violation of the state Whistle-Blower Act.

As horrified Volusia County taxpayers will recall, Dr. Flowers was effectively terminated last December after counteraccusations resulted in a scandalous investigation into inmate abuse and employee morale. 

(How Dr. Flowers went from a promising senior administrator worthy of promotion in 2017 (and a salary of $148,460) to pillory, humiliation, and termination in 2022, will be an interesting story, eh?)   

According to reports, Flowers’ attorney, Kelly Chanfrau, has alleged that her client repeatedly reported misconduct by corrections officers — including the abuse of an inmate who reportedly “… suffered two black eyes after a beating administered by correctional officers.”

However, the county’s own internal investigation turned the tables, sustaining a laundry list of violations against Flowers that included ordering the isolation of inmates, violating suicide protocols, creating a hostile workplace, and directing corrections officers to place an unidentified inmate in a four-point restraint — in the nude — for several days.

Yeah.  I know…

As for Flowers’ original allegations, Volusia County’s internal investigator found, “Based on the information gathered during this investigation, I am unable to determine if the force used against (an inmate) on April 26, 2022, was excessive in nature.”

A subsequent investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was turned over to the State Attorney’s Office who determined there was “insufficient evidence to proceed…” with criminal charges. 

Following the release of these reports, Volusia County Spokesman Kevin Captain (who, in May, was promoted to the role of Director of Emergency Medical Services under, you guessed it, the Public Protection Division) mischaracterized the findings in a press release, stating “An independent, outside review of an altercation at the Volusia County Branch Jail in April found no evidence that corrections officers used excessive force while gaining control of a combative inmate.”

Which, in my view, is not just bureaucratic embroidery – but a complete whitewash…

Ultimately, Dr. Flowers made claims of unfair treatment to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and appealed his termination. 

Now, Chanfrau has filed a lawsuit on Dr. Flowers’ behalf.

Regardless of how these latest revelations play out – now that all the low-level scapegoats have been publicly terminated – the focus turns to why our elected representatives refuse to hold anyone in the senior executive ranks responsible for these ongoing debacles?   

The fact is, these repugnant scandals occurred on Mr. Recktenwald’s watch – and the inviolate rule of command dictates that responsibility may be delegated, but ultimate accountability cannot be abdicated – and “The Wreck” either knew, or should have known, what was going on in the Public Protection Division.

I’ve said this before, but the old dodge, “I didn’t know what was happening,” is not a privilege typically afforded to those who are held to exacting standards of professionalism and personal accountability – required by position to maintain three-dimensional situational awareness – and a chief executive commanding an annual salary of over $224,000 plus benefits and perquisites should understand that.

In my view, as an act of conscience, Mr. Recktenwald should step aside – and if he does not have the strength of character to accept responsibility for his actions and those under his supervision – then our elected representatives have an ethical obligation to act decisively.    

Don’t hold your breath…

If history repeats (and it always does in Volusia County government) no one in the county’s bloated maze of overlapping senior managers, department directors, division directors, a deputy county manager and beyond will ever be held to account.

For anything…

Angel               City of Ormond Beach Planning Staff

I like to say, if you care about good governance in your own backyard – you should champion good governance everywhere. 

Especially in this time of unprecedented greed and growth – when every square foot of vacant land is being slashed, burned, and clearcut to accommodate more, more, more development – while transportation infrastructure, utilities, medical facilities, and civic amenities are overwhelmed, and our sensitive natural places are churned into a foul black muck.

Next week, the anxious residents of the Tomoka Oaks subdivision in Ormond Beach are facing an important milestone in their valiant fight to stop developers from shoehorning 276 additional homes on the community’s former golf course.

On Thursday, beginning at 6:00 p.m., the Ormond Beach Planning Board will consider the proposed Tomoka Oaks development agreement at a public hearing to be held at the Calvary Christian Center, 1687 West Granada Boulevard. 

