When I reflect on my time in a public safety leadership role – responsible both to, and for, others – what I regret most were those missed opportunities when I refused to listen.
Unfortunately, the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” rut – coupled with ego and obstinance – makes it is easy for senior administrators to forget that those who provide essential services are having their own experiences, gaining knowledge, and developing contemporary solutions to difficult day-to-day challenges on the fly.
In time, those at the tip of the spear gain a unique perspective – a situational awareness that can be a tremendous resource for those willing to listen.
I was reminded of that this week in a disturbing article by Sheldon Gardner writing in The Daytona Beach News-Journal when a veteran Volusia County Corrections officer described critically low staffing levels at jail facilities, a dangerous situation which “…has made an already hazardous and stressful job even worse.”
According to Senior Corrections Officer John Miranda, acting as spokesperson for the Volusia Corrections Association, the union estimates that the Corrections Division of the Department of Public Protection is down some 70 officers and cautioned, “This is the most dangerous I’ve ever seen it since I’ve been here.”
Of a total compliment of 272, the Corrections Division has a staff of just 193 corrections officers, trainees, and supervisors overseeing an average daily inmate population of 1,291…
Senior Volusia County bureaucrats in the Ivory Tower of Power dispute Officer Miranda’s assessment – claiming the department needs 36 officers to be considered “fully staffed” – countering that they are “…unaware of any complaints about unsafe conditions.”
Really?
It should now be apparent to anyone paying attention that there are many things County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald seems conveniently (and consistently) “unaware” of…
Inexplicably, our new County mouthpiece, Michael Ryan – a marketing flack turned expert penologist – coarsely dismissed Officer Miranda as a liar, claiming “We absolutely disagree with the characterization that the conditions of the jail are unsafe for either the inmates or staff.”
As history proves, Ryan’s despicable tactic is not surprising.
Discrediting anyone who blows the whistle on serious problems in Volusia County government is the Recktenwald administration’s modus operandi.
According to the News-Journal, “Corrections officers are seeking higher pay and better conditions as part of their contract negotiations. Key issues include the amount of overtime hours officers work to make up for the lack of staff. Officers also raised concerns about the issue during negotiations in 2021.”
Another significant issue confronting corrections personnel is the slow creep of mismanaged wage compression.
During a recent bargaining session, Senior Officer Harvey Sutton described how new hires start at just $2.00 an hour less than 20-year veterans – and, according to a county job description, newly certified correctional officers receive just $21.32 an hour…
In response, “Jeff Mandel, outside counsel for the county, told Sutton that the labor market keeps pushing the county to raise starting pay, and there’s not enough money to commit to a corresponding pay increase for everyone on staff.
“It’s an issue everywhere, and all I can say is that we’re trying our best,” Mandel said.”
Wait… Outside counsel?
“Trying our best”?
Say what?
In my experience, correctional officers are the unsung heroes of public safety – serving under incredibly stressful and dangerous conditions – in close proximity to the worst of the worst.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, these brave souls served honorably – some working 14 to 16 days straight on forced overtime in confined spaces for considerable periods of time at significant risk to their personal safety.
Despite Director Ryan’s bullshit infused bilgewater, Volusia County correctional officers have been sounding the alarm for years.
In 2021, the union stated that some correctional officers were afraid to come to work – ominously fearful that “something bad” was going to happen due to inadequate staffing – shortages which have forced officers to violate safety protocols, such as having a single officer check on high-risk offenders, and an inability to allow inmates adequate time outside their cells.
At the same time, Volusia County was awash in $107.4 million in federal COVID-19 recovery funds…
To add cruel insult, in December 2022 – during the height of the Flowers scandal at the jail – our elected dullards on the Volusia County Council – with no objective evaluation of their performance beyond the usual good ‘ol boy backslapping and anecdotal accolades from the dais – lavished a 4% pay increase on County Manager Recktenwald and County Attorney Michael Dyer – skyrocketing their obscene compensation to $246,706 and $230,607 respectively…
Earlier this month, for reasons known only to them – the majority of the Volusia County Council, acting on a motion by Councilman Danny Robins – arrogantly shot down a suggestion from Chair Jeff Brower calling for a public workshop to discuss serious problems with the county’s Emergency Medical Services.
