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:

Angel/Asshole            Volusia County Council           

Whew!  This one could have gone either way…

In an unusual departure from the stagnant status quo, on Tuesday, the Volusia County Council voted 6-1 to approve an 18-month pilot program beginning November 1 to evaluate allowing dogs on the beach along a 0.6-mile section between Milsap Road and Rockefeller Drive in Ormond Beach! 

Trust me.  This is kind of a “big deal.”

Not because our elected dullards finally got one right – but because this represents the first time in a long time that We, The Little People were thrown a bone (pun intended…) by those we elect and appoint to represent our interests. 

To ensure the initiative didn’t receive unanimous support, West Volusia Councilman Don Dempsey (who seems to loathe everything east of the Palmetto Curtain) considered the wants of a handful of beachfront property owners over the tens-of-thousands of residents and visitors who use (and pay for) our most precious natural amenity, and cast the lone “No” vote…    

Whatever.

Expanding pet-friendly sections of the beach had originally been a campaign promise of Chairman Jeff Brower.  Unfortunately, the initiative was universally shit-on by the previous iteration of the council because, well, it was a campaign promise of Chairman Brower…

Upon taking office in January, District 4 Councilman Troy Kent expressed interest in establishing limited dog-friendly sections of beach in each coastal community – and resurrected the possibility of allowing residents to drive on the beach toll-free by charging out-of-county visitors a little more for vehicular access and parking in beachfront parks.

In March, in an unforeseen eleventh-hour hurdle, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service put the kibosh on the idea of opening a dog-friendly pilot program near Bicentennial Park in Ormond-by-the-Sea over concerns it could violate provisions of Volusia County’s Incidental Take Permit – a federal decree that protects shorebirds, sea turtles and other threatened species which some fearmongers warned could potentially end our century-old tradition of beach driving.

Make no mistake, this decision took a measure of political courage.  `

Throughout the process, some residents spoke passionately in opposition to the idea – and “staff” made it extremely easy for our policymakers to have nixed the idea out-of-hand.

In fact, the dog-friendly pilot became the perfect example of government taking a simple suggestion and making it so onerous, complicated, and expensive that it takes the fun out of the concept, paints any elected official who supports it as a spendthrift and exasperates supporters until they simply give up and go away.

According to a report by Jarleene Almenas writing in the Ormond Beach Observer, “…the county will install 26 dog waste bag dispensers, placing them at each beach ramp and all trash and recycling bin stands” with an installation cost of $2,574 – coupled with an annual expense for waste bags estimated at $6,000 (really?).

Of course, the bureaucracy will expand by one full-time animal control officer who will work four-days a week with salary and benefits totaling “…$96,500, including startup costs like equipment.”

(Beachgoers will undoubtably be able to recognize the officer by the Rolls-Royce Corniche he or she will use to patrol their half-mile area of responsibility…)

Fortunately, Ormond Beach philanthropists Nancy and Lowell Lohman generously donated $100,000 to offset the cost of hiring the new animal control officer. 

During a brief presentation on Tuesday, Ms. Lohman advised the Council that our area beaches are listed as “not pet-friendly” on two national websites. 

“Whatever this costs in animal control is more than offset by the impact of not being pet friendly nationally,” she said.

In my experience, Volusia County beaches haven’t been very “people-friendly” either… 

Maybe that’s beginning to change? 

Time will tell…

Special thanks to the dedicated animal rights activist Nanette McKeel Petrella, president of Daytona Dog Beach Inc., and her intrepid volunteers for working tirelessly – never taking “No” for an answer – to see a dog-friendly section of beach become a reality for responsible pet owners in Volusia County. 

Well done!

Angel               “Transform 386”

Most of what our elected and appointed officials do involves spending our money – or figuring out pernicious ways to get more taxes and higher fees out of us to feed the insatiable machine.

From the millions of dollars arbitrarily spent on “non-controversial” items crammed onto a consent agenda – to the over one billion allocated during what passes for the annual budget process – the collection of public funds, and the stewardship required to ensure they are spent in the public interest, is an essential function of our representative democracy. 

Don’t worry, the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker, on the dais aren’t exactly toiling away under green eyeshades, crunching numbers, cutting the fat, and ensuring our hard-earned tax dollars are safeguarded as they would have us believe.   

The heavy lifting is done by career staff members in the finance apparatus – and absent a few inconsequential appendages that the council or commission can ceremoniously chop to appease tax strapped voters – the bureaucracy knows what it needs to thrive and expand exponentially. 

When politicians hold themselves out as “fiscal conservatives” each election cycle, then quickly forget the source of that endless supply of tax dollars they piss away, they seem to have little interest in public input in the process…

For instance, have you ever wondered why those we elect to represent our interests set “civility ordinances,” refuse to acknowledge our presence when we prostrate ourselves before them to seek redress of grievances, or move public comment off the agenda altogether? 

Now We, The Little People have become a necessary nuisance for local government. What should be the most accessible and responsive institution providing our most visible essential services – now seems as unapproachable as our aloof state and federal government.