It’s going to be a barnburner…

In an article by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer this week, many were heartened to learn that city staff will be recommending the Planning Board deny the development agreement:

“City planning staff cited incompatibility with the existing Tomoka Oaks subdivision, as well as concerns with the proposed buffer and the design of the subdivision, in a city staff report, the latter of which staff stated, “could cause nuisances or have visual impacts on adjoining properties.”

In this current no-holds-barred development environment, that’s encouraging.

Increasingly, residents of Ormond Beach and beyond are standing together to let their elected officials know, enough is enough – and those cowardly retread politicians who plan to stand for reelection in 2024 should take notice.

In the case of Tomoka Oaks, the residents of this established community face the threat of having their lives upended – with projections showing an additional 2,774 daily car trips inundating the already congested intersection of Tomoka Oaks Boulevard and Nova Road.   

Recently, Mayor Bill Partington published a weird manifesto in support of his announced run for the Florida House of Representatives decrying his own handiwork, which has resulted in near gridlock on Granada Boulevard and beyond.

Fortunately, many weary Halifax area residents recognized Hizzoner’s half-assed attempt to commiserate with his claustrophobic constituents for what it was:

“We all know that traffic congestion can cause frustration, wasted time, and a negative impact on our overall quality of life. It is an issue that affects not only our daily commutes, but also our local businesses, visitors, and the environment.”

As residents of the “Fun Coast” know all too well – talk is cheap in politics – and an elected official’s voting record tells us all we need to know about where their true loyalties lie. 

Despite what we are told by real estate developers and those compromised politicians who serve them – explosive growth is not a moral imperative.

Existing residents do not have an ethical obligation to sacrifice our safety and quality of life to accommodate newcomers seeking more zero-lot-line wood frame cracker boxes “starting in the $300’s” – and rubberstamping more growth at this critical stage flies in the face of concurrency and commonsense. 

Regardless of where you live in the region, I hope you will stand with your neighbors in Ormond Beach on Thursday evening and let those who seek to destroy the threatened neighborhood of Tomoka Oaks know how you feel about the pernicious effects of greed, growth, and transactional politics on our dwindling quality of life in Volusia County.

Angel               Sons of the Beach

On Sunday, July 9, Sons of the Beach – Florida’s premiere beach access advocacy – will host its Summer Rally 2023 at the Oasis Tiki Bar, (behind the Fountain Beach Resort), 313 South Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.!

Everyone is welcome. 

The rally will feature live music, a 50/50 raffle, door prizes, and some brand-new SOB swag for purchase, with cold beverages and a great menu available at the Oasis Tiki Bar!

In my experience, this is a wonderful opportunity to join with neighbors committed to protecting our most precious natural amenity – and preserving our century-old heritage of beach driving and access.   

Quote of the Week

“Thomas Jefferson is attributed with saying that “a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.”

The Florida Constitution specifically ensures that all citizens have the right to be informed about their governments. That right is part of the fundamental Declaration of Rights for each citizen which Declaration relates to important matters such as our political powers as citizens, religious freedom, freedom of speech and the press, the right to assemble, the right to work, the right to bear arms, the right to due process of law, our access to the courts and trial by jury, and the right of privacy.

The Florida Constitution provides that the right to review and copy public records is part of each citizen’s fundamental rights. So, if a citizen of Volusia County or one of its cities desires to see the documents by which a company was paid for goods or services or how much someone received from a government grant, the citizen is entitled to view and copy the public documents that relate to those matters.

Indeed, if a citizen wants to view and copy the receipt for the lunch of a mayor and city manager, that is likewise available as a public record. Good, open, and transparent governments ensure that all that the public trust is honored. The Florida Constitution also provides that “public office is a public trust.”

If we citizens in Florida are entitled to know, for example, the cost of the sandwiches and fries for lunch between a mayor and city manager, we should be entitled to know about the most critical and important issues before our governments.”