Instead of demonstrating leadership, providing policy direction (or a kick in the pants) to our lethargic County Manager, or discussing growing public safety needs in a transparent way – Councilman Robins and his “colleagues” once again abdicated their sworn responsibilities and deferred to Recktenwald (who painted us into this corner in the first place) to “…handle employee issues without interference from the council.”
My God.
How far into this trainwreck are they going to allow Recketenwald to keep his hand on the switch?
This week, according to a half-page article in what remains of the “Local” section of The Daytona Beach News-Journal, we were told that Councilman Robins now is off to catch and kill snakes in the Florida Everglades – all while ignoring the massive can of worms at the Thomas C. Kelly Administrative Center that are threatening the health, safety, and welfare of staff and residents alike…
I don’t make this shit up, folks.
We deserve better.
So do the brave men and women of the Volusia County Department of Corrections.
Barker's View 
Wonderfully done again Mark. Most of my regrets in life tend to stem from when I did not treat others as well as I should have or when perhaps I didn’t listen as well as I should have. We certainly get wiser with age as our experiences mold us.
I must admit, I was once a fan of George Recktenwald. After he was promoted I thought that he made some wise picks and it appeared, at first anyway, that we were going to have a better County Government under his leadership. For me, it felt like we finally had someone at the helm who was going to move our County in a better direction. Of course after over a decade of putting up with Jim Dinneen as our County Manager it would not take much for a new manager to look like a shining star.
As someone who has followed County Government, I have watched as Recktenwald has become more and more arrogant and as many in upper management at the County have followed his lead. Recktenwald, and many in the County’s leadership, show great disdain for us little people who are paying the bills and for those who are doing the real work for us at the County down in the trenches and this attitude has only been bolstered by most, if not all, members of the Volusia County Council present and past. I know these things to be true because I have experienced them and watched them in person.
Try and email Recktenwald or the assistant County Manager Suzanne Konchan and see if you receive a reply and watch and listen to Recktenwald and his senior staff as they sit on the dais. As someone who has attended many County meetings of various kinds, I can tell you because of the tone that is set by leadership it is one of the most uninviting experiences you will have. It is beyond time for Recktenwald to be replaced.
Now moving on to the County Council and their ineptitude as a body. Those of us who are paying attention have seen it time and time again. As our fellow citizens are running for those County Council seats they will go on and on ad nauseam about how they are going to be our representatives and how they are going to look out for our best interest and while on the campaign trail they are fast to provide you with their phone numbers and email addresses and they return your calls and emails fast, however, once elected that tends to change and change fast. Within a short time they tend to stop answering emails and answering those calls and as bureaucrats start working on them they start to become a representative of the governmental bureaucracy and not the citizens who elected them. If you listen you start to hear them referring to themselves as part of the governmental organization. Listen to Council Member Danny Robins when he speaks, you would think he is an employee of County Government and part of Rectenwald’s senior staff and not a true representative of the people who we elected to represent our interest. When referring to something that did or did not occur within the County’s bureaucracy he will say WE did this or WE did that as if he works for the County. At the last meeting he read a few pages of a document, I am sure was prepared by staff, and he said “WE” over and over. Robins is one of the worst I have seen, however, almost all of them are guilty.
Moving on to the money and how we are told there is not enough for raises for our employees, I say OUR because in the end they do work for us the taxpayers. Mark you are 100% correct about anyone in the ivory tower saying there is not enough money for raises and the COVID funds that in large part were frivolously wasted with the approval of some of those who are currently seated on that dais like the nearly $5 million dollars that went to Spectrum. Our County Government does not even do its core responsibilities well, like public safety and providing all employees with a livable wage, yet somehow our County Council finds a way to give millions of our tax dollars away every year.
In Volusia County we need more World Class and less Half— and we need OUR employees trained well, treated well, and paid well. We need true servant leaders in the ivory tower and we need members of our County Council to realize they were elected to represent us and not the bureaucracy and that they work for us and not the bureaucrats and we need them to be true fiscal conservatives. We also need for our County Council to stop making our charitable giving decisions for us.
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GREAT POST
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This county is run by inbred good Ole boys and girls.This outsider came from Brooklyn NY where when Ieft 12 years ago a public school first grade teacher retired with $125.000 a year plus medical.Am sure it has gone up since then.Salaries in this county to police,teachers and firemen are too low but the big boys get their 200 thousand plus.Time for a change including our looking to get the hell out of here.
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