In my view, this self-serving “system” has become the epitome of taxation without representation – with our elected policymakers now solely beholden to those with the wherewithal to pay-to-play. 

As political scientists have known for years: The more distant our government is, the more it tends to be distrusted.

Increasingly, that “distance” does not mean Tallahassee or Washington, D.C. – but the growing “Us vs. Them” chasm right here in the increasingly secluded confines of City Halls or the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Building…

Despite the often-theatrical nature of budget hearings, much of what happens in public has been choreographed in advance – those appropriations important to the bureaucracy carefully staged and insulated – then behind-the-scenes collaborations between the city or county manager and the individual elected officials ensure there are few surprises. 

This strategic gaslighting gets more apparent in the leadup to an election year – when craven politicians who must defend their abysmal record fear they will be found out. 

That’s why these disingenuous assholes employ political sleight-of-hand like listing “Revenues” on the Volusia County Council consent agenda in bold/underlined text providing subliminal messaging – while massive “Expenditures” are printed in normal font with no attention-grabbing embellishment – and we begin to see more slanted press releases, carefully knitted by government mouthpieces, like “Taxpayers can expect flat or reduced property tax rates in the next budget year…”

Bullshit.

As the outcome of this annual political Kabuki becomes more predictable, trust in government declines and citizen apathy increases. 

Sound familiar?

Fortunately, on occasion, a brief opportunity presents for the masses to be heard. 

Over the next several weeks, Volusia County officials will be holding informational meetings to seek citizen input on the expenditure of $328.9 million in funds from the federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program.

Why does Volusia County care what we think?

They don’t. 

However, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires citizen participation in the grant allocation process.   

Look, I’m not promising that your input will have any influence on how these important funds are ultimately spent, but prior to HUD approval, Volusia County’s “action plan” must include a detailed explanation of how the public will be in informed and engaged throughout the lifecycle of the grant.

That’s important. 

If you are one of the thousands who have been victimized by the widespread flooding resulting from (enter rain event here) now that overdevelopment has changed the topography of the land across Volusia County – I encourage you to attend one of the remaining meetings and let your thoughts on how this transformative grant can help with disaster relief, recovery, and restoration. 

For more information – and an opportunity to take an online unmet needs survey – please visit the “Transform 386” website here: https://www.transform386.org/

In my view, as our regional vulnerability increases due to the impacts of malignant sprawl and the wholesale destruction of our natural environmental buffers, citizen input in the disaster mitigation, response, and recovery cycle is vitally important.

Quote of the Week

“It was May 2009, and many streets in the city of Holly Hill were under water, the result of an unexpected, unprecedented series of thunderstorms that dumped 29 inches of water in northeast Volusia County over a five-day period. Police Chief Mark Barker was searching for ways to get the word out about roads that were unsafe, ways to get around them and the availability of emergency services.

So he fired up a relatively new social-media platform with a bird logo and a strange name. The department started Tweeting out information, and got a surprise: Holly Hill residents started responding with their own information about routes to avoid, and others who were stranded by floodwaters called out for help via tweets.

“It was a good experience,” Barker said, adding that he heard from many who signed up for the app just to get his department’s updates. At the time, it was revolutionary in Central Florida, but rapid communication via Twitter quickly became pro forma for fire, police and emergency operations and other governmental agencies across the nation, becoming a reliable source of breaking news and critical public safety information during dangerous, developing events and natural disasters.

So convenient and immediate was the service that many public agencies — local governments, law enforcement, fire departments — embraced Twitter as a preferred medium for citizen outreach. If a gas main ruptured, major thoroughfares were closed or criminal violence required the public to be notified, Twitter was the easiest way to get that information out quickly.

That is more precarious following the platform’s purchase last year by Elon Musk, whose subsequent changes have rendered Twitter glitchy, erratic and less vigilant about removing willful, sometimes vicious misinformation. During recent hurricanes Ian and Nicole, public safety officials made heavy use of Twitter but replies were often nonsensical or political, rather than informational.

“It can take you to some dark places,” Barker (who has subsequently retired from law enforcement and now runs the popular local-politics blog Barker’s View) says of the service today.

That has many users scrambling for the exits and should prompt public institutions to consider their next steps.”

–The Orlando Sentinel, “Editorial: Twitter’s slow collapse poses challenges for public institutions,” as adapted from the original opinion of the Virginian Pilot/Daily Press, Wednesday, July 12, 2023  

Many thanks to Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and the Orlando Sentinel’s Editorial Board for mentioning this over the hill has-been earlier this week. 

It does my beat-up old heart good to know someone remembers the ones we got right… 

And Another Thing!

Call me what you will.  You can’t hurt my feelings.  

Over the years and miles, I have grown some hard bark, and no one knows better than I that my hypocrisy knows no boundaries…

As regular readers of these screeds know, I rarely opine on law enforcement issues in this blog. 

The fact is, if you want to bash cops there are plenty of those sites available – this isn’t one of them.   

Since I was a young boy, police officers have been my personal heroes.

They still are.

Because the vast majority of law enforcement officers understand that the badge is a sacred symbol of public faith – and the citizens they serve will have confidence in the profession only so long as those who wear it are true to the principles and ethics of the police service. 