–Lonnie Groot, Daytona Beach Shores, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Letters to the Editor, “Ability to review and copy public records is a fundamental right,” Sunday, July 2, 2023

Mr. Groot is right.   

Article II, Section 8, of the Florida Constitution is clear: “A public office is a public trust.”

And the people have the right to secure and sustain that trust against abuse…

For many, public service is a sacred calling – a chance to serve a cause greater than one’s own self-interest – and help make their community, state, and nation a better, safer, more prosperous place. 

In fact, some of the finest people I have ever known spent their lives in local, state, and federal government holding positions of trust.     

Unfortunately, for others, it has become a means to an end, a lucrative “gig” where those with the gold make the rules – and compromised political pawns play with other people’s money with little oversight – cloaked in employment protections and “golden parachutes” the average citizen will never know.

Sometimes those holding powerful public positions, who hold incredible influence over the lives and livelihoods of others, get confused.

When very important people laugh at their jokes, complement their tie, and agree with them on decisions large and small – these “leaders” – from small town mayors to the highest offices in the land – can lose touch with reality and consider themselves invincible – blinded by that hubristic feeling of pompous omnipotence.

In my view, when the external pressure of seeking massive amounts of money to fund political campaigns results in malleable politicians paying fealty to their oligarchical benefactors from the dais of power – We, The Little People are quickly forced out of the process – ignored like a necessary nuisance by the “system.”

That’s just one reason why open meetings and public records laws are so important. 

A lack of transparency and behind-the-scenes wrangling is a problem as old as politics – and the ash heap of history is littered with the festering political carcasses of those who could not balance power with openness and humility.

Like some maniacal Paul Revere on a drunken midnight ride, for years I’ve been screaming to anyone who will listen that Volusia County has been hijacked by a cabal of cheapjack greed-heads who use our intentionally loose campaign finance laws to pour hundreds-of-thousands of dollars into the war chests of hand-select candidates as a means of maintaining direct access to the public trough.

If you don’t believe me – simply take a stroll down memory lane and match the campaign contributions to the names, addresses and corporate entities – then see how our honorable council and commission members voted when it came time for their sugar daddies to collect their reward.

Sadly, and I take no pleasure in this – it looks like I was right after all…

And Another Thing!

“In his 1944 book That Vanishing Eden: A Naturalist’s Florida, Thomas Barbour bemoaned the environmental damage caused by development to the Miami area and wrote, “Florida … must cease to be purely a region to be exploited and flung aside, having been sucked dry, or a recreation area visited by people who …  feel no sense of responsibility and have no desire to aid and improve the land.”

Even then, a dark vision of Florida’s future was clear.

Most of this harm has been inflicted in the service of unlimited and poorly planned growth, sparked by greed and short-term profit. This murder of the natural world has accelerated in the last decade to depths unheard of. The process has been deliberate, often systemic, and conducted from on-high to down-low, with special interests flooding the state with dark money, given to both state and local politicians in support of projects that bear no relationship to best management of natural resources.”

–Jeff Vandermeer, writing in Current Affairs, “The Annihilation of Florida: An Overlooked National Tragedy,” May 2022

Earlier this week, I published my thoughts on the Washington Post’s disturbing exposé on the lucrative relationship between the DeSantis administration and our own High Panjandrum of Political Power, Mori Hosseini, the president and CEO of ICI Homes, who stands atop the pyramid of powerbrokers who many believe have normalized a pay-to-play system across the Sunshine State. 

Now that Governor Ron DeSantis has announced his presidential run, the national media – including Forbes (hardly a bastion of left-leaning lunacy) – is questioning the connection between Mr. Hosseini’s campaign contributions, a “loan” of an elaborate golf simulator to the Governor’s mansion, and frequent private jet travel for Governor and Mrs. DeSantis, etc., etc., and the allocation of some $92 million in Covid/ARPA funds which Gov. DeSantis approved for a proposed interchange at Pioneer Trail and I-95 to service ICI Homes’ massive Woodhaven development in Southeast Volusia…

For years, as compromised local politicians championed the interchange – local environmentalists have warned of the devastating impact the interchange would have on the sensitive Spruce Creek watershed – and the quality of life enjoyed by established residents of the Turnbull Bay Road area.