Serving and protecting others is not an easy pursuit – and it never will be. 

Over a lengthy career, I lost friends and colleagues who paid the ultimate sacrifice serving their communities under heroic circumstances – and others who served with honor and succumbed to the demons that often come with a strong devotion to a cause greater than ourselves.    

I don’t mean to be melodramatic – but those great souls are just a few of the reasons I prefer to limit my crude philippics to the frustrating machinations of local politics. 

Over the past week, I have received several criticisms and swipes condemning my refusal to weigh in on the two Daytona Beach Shores officers who, for reasons known only to them, thought it would be clever to potty-train their toddler by incarcerating him in a jail cell (which, for the uninitiated, can be a virtual Petri dish of every foul germ, virus, and bodily excretion known to modern science…).   

For some reason, a few people thought it was important for me to voice an opinion on that abject idiocy – as though anything I could possibly add would help make sense of the nonsensical?

Look, sometimes people do stupid shit. 

I know this because no one made more regrettable mistakes over a thirty-one-year career in law enforcement than I did.  Fortunately, I worked for a community that allowed me to learn and grow, personally and professionally, from those expensive, embarrassing, and hard-earned experiences.

The fact is sometimes human beings who wear a badge – or serve in other high-visibility professions that have an obligation to “keep their public and private lives unsullied as an example to all” – fall short of that difficult goal.   

But we must never lower that lofty bar.   

This week, as the unfortunate saga of Daytona Beach Shores Lieutenant Michael Schoenbrod deepened, we learned in an article by Mark Harper writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal that Director of Public Safety Michael Fowler has placed his second-in-command on paid leave pending yet another internal investigation into disturbing allegations of possible misconduct. 

In my view, the reported nature of these recent claims transcends a parental mistake in judgement – and could have an adverse impact on the public’s confidence in the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety – something I am certain is not lost on City Manager Kurt Swartzlander, who is an inherently good man of impeccable character and one of the finest public servants I have ever known.   

According to the News-Journal, in April, Director Fowler commissioned a second internal affairs investigation following a department briefing during which Lt. Schoenbrod was alleged to have spoken, “…critically of other officers who he believed were involved in reporting him to the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement…”

Then, last week, Director Fowler issued a third notice of investigation citing serious allegations of misconduct against Lt. Schoenbrod. 

According to the News-Journal:

“The memo cites three code of conduct policy violations “that may have occurred on or after April 7, 2023.”

The first reads: “Employees shall not commit any act or crime defined by state or federal law as a felony, whether chargeable or not.”

Another: “Employees shall not steal, alter or forge or tamper with any kind of public safety record, report or citation.” It goes on to state that the unlawful or unauthorized removal of any such document is prohibited.

The last states employees “will not edit, alter, erase, duplicate, copy, share or otherwise distribute in any manner digital recordings without prior written authorization.”

According to reports, a judge has sealed all records related to the inquiries into the child’s brief incarceration – and, to protect the integrity of the pending internal investigations, Florida law prohibits public disclosure until all aspects have been administratively settled.

In my experience, Director Fowler is doing everything possible to protect the public’s trust while providing Lt. Schoenbrod, a 23-year law enforcement veteran, with his right to due process under the law – because that is his legal and ethical obligation to those he serves.

Again, not an easy task when many in the community are demanding immediate answers… 

Serving as a senior law enforcement executive is a hard dollar. 

Like spinning plates – it requires a 24/7 focus on multiple high liability/high-profile operations simultaneously – and the idiom “you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t” should be listed in the job description. 

But nothing worth doing is easy, and I know of few callings that are more personally fulfilling or important to the life of a community. 

On good days and bad, the role demands being fully engaged, taking care of those under your command, encouraging others, maintaining morale and esprit de corps under difficult or dangerous circumstances, ensuring discipline and good order, having the humility to admit mistakes and take a joke – always setting the example – supporting productivity and professionalism in the face of withering criticism, accepting personal responsibility for the acts and omissions of those under your command, and putting faith in others while ensuring the buck always stops at the top.

Most important, the job requires a robust 360-degree commitment to maintaining internal and external trust through strong leadership – because earning and retaining the confidence of the public, officers, and staff is critical to the success of law enforcement’s important mission – and anything less is unacceptable. 

It can be a long day…

And I miss it terribly.  All of it.    

Because on those elusive occasions when you get it right – what an incredible sense of pride and satisfaction you receive from those dedicated men and women who give so much of themselves in service to a grateful community…

So, there you have it.  The Gospel of Law Enforcement Leadership according to this washed-up has-been. 

The fact is, no one realizes better than I do that it is easy to wax philosophic on the tenets of management and leadership while sipping my morning coffee behind a computer screen. 

I also know nothing I say will salve the rash of my most ardent critics – that comes with the territory – but I hope these rambling thoughts explain why I tend to give my former colleagues the benefit of the doubt…

Hypocritical? Probably. 

But my devotion to those who leave their families and go into harm’s way to protect my family and yours is not going to change…   

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