According to an excellent article by reporter Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal:

“In 2021, Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower held a press conference with environmentalists to protest a maneuver that he said is in violation of a federal court opinion requiring such projects to be assessed under the Federal Environmental Policy Act. He continued his objections in an interview Thursday.

“It’s a shame,” Brower said, expressing concerns that the new interchange is on land that is part of the Spruce Creek watershed, which feeds into the environmentally sensitive Indian River Lagoon.

The lagoon, which resides within six coastal Florida counties and is home to more species than any other estuary in North America, has suffered a loss of seagrass, which has led to spikes in manatee deaths in recent years.

In May, a group called Save Don’t Pave Spruce Creek, issued a news release calling for a halt to the interchange.”

I would argue that since speaking out on the issue, Chairman Brower’s bread hasn’t landed jelly-side up again… 

While proponents of the galactically expensive interchange tout the need for improved transportation for the Woodhaven development – now that our elected officials have put the cart before the horse and allowed thousands of new homes to be wedged into every nook and cranny of Volusia County – the same can be said for (insert your neighborhood here). 

Although the Pioneer Trail interchange was dubbed “shovel ready” – many other areas also face enormous pressure – such as the LPGA/I-95 area whose reconfiguration is still years away – even as the bulldozers continue to roar west of that Monument to Mediocrity that is the two-lane bridge of the threatened Tomoka River…

Last week, Mr. Hosseini took to the News-Journal to refute the Washington Post’s assertions, stating for the record that, “I have never, ever in my life gone to any governor and asked for anything. Not a governor, not a speaker of the house, not a Senate president, nothing about me. Nothing about my projects,” Hosseini said.

Hosseini said he has solicited help for institutions he supports, including the University of Florida, Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University, and Daytona State College.

“I take care of my community and my students of this state,” he said.”

Fair enough. 

But one could argue that Mr. Hosseini, and other well-heeled insiders, have created an environment where it is extremely difficult for the beneficiaries of their “support” to say “No” and remain in the game…  

It is clear to us rubes looking on from the cheap seats that the disturbing correlation between Mr. Hosseini’s incredible largesse and his apparent return on investment in public funds, appointments, infrastructure, and insider access is hard to ignore.

In his important examination of the greed and bureaucratic incompetence that threatens Florida’s future, Mr. Vandermeer wrote:

“An oligarchy, with its system of favoritism toward certain elites and special interests, deliberately fosters corruption as a function of its existence. It is often stacked against environmental causes in ways different from a decaying representative democracy. Combine the worst attributes of capitalism with oligarchy and in the future, Florida’s leaders may actually give developers and other special interests even more tools of suppression.”

(Read more of Mr. Vandermeer’s unique take here: https://tinyurl.com/2by9ss7k )

I believe in the best tenets of capitalism and a free marketplace – based on a level playing field without undue government intrusion – and the freedoms, rights, and responsibilities our nation holds dear, where everyone is equal under the law.

In my view, this rapidly evolving oligarchy isn’t representative of that – as this pernicious pay-to-play system continues to perpetuate itself… 

In my view, Florida residents have a right to expect that any elected or appointed official who secures a special privilege, benefit, or exemption for themselves or others will be held accountable.   

Regardless of your political persuasion, the appearance of this wheeler-dealer backroom bullshit transcends partisan bickering, presidential campaigns, and the deep political dysfunction in Tallahassee and Washington as the mere appearance of quid pro quo arrangements and cronyism is detrimental to our foundational principles.

Now is the time for those we pay to investigate public corruption to get off their collective ass and preserve, protect, and defend those constitutional protections that separate our state (and nation) from some fetid Banana Republic, where access to power is bought and sold and the allocation of public funds goes to the highest bidder…    

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